I've purchased 3 books of Sicily and as I mentioned in my other thread I made reservations in Ortigia and Taormina for the first 3 nights, from there ?? not sure yet.

I'll nip over to the other thread in a minute but on the subject of guide books, I just bought a second hand edition of the 2012 Blue Guide and I'm very impressed.

lots of good detail about the artistic and architectural aspects of Sicily just as one would expect of a Blue Guide, but they are clearly set out with lodging and restaurant recommendations as well.

Currently I have the Lonely Planet - Sicily, Insight Guide - Explore Sicily, National Geographic - Sicily and two maps of the Island. At this point I'm leaning towards 3 days in Ortygia, 3 days in Taormina, 5 days in Aeolian Islands.

Interesting choices! Just a couple of comments for your consideration:

While I thought that the views from Taormina could be breathtaking, I found it extremely unpleasant during the day, with (quite literally) shoulder-to-shoulder tourists in the main street -- and that was some years ago and in shoulder season (no pun intended). I'm glad I saw Taormina; I will never stay there again. JMO.

With this plan, you will miss most of Sicily's most famous Greek ruins (which are in Agrigento, Selinunte, and Sagesta). You will also miss the two sites that I found most magnificent in all of Sicily -- the cathedral of Monreale and the mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale. Perhaps those omissions are intentional...?

Kja, I know little about Sicily, and I don't know where to start from Catania. I know my daughter will like to swim most of the time and my son may like to hike as me. So as mentioned before I'm completely blind about logistics.

If by logistics you mean "how to get from place to place," rome2rio.com can be a great place to start.

If your goals are to swim and hike, the Aeolians could be a great choice. And I enjoyed Ortygia very much.

I'm sure that if you and your son and daughter look at those guidebooks, you'll each identify some things you want to see or do. And then you can figure out ways to build an itinerary that includes them. No right or wrong answers -- just what works for you and your family.

Hope that helps!

So what have you read in the 3 guidebooks that catches your interest? Sicily has so much to offer most planners have a very hard time decided what to cut!

Do you usually have difficulty making decisions? Maybe you could get your kids to give some input on what they would like to do. The 26 yr old is old enough to plan the whole trip. Why not let them gain some experience and take charge?

If you want to hike you don't want to be in touristy Taormina. Hiking means either Zingaro National Park in the west, or the hills behind Cefalu.

Personally I can't imagine going to Sicily and not seeing Villa Casale and Monreale, and probably Agrigento as well. And I would not pick Sicily at all if my primary interest were beaches.

We are going to Agrigento. I don't have difficulty making decisions, I just started the planning just last week after booking the tickets.

Great! Give yourselves plenty of time for these extensive and amazing ruins -- maybe 4 to 6 hours, and maybe an hour or two extra for the archeological museum there. Be sure to bring protection from the sun (sunscreen, hats) and lots of water. If possible, book one of the hotels that will give you an evening view over the temples, which are lit at night. :-) I thought the old part of the modern town -- with its twisting medieval streets and blinds and corners -- worthy of a stroll, too; not everyone makes time for that.

Lots of hiking, and beaches on the Aeolian Islands, good choice!

Whether to go to Taormina or not is a very personal choice; it seems people either love it or hate it. Florence, Venice, Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre are all very crowded; doesn't stop people from going there.
Taormina has the most idyllic views of anywhere we saw in Sicily. To me that's important.

Happy planning! Just choose the things that you and your 2 kids would enjoy and you're sure to have a good time.

The views from Taormina are good. But not good enough to spend three days there. Especially when there is so much else to see. And I'd put the views from Erice in the same class.

Thanks everybody. I got two more books from the library today and for logistic, yes I meant how I would get from point A to B, once I figure out which one those are. I love the views that's why I chose going to Taormina at least 3 nights. I don't know if I mentioned here, but we've been in Italy twice, both times almost 5 weeks and my kids, just hate the constant traveling, reason why I'm trying to keep it to a 3 night minimum and yes, I will rent a car, so I don't get killed while traveling with the constant on and off of trains.

