Help with a visit to Sicily Nov.7-28(2024)
My husband and I are avid travellers but have not been to Sicily. We are very active 67 yr. olds who live in the Canadian Rockies and love to hike, kayak , bike and travel. We prefer unique experiences and the less touristy the better.
We have benefitted greatly in the past from this forum.

I trust you are thinking of a trip of about 3 weeks? That's what a basic highlights-focused trip to Sicily takes. If not, you need to tell us what part(s) of the island you intend to visit. FWIW, I found the Rough Guide to Sicily particularly helpful and think you will, too. And if you've participated on Fodor's forums before, it would be helpful if you share your earlier screenname(s).

Sicily is a delight! You have a wealth of options.

Welcome, tanyacollins2149. I can't help with hiking but do suggest that you fly into Palermo and out of Catania if possible so you don't have to backtrack. There are quite a few Sicily trip reports on Fodors....check those for great ideas.

Hi - sorry, my screen name is hurrygirl - yes, we are thinking 2 weeks in Sicily and 1 week in Puglia (plus/minus) any help would be appreciated

Thanks, hurrygirl. Two weeks is possible for Sicily -- but you won't be able to see all it's highlights in that time (even though you describe yourselves on another thread as preferring a rather fast pace), so you'll need to decide on your priorities. With one week in Puglia, you can see only a very few highlights. Again, you need to think about your priorities.

In addition to a good guidebook or two, you might want to take a look at some of the many trip reports on this forum for Sicily and for Puglia, as well as various planning threads. I think you'll find a wealth of information!

We are now wondering if it will be too quiet in Sicily and Puglia in November ? Will a lot of restaurants be closed creating a less than vibrant atmosphere ?

There’s a recent thread on TripAdvisor’s Sicily Forum about travel in November.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...ce-Sicily.html

I could be mistaken, but I wouldn't worry too much about Sicily. I think Puglia would be a concern.

The only concern would be the coastal towns which rely heavily on tourism.
You would be fine in coastal destinations such as Bari or Brindisi or Gallipoli, and inland places like Lecce, Ceglie, and even Ostuni and Cisternino. Keep ion mind that things close down Sunday nights and Mondays in many towns and cities......important if you are booking restaurants.

Sicily would be great in November if weather complies. Again, you would find closures only is coastal "resort" towns.
Coastal destinations such as Siracusa and Trapani and Palermo would be excellent.

I would avoid Cefalu, Aeolian islands, anyplace which has "Marina di..." in the name. But a first timer would not likely to be venturing to those spots in any case.
Palermo and Catania are excellent in November!!!! And Trapani.....anyplace with a majority of full-time residents.

And you will avoid the heat in cities such as Ragusa and Noto, and Siracusa, and Agrigento (city and archeological sites) which can be brutal in summer months.

No visitor to Puglia should miss a minimum of two nights in the adjacent region of Basilicata, in the city of Matera, about an hour from Bari by car and accessible by public transport as well.
This city is a highlight of my many visits to both Sicily and Puglia.

The cathedral of Cefalu, along with that of Monreale, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Seems worth visiting to me!

As I said, I would not plan a visit to Cefalu in November; there are so many UNESCO (15, I believe) sites in Sicily that I would avoid those in coastal "resort" towns in November, unless you have unlimited time. For me, Monreale would be a must. But we do not know enough about your interest to know if cathedrals are among them....(??)

To see the Cathedral, perhaps do this on a stop over en route to or from Palermo. I would not spend more than a day in Cefalu in November,and that would be my own maximum.

Of course, my opinions are only that, my personal opinions. The winds on the northern coast of the island can hamper enjoyment but perhaps you will get very lucky and have a glorious November day...

It's fascinating to read the wind patterns on the island.....so many winds with so many different names!



And wait..are you planning to visit both Puglia And Sicily in three weeks?
If so, I would cross Cefalu off the list.


As I mentioned, concentrate on larger towns with less resort influx......spend some days in Lecce, for example.
Off the beaten path would be some towns in the Salento of Puglia such as Ruffano and Specchia.... but those are smaller inland towns which would be very quiet but you would revel in the local life and certainly find plenty of places to eat.......I would go there, for example, over Castro if you are heading that far south in Puglia. Better yet, include three days in Matera and if you want a really untouristed place, which I predict will become much more v visited by tourists in near future, head for TURSI, an hour from Matera in Basilicata. THAT is a place to see, and there are many towns unknown to foreign tourists in that area of Basilicata...full disclosure is that Basilicata is among my favorite areas of the Mezzogiorno; towns like Senise and Pisticchi, for example, would put you far away from tourists and into local life....... Not much of a detour coming from Sicily.

How do you plan to get around..car? Train/bus????? For me, I would always choose car to make the most of limited time...

Please see the book:

SEASONS OF BASILICATA

https://www.amazon.com/Seasons-Basilicata-Southern-Italian-Village/dp/0060531118



We visited some non-touristed towns in Basilicata (we love the area round Senise and highly recommend spending a night in Tursi, (and visiting the abandoned town of Craco en route to Matera) and Puglia, and Molise (the region that "does not exist," according to some Italians!!!) about a year ago.... Molise is the newest region of Italy that, in comparison to other regions, does not get the influx of tourists..

Maybe there is some helpful info in my report, here; note that we traveled by rented car through northern Puglia, the Gargano (not recommended in November) and, among other places, coastal and inland Molise, before heading to inland Lazio...



https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/live-very-brief-report-on-a-few-southern-italian-destinations-1717484/

There is, of course, no need for you to visit Cefalu -- and even if you do, there's no need to spend a night. Cefalu is about 1 or 1.5 hours from Palermo by public transportation, so even a visit of a few hours is easily possible.

Thank you kja

Thanks so much ekscunchy. Great advice.

Thank you. I think she just means to avoid it in November.

Thanks so much for all this information. Yes our plan was to travel by rental car. We have decided to wait and do this trip in late spring or early fall another year. It will be a big help to have this info then.

Spring is lovely in Sicily!

we've been to Sicily in October (twice) and Puglia in May, and had wonderful weather all around. Even late October was pretty warm in Sicily!

travel between Sicily and Puglia might be a bit of a hassle, unless you don't mind a very long drive before or after taking the car ferry between the mainland and Sicily.

We went to Sicily about 6 years ago my husband‘s families from there, first generation. I’m with you. I love to do things like all the activities you mentioned but for Sicily I admit we did mainly stick with various “touristy” things. It just was the way Sicily is set up to visit. We tried to do, some out of the box things like seeing an opera and Taormina ( loved it), had a private tour of the temples of Agrigento, which are beyond amazing. Even had dinner by candlelight outside from the hotel where we could see all the temples lit up, very romantic. We had a private driver take us through Sicily because first of all my husband didn’t want to drive and second of all, we wanted to stop and his families hometown and we both wanted to see the sites during the drive instead of focusing on the drive itself. Also stop by Villa Romana del Casale to see the mosaics. Another unbelievable view of something so intact from the 4th century(?). We loved Taormina, some people I believe put it down probably because if there is a cruise ship in town that day, it might make the town unmanageable, but there wasn’t one when we were there. Enjoy it it’s a beautiful country.

Thanks so much for your help everyone. We have decided not to visit Sicily in Nov. We will wait and do it in May of October. It sounds wonderful so would rather do it at a better time.