AboveTheClouds

Hi,

We have changed our plans for this upcoming summer's 18-night July vacation and we are now booked on a return flight from Catania.

We have been to Sicily twice before over the last few years, driving through and visiting many parts of this island, including Palermo, Marsala and it's surrounding region, Cefalu, the Egadi Islands, Noto and Scicli, with day trips from these wonderful places, and we absolutely love this beautiful part of Italy.

For this summer (we will be renting a car) and we want to also include some time in Malta and Goza, and, as part of our Sicilian visit, we want to visit Ortigia and/or Taormina and also include some time in the southern part of Sicily, like Agrigento, where we can reserve a country resort where we can chill and still have plenty of day trips to choose from.

Questions:

- How many nights in Ortigia/Syracusa?
- Is Taormina worth a few nights?
- How many days in Malta and Gozo?
- Is Agrigento the place we should be considering or do you have any other suggestions for the southern part of Sicily?
- Should we stay in Catania a few nights before our flight leaves from home?

Thanks very much.

ATC

Michael

Piazza Armerina to visit the Villa Casale

https://flic.kr/p/8hReHh
and also visit Caltagiorne known for its ceramics

https://flic.kr/p/8YpLfy

HappyTrvlr

We spent a week on Ortigia and could have stayed longer. We will return there.
We stayed in Taormina two nights which was enough and won’t return there.
Be careful where you stay outside of Agrigento. We stayed near The Temples for two nights and enjoyed the location. We drove up the hill to the main town and did not linger long, not inviting at all, lots of homeless sitting in the streets. Western Sicily is much less advantaged than Eastern Sicily which is obvious when you visit.

neckervd

Taormina is fine if you are interested in Greek temples and in the very special beaches west of Porto Empedocle.
If you are not particularly interested in Gozo, you can well visit it in a day trip from Malta.
Taormina is the nicer place to stay than Catania. There are direct buses from Taormina to Catania airport.

ANUJ

I didnt see Ragusa, Modica or Etna in the places you listed from your prior trip, but I'd consider those.

We spent 3 nights in beautiful Ortigia and could have easily spent longer. Taormina deserves 2 days. It gets a bad rap on the forums for being touristy, but its enchanting (the Greek Theatre is unmissable) - and we also enjoyed our visit to Castelmola (bus to top, hike back down) and Isola Bella. I expect July may get very busy (and possibly taints the experience), we went in September.

A country resort near Agrigento that was highly recommended to us was Ciuci's Manor-an absolutely gorgeous property. As ours was a quickfire visit only focused on The Valley of Temples (wow!) we didnt end up staying here, opting for a B&B in Agrigento itself.

AboveTheClouds

Hi. I really appreciate all of your help.

We just changed our flights to arrive in Malta and then return from Catania. Big picture, we are considering five nights in Malta (last night at the Xara Palaca Chateau in Mdina), then five nights in Gozo and then 8 nights in Sicily. This may not give us enough time to get to Agrigento, but we are thinking of three nights in Taormina and five nights in a country or seaside resort near to Ortigia/Catania so we can either relax or take day trips to the sites/cities in the area.

How does this sound?

ATC

AboveTheClouds

And is Catania worth a few nights?

adlmllr

We really loved Taormina and found enough to hold our interest on both visits. It's a great walking town/area, though much of the walking requires navigating hilly terrain via steep roads and/or steps. Staying overnight for a few days allows you to enjoy early morning and later evening strolls without the throngs of tourists. We also loved Ortigia and would not miss an opportunity to stay there again -- I think that staying in a nearby resort area sounds lovely, but there's something magical about staying in Ortigia itself. Perhaps work in a day trip to the Vendicari reserve and Marzamemi?
Finally, with respect to Agrigento, we really wanted to see the temples and found it totally worth staying overnight and getting an early start on our visit. We didn't go to the archeological museum or the Kolymbetra gardens. At that time, 2019, it was still possible to visit the Scala dei Turchi, and it was an easy drive from Agrigento.

AboveTheClouds

Hi,

We have decided to spend our 8 nights in Sicily by spending 6 nights on the island of Salina then 2 nights in Catania before flying home.

One question about our stay in Malta:

- for our first 4 nights in Malta, should we be staying in Valetta or in the Three Cities, like Birgu?

Thanks