These are the places I want to see for what I've read, Ortygia, Agrigento, Taormina, Aeolian Islands, Cefalu, Palermo, Trapani. Bare with me guys, I've been in the mainland and I could tell you what I want to see of the top of my head if you ask, but this time we are going to a different place I've never been.

Thursdaysd true enough, I might change that to 2 nights Taormina and 4 Ortigia, unless there is a plan to do Aetna from Taormina.

Pookymimi I'm so glad you're including Palermo, so many interesting things to see there.

I'm another fan of shifting time from Taormina to Ortygia!

And YEAH!! :-) to including Palermo -- a fascinating and dynamic city, well worth 3 or 4 or 5 nights, depending on what you want to do. :-)

BTW, I found trains and buses in Sicily very easy and convenient. By contrast, a car can be a real disadvantage in some locations. Once you have an itinerary in mind, I'm sure we can give you ideas about where you should and should not have a car.

No need to feel bad about not knowing what to see in advance -- many of us really "discovered" Sicily's wealth of options only after we began seriously considering a visit. Just look over your books and come back to us once you've come up with a plan. As already noted, there is SO much to see in Sicily that you'll get LOTS of pros and cons if you post destination by destination -- and part of what makes an itinerary reasonable or plausible from MY perspective is how it balances out over the course of your trip. So my advice for now: Keep up your research -- you are obviously making progress! -- check in if you have very specific questions, and then post a possible itinerary for comment. JMO.

We have from June 21st to June 13rd to discover Sicily. We may just skip Sorrento as we've been twice and just go straight to Pisa to fly to Barcelona to catch the flight to USA July 13th. I'm originally from Chile and my family is from Spain, Portugal and Italy, so we've been all over those countries before. I don't know if I should start in Sicily from East South first or North West, if I start in Ortygia maybe I should go to Agrigento first then go back to Taormina and Aelians and Cefalu. My son doesn't drive stick so I will do most of the driving and not sure how long I need to get from South to North area.

We all plan our trips in different ways, but FWIW (and it may not be much!), I NEVER try to plan a route until I've figured out what I want to see. Then I work out how to get from place to place, adjusting my destination wish-list as possible as I see what will and won't work. YMMV.

For driving times, see viamichelin.com Print a few cheap maps and lay things out on them.

I'm confused about your dates -- but I'm guessing June 21st to <b>JULY</b> 13th? If you fly out of Barcelona on July 13th, I would recommend that you get to Barcelona the day before, as I'm sure you don't want to risk missing your flight to the USA.

I think that gives you about 3 weeks in Sicily -- perfect! You and your son and daughter should be able to see quite a lot, and quite a range of wonderful things!

I could be wrong, but I hear a bit of panic in your messages, and really, it isn't necessary. Consult your books, consult your children, identify your priorities, think through some options. Until then, I'm very sorry, but I really don't have the time to keep checking in to just keep encouraging you to do that. Really, all of this information is readily available in your guidebooks and in trip reports and in prior planning threads. Consult them. :-)

Good luck!

<<These are the places I want to see for what I've read, Ortygia, Agrigento, Taormina, Aeolian Islands, Cefalu, Palermo, Trapani.>>
Logical would be Taormina --> Ortygia --> Agrigento --> (side-trip to Piazza Armerina for Villa Romana del Casale on the way to Agrigento) --> Trapani --> Palermo --> Cefalu' --> Aeolian Islands.
Total is about 800 kms.

Kja,
yes we arrive in Catania July 21st in Sicily until the 13th to Pisa July to fly back to Barcelona to catch plane July 15th to USA.
"I could be wrong, but I hear a bit of panic in your messages, and really, it isn't necessary"
I know that comes from English not being my first language, it's Catellano or Castilian Spanish I'm originally from Chile.

"Logical would be Taormina --> Ortygia --> Agrigento --> (side-trip to Piazza Armerina for Villa Romana del Casale on the way to Agrigento) --> Trapani --> Palermo --> Cefalu' --> Aeolian Islands."

MyriamC
that helps lots!, but shouldn't that put us back to fly from Catania, isn't it easier flying out from Palermo or Trapani?