Sicily in March - Itinerary Feedback
 

We are two well traveled couples in our early 60's from California, looking to travel to Sicily in March 2024. We like walking around small quaint towns, relaxing with a view, wineries, eating, drinking, basically just absorbing the atmosphere of the place. We like a bit of time in a city if it has great food and ambience, but we're no longer that interested in hiking, ruins, or museums, although popping into a beautiful church here or there is okay. We prefer to stay a few nights in each place and taking each day as it comes, and we don't want to be driving too long each day. We tried to limit the driving to about 2 hours each time we change towns, allowing for stops along the way without arriving too late to our destination. I have us breaking up the stay between Ragusa and Trapani with one night in Agrigento, but to be honest, we have no interest in seeing the ruins, so if there's any other place that might be a better fit for us, I'm open to suggestions. Since it will be March, beach days aren't really something we're interested in, although we do love a good fishing village. What we're hoping for is a different vibe in each location...city, hill towns, rural, coastal, etc.

Saturday 3/16 - Fly into Catania, Stay 1 night to recover from jet lag

Sunday - Drive to Ragusa - Stay 4 nights (any suggested stops for a nice lunch?)

Thursday 3/21 - Drive to Agrigento - Stay 1 night (somewhere else?)

Friday 3/22 - Drive to Trapani - Stay 4 nights (we will probably want to stop at some wineries, salt pans, or something on this route)

Tuesday 3/26 - Drive to Palermo, drop off car, Train to Cefalu - Stay 2 nights (should we drop the car in Trapani and train all the way to Cefalu instead?)

Thursday 3/28 - Train back to Palermo - Stay 3 nights

Sunday 3/31 - Flight Home from Palermo

Driving from Catania to Ragusa the best place to stop is Ortigia Island off of Siracusa. We spent a week there and once you are there, you will wish that you had booked a few nights. Our favorite place in Sicily.
Ragusa, Noto and Modica are good choices.
Agrigento- the Valley of the Kings- you do not have to walk up to each of the temples but can stand back and observe them. If you stay, do NOT book a hotel up the hill in the city itself. There are nice hotels down near the temples. The west side of Sicily is not as well off as the east side and some of the towns are a little sketchy. Skip Casteltrevano.
Visit Trapani, Erice, and then go up to the west of Palermo where there are much nicer towns.. And Palermo is wonderful to explore.

Yes, I have read such great things about Ortigia, and I suppose I could swap our time in Cefalu for Ortigia instead. Hmm. Being that we will be there in March, we won't likely get out on the water, so that affected my decision somewhat. But I will have to consider that change....

Thank you for the tip about booking a hotel down near the temples. Observing them is definitely more our style lol.

Ragusa Ibla is wonderful, but you may find four nights, especially in March, might be too many.

No interest in Taormina? March should be a good time to go there before the crowds. I second the mention of Ortigia. And, Cefalu is one of our favorite places in Sicily. Our first time in Sicily a dozen or so years ago was all via train. We flew into Palermo, then Cefalu, and on to Taormina, with a day trip to Ortigia. We flew out of Catania. You would probably have time to stay in all four, just in reverse of what we did. You certainly don't need or want a car in Palermo.

The three times we have been in Sicily, during the past year, all involved a car, including the month of May. A lengthy report on that trip can be found here, if interested: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...icily-1708079/

I have a lot of interest in Taormina but we some men who get grumpy in the touristy spots, lol. However you make a good point that in March it may be a good time to visit. So if you think four nights (3 days) might be too much in Ragusa, then maybe I should reconsider. But the men in our group don’t like a lot of moving around, nor do they like long day trips. What I need are some spots that they can opt out and stay back while we women take off and explore for a half day or so.

Do you think we should skip the Trapini area and the west completely then? Will we find enough wineries, olive groves, etc. on the east side? From what I’ve read, that side seems to have more red wines and since I’m not a big fan of whites, that’s what drew me over there. Palermo to Cefalu to Taormina to Ragusa certainly seems like an easier route, even if we add in Ortigia (or visa versa), but does that allow us to see a good variety of landscapes and small villages?

I had read that you had a good trip report so I thank you for the link, I’m eager to read it!

Ragusa Ibla: Grumpy men might get really bored in Ragusa Ibla, especially in March. We loved our day there, but it is quiet and small. Ortigia might be a better fit, or again even Taormina for just settling in. I think you might appreciate a little activity, and you have access to a lot of places.

Trapani: We did a separate trip to Trapani (and landed at their airport) a number of years ago. We enjoyed our day trips to Segesta and Selinunte and Erice. I think you would much prefer the east, although sometimes it can be crowded in summer. The trip you are describing seems best between Palermo and Ortigia.

