We will be in Sicily for 8 days. Assume it is best to start in Palermo.
Any advice as to where to go and stay after that would be great.

Eight days is a very short time for Sicily, so you must prepare with great care in order to maximize your limited stay. I would split my stay between two locations, Palermo and either Taormina or Siracusa. I would devote two full days to Palermo, and take day trips to both Agrigento and Segesta/Erice. From Taormina, I would take day trips to Siracusa, Piazza Armerina and perhaps Lipari (Aeolian Islands). Day trips can be done either by rental car or by organized tour (Compagnia Siciliana Turismo). Travel between Palermo and Taormina or Siracusa could easily be by intercity bus. Departures are hourly from nearby the Palermo central train station.

From Palermo to Agrigento, you can travel by frequent train or intercity bus. From Taormina to Siracusa, you can similarly travel by either train or by bus (connecting in Catania). From Palermo to Taormina or Siracusa, you need to change buses in Catania.

Hi-I did 8 days in Sicily in May and had a great time. We focused primarily on the center and West Coast of the island. We had a rental car and drove around though Agrigento, Trapani, Marsala, Erice, Palermo, etc.
If you'd like to check out my trip for ideas, please see my website at
http://www.wired2theworld.com.
Click on the link to Sicily.
Also on my website, if you look at my around the world trip, there's 8 days in Sicily there from 1999 which focused on the East Coast of the island.
Have a great trip, it's a wonderful place!

Or you could do 4 days Palermo with day trips to Monreale and Segesta. Then you could head to somewhere on the southwest coast, (I stayed in Sciacca). On the way out of Palermo (if you have a rental car) you could stop in Erice. Once in the southwest you could do day trips to Selinunte and Agrigento. See my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34412340

See my trip report here dated 11/20. We had a bit more time (11 days), started in Taormina (a more relaxing start) but my report has hotel reviews and a guide recommendation for Syracusa. We also hired a guide for Palermo/Monreale (Marcella Amato e-mail: [email protected]). Private guides are expensive but we thought well worth it.

Valerie - would you mind saying what you paid for your guide in Palermo/Monreale, and what it included? (Which sights, transportation, number in your party, how long was the guide/tour, etc.)

I agree with GAC that splitting your stay between two places is best; I'd suggest Taormina and Palermo; you could even do without a car, as there are organized tours from Taormina to syracuse, Piazza armeria and agrigento;
imagine there are as well from Palermo.
you can take a city bus in Taormina up to the little town of Castelmolo, and the funicular down to the beach. we did have a car so I don't know how difficult public transportation between the two cities would be; other posters indicate that its not too bad.