Sicily 10 days
 

We plan to spend about 10 days in Sicily and dont want to hire a car. Thought we would fly into Catania and try and see that area from Taormina down to Syacuse and what ever we can see. Noto, Ragusa, Piazza Aremina. Spend a couple of nights in Taormina and then go to Palermo for about 4-5 nights to see all we can from there. Where would be the best
area to spend most time on the east coast. We hope to be able to use the bus services. Fly out of Palermo. We have called into Catania on a ship and went to Mt Etna but have not seen anything else. Any help appreciated.

Hi!
It could be difficult visit sicily with buses and trains but, with a good planning, you can do it!
This could be an itinerary:
Day 1 arriving in catania and visit the city, in the evening take a train to siracuse that is the best place on the east cost to use as a base for your day trip.
Day 2 day trip to ragusa: see the old town, called ragusa ibla, it's fantastic
Day 3 day trip to noto
Day 4 day trip to piazza armerina or modica: maybe modica is better to visit without car and is a beautiful town where there's a very tipical kind of chocolate,
Day 5 visit siracuse and, in the afternoon or evening go to taormina
Day 6 visit taormina
Day 7 go to palermo and visit the city
Day 8 visit what you want to see in that area ( cefalú is a good place )
Day 9 visit the area near palermo
Day 10 fly home
In palermo go to the market vucciria that is very nice to see.

Add a night at Agrigento.
Frequent buses and trains from Palermo, less from the East coast.

Spend more time in Palermo so that you can visit Agrigento and Monreale. The itinerary above is OK but I would take a day from the east coast to add to Palermo.

I know you don't want a car but Sicily is much easier to navigate with a car for at least a few days.

You will absolutely love Sicily!

We had no problem getting around Sicily with public transportation:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-november.cfm

You may enjoy this. We loved Sicily.

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

There have been a few threads in recent years on visiting Sicily using public transportation -- check Marija's and look for others.

With only 10 days, you will need to be selective, particularly given that you plan to rely on public transportation -- but you should be able to see some wonderful things in that time.

I found The Rough Guide to Sicily particularly helpful - it has great maps, excellent coverage of sites, and more information about public transportation options than most guidebooks.

Do not miss Monreale or Agrigento and definitely do NOT miss Bob's photos! :-)

Thank you all for your advice and the photos are great bob especially the one of you getting some culture. I only hope my photos are as good.

This thread might help you get around if you don't get a car. It's a bit old, so any prices will have changed, but links should still be good for the transport options.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...sportation.cfm