jfenton

Hi There,

I'm a solo Canadian traveler, and will be spending 4 days in Sicilia (likely flying into Catania, but I could fly into Palermo if needed). I've been all over Italy, but never to Sicily. I need help planning a 4-5 day itinerary.

How much time do I have? 4 full days
When? End of July/August
Where? ANYWHERE in Sicilia, but ideally accessible by plane as I'll be coming from spain or napoli.

- I much prefer smaller towns. It's where I've always spent time in the north of italy. I can rent a car, but need a rough idea of an itinerary. I've been to taormina for a day and have thought of using that as a "base" and moving around. But I know there are many parts of sicily. I love parks/hikes if that is possible to find here.

Any help/tips would be much appreciated!

sundriedtopepo

Hi jfenton, In 4 days you will only be able to explore one small corner of Sicily.
You could use Syracuse as a base and visit Taormina, and the baroque towns of Noto, Ragusa, or Modica in a day trip.

You could fly into Palermo, head to Castellamare del Golfo, explore Segesta's Greek temple, the mountaintop town of Erice, the Park Zingaro, and Trapani.

Or fly into Catania and head for the Aeolian Islands.

It will be hot in Sicily at the end of August, as you probably realize.

kja

4 days is very very little for Sicily, and as sundriedtopepo notes, it will be VERY hot. IMO, the options that sundriedtopepo suggests are WAY too ambitious -- JMO (sorry, sundried!). For example, with 4 days, I might try to visit Palermo with NO day trips (except, of course, to Monreale -- but I don't think of that as being "outside" Palermo), or Ortygia with a day trip to Noto and nothing else.

But it really depends on what YOU want to see and why YOU want to go to this magnificent island that can easily merit 2.5 or 3 weeks. If you haven't already done so, get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

I would NOT recommend using Taormina as a base. For one thing, it is not particularly convenient for parking, roads, or public transportation. For another thing, although the views can be fantastic, the town itself can be quite unpleasantly packed with tourists during the day.

If you want small towns and hiking, consider the Aeolians. Or consider an alternative to Sicily.

Hope that helps!

sundriedtopepo

My suggestion for Palermo does not include any time in Palermo, as the OP mentioned preferring small towns to big cities ....

Jfenton, my feeling is that you will want to return to Sicily another time after this brief taste.

sandralist

I'm sure you already understand that you are only going to see a part of Sicily in 4 days, and even if you spent 4 weeks you would still not get to see it all. For some reason, Sicily mentally overwhelms a great many people, and they don't understand going unless they go for weeks at a time. But actually it is quite an enjoyable place for short hops of a week or less, and many Europeans treat Sicily as they do every other destination in Europe -- enjoy what you can, because unless you are moving their, it is an illusion you've "done" Sicily (or Provence or Tuscany) by organzing a 3-week tourist march.

For me, in July and August, I would really want a bolt-hole from the heat. I would head into the mountains above Palermo/Cefalu, and visit small towns there. Check out Polizzi Generosa, the twin Petralia towns, Soprana and Sottana, Gangi, Castellana Sicula, Castelbuono, and Isnello.

MyriamC

For me, in July and August, I would only want to be near (or in) the sea. But ... August being holiday time for Italians and Sicilians, it will be very crowded everywhere along the coast.

sandralist

Here is a nice article about the town of Gangi, one of the towns that I mentioned in my post above:

http://www.italiannotebook.com/places/gangi/

MyriamC

@sandralist
A few years ago houses in Gangi were offered for sale at 1 euro. By doing this, the city council hoped to find buyers who want to restore the ruinous houses.
Gangi, and the Madonie National Park in general, is a very pretty area indeed.

sandralist

I had read about those 1 euro sales. Sorry I missed out!

jfenton

@Sandralist - thank you so much!

Where would be a good place to stay? Each night a different place, or is there a good "base" where I can stay, and then drive to different towns each day?

russ_in_LA

I agree with kja, with only 4 full days, I would focus on either Palermo (with perhaps an overnight in Agrigento - it's a 2.5 hour drive each way), or the east coast, seeing Taormina, Ortigia and Noto.

Having said that, here is a 4 day 5 night trip we did 20 years ago, when I was a lot younger and more energetic (and it was winter, so it wasn't hot).

Palermo - 2 nights - Our one full day focused on the Catocombe dei Cappuccini crypt, La Martorana church, Monreale (don't miss it) and the Palatine Chapel (amazing!)

Picked up a car the next day and drove 1 hour to see the temple at Segesta, another hour to the temple at Selinunte and 2 hours to Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.

Hotel right next to Valley of the temples - 1 night - touring the temples a couple hours when we go there, and a couple more the next morning.

The next day we drove 1.5 hours to the Villa Romana del Casale (a must!) and then 2 hours to Taormina

Taormina - 2 nights - and here is what's really insane...we spent our one full day seeing Ortigia and Noto (1.5 hours there and back), although we did have half a day in Taormina on arrival and again the day we left, plus two evenings.

Let me be clear, I don't recommend this itinerary, and it's not the way I prefer to travel, but in my recollection, we were really happy with what we saw. They were long, full days, but it was a really good trip. I think you will want to pick half of what we did for your trip, and in the summer maybe less than that, but this will give you an idea of drive times and where you might want to focus your attention. Have fun!

kja

OMG, Russ_in_LA -- BYHs! And I thought I traveled hard.... ;-)

kja

The OP has posted a new thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-palermo.cfm

sandralist

jfenton,

I think any one of the small towns would be a nice place to stay if you have a car.

If you want to see a little of Palermo, do it before you rent the car or after you've ditched it.

I'm not sure why people are insisting you go on a sightseeing itinerary of cities and monuments when you stated a preference for small towns.