Hello,

My wife and I will be traveling to Sicily the end of May (flying into Palermo and out of Catania) and will be there for 16 days.
After reading through numerous helpful posts (Vagabonda is a saint) we’ve assembled the following itineraries and would welcome any perspective in terms of time spent in various places and the feel and pace of the trip. The only real difference between Option I and II is Noto and Ragusa vs. the Salina/Aeolian Islands, and two nights vs. 3 nights in Ortigia

I’m also trying to figure out the best method for Transportation. After staying in Palermo, we plan on getting a rental car and using it for the remainder of our trip if we stick with Option I. However, if we go to Salina/Aeolian Islands (Option II) we would leave the car behind-perhaps return it in Milazzo and then rent a car after the islands or complete the trip by train and bus.
Thank you in advance for your advice and perspective

Option I

Palermo 4 nights

Trapani 3 nights

Cefalu 1 night

Madonie Mountains (Castelbuono or Gangi) and stay in an agriturismo 2 nights

Noto or Ragusa 2 nights

Ortigia 3 nights

Catania 1 day/night

Depart from Catania .

Option II

Palermo 4 nights

Trapani 3 nights

Cefalu 1 night

Madonie Mountains (Castelbuono or Gangi) and stay in an agriturismo 2 nights

Salina (via Milazzo) 3 nights

Ortigia 2 nights

Catania 1 day/night

Depart from Catania

From Trapani, be sure to drive out in the countryside to see Segesta. And from Palermo, go visit Monreale.

From Trapani also make sure to visit Erice. (Nice to see someone else visiting Trapani.)

For me, the more time in Ortygia the better. Whether you want to visit Noto and Ragusa rather than an island depends on how you feel about baroque.

I prefer Option 1 but give Ortigia at least more day. You can visit Noto as a day trip from Ortigia.

Thanks for your responses! We plan on taking day trips from both Palermo and Trapani (Erice, Segesta, Marsala, possibly even the Egadi Islands). Perhaps including Egadi/Favignana would help compensate for missing out on the Aeolian Islands/Salina. Taking HappyTRvlr advice we could add another day to Ortigia and make Noto and Ragussa a day trip- and then add another day to Trapani.

We're doing a similar itinerary in the fall, but we've already spent time in Palermo so are leaving it out this time, and heading to Western Sicily right from the airport. We're also flying out of Catania, but will spend the previous 3 nights in Ortigia and simply drive to the airport in the morning and drop the rental car off, rather then spending the night in Catania.

I do not see any evidence of seeing places like Villa Casale:

https://flic.kr/p/8hReHh
or visiting the ceramic town of Caltagirone:

https://flic.kr/p/8hN2w6