Red Wines: Etna has red and white wines. Our distant relatives, north of Etna, have mostly red grapes and produce a great red wine for personal use (about 1500 bottles worth this year, and we helped). We visited the Gambino Winery (not far from Taormina), and we enjoyed their reds as well as whites.

Okay, I think I’m going to take your advice and stick to Palermo and the east. Which direction would you suggest?

Also, when driving from Cefalu to Taormina (or reverse), should we take the coastal road up through Messina? Or should we cut off through another town or road? Or take A19?

Coastal route is nice, more distance but quicker due to those mountain roads. We had quite the experience trying to follow a GPS shortcut across the mountains. It is in our trip report between Lipari and Savoca. We don't recommend.

Either direction works. I would figure out best airfares and base your decision on that. We now often go in and out of just Catania because the two airports are only about 2.5 hours apart. As big as Sicily is, that's not much.

What do you think about flying into Comiso airport? I see Ryan Air flies there. It seems I can get a driver from the airport to Ragusa. Then I'm thinking a driver or self drive from Ragusa to Ortigia would take us through some pretty countryside (as I noticed from your trip report...).

I'm trying to decide if its worth driving from Ortigia to Taormina, or if it's better to take a train? It just seems like in most towns we're probably going to, we won't need a car, but the destinations between the towns is where we might want a car? But I'm not so sure on that route.

And the same issue between Taormina to Cefalu....that seems to be a long train ride, but maybe more relaxing than driving? My husband no longer wants to do much driving, but he's also not comfortable with other people's driving skills, even his friends, lol.

You obviously can see a lot more with a car. I believe once you get off of the Agrigento to Palermo to Cefalu to Taormina to Siracusa rail line, it's almost better to take a bus (and that's not my thing). Having said that, if you can keep your trip along that line, rail travel would be very welcome.

The guys, from what you say, might be okay with that route and be able to settle in some great places. Because rental car prices have gotten so high, you might be able to get some taxi excursions to cover enough trips for not a lot more than a rental car, gas, and insurance. Driving the train route is fine and easy; there is a decent autostrada. But the country and mountain areas require a bit more challenge for someone who doesn't want to do a lot of driving. In Taormina, for example, there is plenty to see and do. You can easily hire affordable excursions from there to Mt. Etna, Godfather towns and locations, and I assume local wineries. Our first trip a dozen or more years ago, we relied on train and a driver. It worked for us.

Keep in mind if you are spending a lot of time in Ortigia, Taormina, Cefalu and Palermo, parking can be difficult and expensive and driving sometimes not so easy. I just got my ticket from last fall for driving over the wrong bridge, I think, coming onto Ortigia on an empty road at night.

As for Comiso airport, if rates and schedules work, that would be great. Have you ever looked at this website?: https://www.rome2rio.com It's a great starting point for figuring out travel options and is generally reliable, although you need to double-check pricing.

Yes, I use Rome2Rio all the time :)

So one last question. I'm thinking Ragusa, Ortigia, Taormina, Cefalu and Palermo now. A mix of private drivers and trains (drivers so we don't have to have a car in these cities). If I can't get all my travel partners on board for 3 nights in each (or some mix of that since we have 15 nights), and instead they would prefer to only choose 4 stops. Which one would you leave out? I feel like Ragusa has its own vibe with the hill towns and all that, Palermo for a city, Taormina because...Taormina, but Cefalu and Ortigia are both coastal towns so I'm thinking if I had to, I would skip one of those in order to add those days onto the other 4 somewhere. Which one between those two would you sacrifice for the other?

I would keep Ortigia. You can always have the option of a train trip from Palermo to Cefalu (a little over an hour). Options from Ragusa to Ortigia not as good. And, is there a reason why March? May is a much nicer month weather-wise and perhaps a little busier (and maybe more seasonal stuff open).I've never been in Italy, or Sicily in March, so perhaps someone else can comment on that.

Yeah actually the reason we want to go in March is that this past year we built a house in Southern California overlooking a vineyard. A pricey and exhausting endeavor, especially with all the Covid increases in costs. Plus my daughter just got married so that added to our spending as well. And due to that, we reached Americans Platinum Pro status and it will end March 31 of 2024. We really just want to take advantage of the lounge perks (and potential flight upgrades), and take a trip before it expires. Silly probably, lol. But we are also going to Croatia in May of this year. So yes, May is when we typically travel to Europe, mostly for the nice weather, but we’re okay with a little cooler temps as well.