My husband and I are going to be in Sicily for 5 nights starting October 5th. We land in Tripani at 10am and are planning to spend the first day driving down the West Coast and staying overnight in Agrigento. We are spending the next day driving across to Siracusa but were thinking about staying the night up near Mt. Etna. Two nights in that area followed by two night somewhere on the coast heading back towards Tripani with a beach. We need some help with where we should stay and whether our itinerary seems ok. We are trying to go budget- about $100 per night. We love unique accommodations with a lot of character. Any suggestions are welcome!

Aren't you going to see anything? Just Agrigento and Mt. Etna, and the rest just driving and on the beach (which October is somewhat late for)? IMO, it's not worth going to Sicily for that purposes. Sicily is full of wonderful sights, of which you are just including an arbitrary choice of two.

You will be driving near Selinunte after you land. I would not miss it--we liked it better than Agrigento.

Can you recommend a better itinerary that would be five days landing in Trapani at 10am on the first day and out of Trapani at 10am on the 6th day?

Suggestion :
Spend the first day in Trapani and visit Erice and Segeste.
Dat 2 : Drive to Agrigento via Marsala and the salt pans. Visit Selinunte, Eraclea Minoa and spend the night in Agrigento.
Day 3: visit Agrigento, drive to Siracusa via Caltanissetta
Day 4 : Siracusa and Notto
Day 5 : drive back to Trapani either via Enna and Cefalu or via Modica and Ragusa.

I would stay west with such a short time, and include Trapani, Monreale, Selinunte, Agrigento, Erice, and the coast around Scopello. I might even drop Agrigento and add Segesta and keep a very tight loop.

Another vote for Trapani and Erice (click on my name for my Sicily TR). I'd also highly recommend Monreale, and see nothing wrong with visiting Palermo. If you really want a beach day you could visit Cefalu from Palermo.

Within 20 minutes of Siracusa is the <i>agriturismo</i> Lemoneto.

You might want to read my trip report.

Personally, I think Erice is terribly overrated, and I certainly wouldn't skip Agrigento, which is one of Sicily's main sights. Otherwise, I second Bob's advice.

Thank yu everyone for your suggestions. My husband is anxious to see Mt. Etna. Thoughts on how to include that?

<Thoughts on how to include that?>
The best solution would be to stay at least five days longer.

"Thank yu everyone for your suggestions. My husband is anxious to see Mt. Etna. Thoughts on how to include that?"

We spent two weeks in Sicily in early October a few years back, and never did get to see Etna as it was always covered in cloud. The obvious point being that if you set aside a day or two, then ther is still no guarantee of being able to see it.