Sicily & Southern Italy Itinerary help
 

Thank you, all who helped with the Puglia portion (I'll give you a more detailed plan later). After dropping my Grandmother at the Bari airport on Dec. 5th I am off for another 3 weeks with a friend. Here's what I'm thinking for a very rough outline:

Day 13 Fly to Taormina Siciliy
Day 14 Taormina Siciliy
Day 15 Cefalù Siciliy
Day 16 Cefalù Siciliy
Day 17 Segesta Siciliy
Day 18 Segesta Siciliy
Day 19 Segesta Siciliy
Day 20 Modica Siciliy
Day 21 Modica Siciliy
Day 22 Noto Siciliy
Day 23 Noto Siciliy
Day 24 Siracusa Siciliy
Day 25 Siracusa Siciliy
Day 26 Siracusa Siciliy
Day 27 Fly to Naples
Day 28 Naples
Day 29 Naples
Day 30 Amalfi Coast
Day 31 Amalfi Coast
Day 32 Cilento Coast
Day 33 Cilento Coast **CHRISTMAS DAY***
Day 34 Cilento Coast
Day 35 Maratea (or somewhere near?)
Day 36 Maratea
Day 37 Back to Naples, fly to Rome, return home

There are infinite options, I know. I had thought I'd go to Calabria, but it just is not sounding appealing in the middle of winter.

Questions:
-Do I drop Maratea/surroundings and add days elsewhere?
-Has anyone been in these areas around Christmas, and if so, where would you suggest being for those notoriously dead days? (Also, what's the food situation on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and St. Stephens?)
-Are any of these towns too buttoned up for winter? Bigger cities will, of course, be lively, but I'm worried about Amalfi/Cilento. Will there be restaurants and hotels open in December in Amalfi and Cilento?

About us: pair of high energy women in our early/mid-30's, very fit and as happy to walk for hours as we are to sit and read while watching the passeggiata, priorities are food, wine, and, beauty, we'll have a car and like a good road trip.

Day 27 you are flying out of Catania?

Re: Sicily:
I don’t believe you can fly to Taormina. Maybe you are flying into Catania?
3 days for Segesta seems a lot to me
Both Modica and Noto? You must LOVE Baroque architecture!
2 days for Noto is a LOT
Stay in Ortygia, not Siracusa
No time in Palermo?
No time in Agrigento?
Will you visit the Villa Romana del Casale?

Re: Naples and the Amalfi Coast:
2 days for Naples is VERY little
2 days for the Amalfi Coast is VERY little
No time for Capri or Salerno or Paestum?

Note that we need to know at least something of your interests if we are to comment with any intelligence.

As said above, don't forget Palermo, Agrigento, Casale and may be Selinunte.
It doesn't make much sense to fly to Naples if you want to visit Maratea.
I don't think that the Cilento coast will be very interesting in December. Naples woould be a much better choice.
I don't think that you can fly from Naples to Rome FCO.

Agree with much of what kja posts. For visiting Segesta you could also see Erice and Scopello and even Trapani, but I don't think basing in Segesta is the best choice.
I wonder what's even open on the Amalfi Coast that time of the year. We were there in early April one year and it was just beginning to open up. Ditto for Maratea and Cilento. We visited there in May of last year and it was pretty deserted in most places. While wild & beautiful just not sure about visiting there in December. I'd put more time in Naples and add Palmero. Also agree do not miss Villa Romana del Casale.

Last May we flew into Naples, drove to the Cliento coast for a few days and then onto Sicily. On the return we stayed in Maratea (second time we did that). It worked just fine, but again, in December, don't know what the weather would be in either place.

Don't think you can fly into Taormina, but you can fly Naples to FCO.

This is really helpful feedback - thanks for the thoughtful responses.

For the NW corner of Sicily which town is the best base? I'd read that Segesta has a great passeggiata which is what drew me there, but Erice seems really lovely as well.

Between Modica and Noto, which is better for a base? My preference is always a two-night minimum. Instead of two nights each should I do three nights in one or just two?

Palermo - I've read such mixed things and that if you only have two weeks to skip it and focus on the rest of Sicily instead. I could swap the Amalfi and Cilento coasts in favor of Palermo. In which case, fly into Palermo and play in the city before renting a car and exploring the rest of Sicily.

I plan on Agrigento and Villa Romana del Casale for stops/day trips rather than overnights. Do either need more time than that?

kja - to add to the list of food, wine, and beauty I'd say that we appreciate art, have some level of interest in ancient history, and enjoy museums. Food and UNESCO sights are always my priorities.

Palermo is one of those cities that people seem to either love or hate. I loved its vibrant, dynamic energy and its wealth of glorious and varied architecture, among other things. Its archeology museum is excellent, and its small art museum -- the Palazzo Abatellis -- has a few outstanding pieces. And IMO, Palermo has a wonderful passeggiata. Even if you skip Palermo, the cathedral of Monreale is one of Sicily's most magnificent treasures.

I didn't visit Modica; Noto can easily be visited from Siracusa (although there is something special about it in the evening light and after day trippers have left).

I spent 5 or 6 hours visiting the ruins of Agrigento and another 1.5 hour or so in its museum (not to mention time roaming the city's medieval streets. Your call whether that would work for you as a day trip.

bubblywine - our trip is very imminent - from 9-19 September - so if you can wait a couple of weeks or so, I'll be able to give you a better idea of what I think. however at first glance, your Sicily itinerary seems to require a lot of backtracking - if you can fly into Catania and out of Palermo I think this would be better:

Day 13 Fly to Catania, train/drive/bus to Siracuse, stay in Ortygia
Day 14 Ortygia
Day 15 Ortygia
Day 16 Modica/Noto
Day 17 Modica/noto
Day 18 Modica/Noto
Day 19 Agrigento
Day 20 Agrigento
Day 21 Piazza Armerina [for Villa Casale]
Day 22 Taormina
Day 23 Taormina
Day 24 Cefalu
Day 25 Cefalu
Day 26 Palermo
Day 27 Palermo
Day 28 Palermo
Day 29 fly to Naples etc.

I've given you longer in Sicily as I'm expecting that you will lose the stay on the Amalfi and the Cilento, and concentrate on Naples and Rome, both of which would reward far longer stays.

thinking about it there would be another day to do it too which might be better:

Day 13 Fly to Catania, train/drive/bus to Taormina,
Day 14 Taormina
Day 15 Drive to Siracuse, stay in Ortygia
Day 16 Ortygia
Day 17 Ortygia
Day 18 Modica/Noto
Day 19 Modica/Noto
Day 20 Agrigento via [for Villa Casale]
Day 21 Agrigento
Day 22 Cefalu
Day 23 Cefalu
Day 24 Palermo
Day 25 Palermo
Day 26 Palermo
Day 27 fly to Naples etc.

you could extend this with another day in Taormina, and/or Agrigento, and/or Noto/Modica. you could also stop in Enna or Piazza Armerina a night in order to see the Villa Casale without feeling rushed.