Sicily Itinerary
 

I'm making my first trip to Sicily and wanted to get some feedback on the itinerary. We're going in late October. Meridiana seems to have good flights from Milan to fit my needs and budget.
Planning to fly into Palermo and spend 3 nights - 1 day touring Palermo, 1 day in Cefalu area and 1 day in Agrigento. Then we'll drive over to Taormina for 3 nights and do 1 day in Taormina, with day trips to Mt Enta (can you do it in 1 day?), and possibly a day in Siracusa and then fly out of Catania.
Am I hitting the high spots and basing my place in the appropriate location?

Yes. WE did almost the same thing in May except we skipped Palermo. We chose to do Ericia instead and loved it. We also skipped Cefalu :(.

Etna is doable in one day. We loved Taormina and there weren't many tourists there at the time. IMHO, it was the most beautiful spot in Sicily. We also did the interior more because we had a car and are interested in the ceramics of the area.
Cheers,
Jan

I loved Palermo. Stayed at the Jolly Hotel, five minute walk from the railway station and bus terminus and it is the only one in Palermo with a pool. The hotel is by the port and on the outskirts of the old town, which is fascinating. The hotel has a complimentary shuttle bus into the new town every evening. Stayed 3 nights and still did not see everything. Took the train to Agrigento, quite slow, which is about a third of the way to Taormina, so again stayed at a Jolly hotel there, right by the temples. Got a very good rate at these hotels, 99€ for a double room, including taxes and breakfast. Then continued to Taormina by bus; safe, clean, comfortable, cheap and efficient. Worth the fare just for the views that you get from being higher up than in a car. Stayed in Giadini-Naxos, which is at the bottom of the hill. Loads of hotels and a pleasant beach and you are out of the tourist trap. A very frequent bus service up to Taormina, which is about 3km away. If you are renting a car, be warned that in the towns it is everyone for themselves. Nowhere to park, so cars are abandoned on pavements and double parked and beware of the scooters!
Sicily is a captivating island and I am sure you will return.

To answer your question: yes, you are hitting the high spots. Most of them would probably deserve another day or two, but you have to do what you can in the time you have.

I would definitely choose Palermo over Erice; Erice is picturesque, but there is basically nothing to do there, whereas Palermo is full of things to see.

I would also avoid Giardini Naxos in favor of Taormina; there is not much sense in staying in a beach town in November.

Another vote for Palermo - we stayed a week and still didn't feel we'd done everything. It was fascinating and I would go back like a shot.

However, if you only have 6 nights, 3 in Palermo and 3 in Taormina itself (which I also love & have stayed in 3 times) seems a good idea. I'd say Agrigento is quite far for a day trip but maybe that's just me.

BTW it is not true that the Jolly hotel is the only one in Palermo with a pool - ours (the Grand Hotel Villa Igiea) did (with its own small Greek temple alongside !), and I find it hard to believe there are no others.

The San Paolo Palace Hotel, along the promenade heading out of town towards Bagheria (Via Messina Marittima) has a pool on the roof (10 storeys?). It's a three-star holiday inn-type property.

bethinmilan: I would recommend skipping Cefalu, because the Cathedral of Monreale is MUCH more spectacular, and you definitely need more time to see Palermo itself. The Cappella Palatina within the Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo is also more beautiful than the Cathedral of Cefalu, in my opinion.

Agrigento and Siracusa are both a must, and three nights in Taormina is fine.

Can anyone recommend hotels in Taormina? Are we better off finding a nice hotel in Catania? I need double rooms, hopefully less than 200EU/night

I would recommend the Hotel Victoria right on the Corso Umberto in Taormina.The location cannot be beat.It is not a luxurious, grand hotel by any means, but-the location is fantastic, rooms are clean and neat, nice breakfast in the morning.It's actually quite charming. Last year we paid 90EU a night.

Or try Pensione Svizzera. 90 E per night for a double in April 2003. We had a balcony with a stunning view of the ocean. It's right outside the main "entranceway" to the town. Very convenient.

I've stayed in the following Taormina hotels but don't know what the prices would be now. All have great views from the rooms & pool.

Hotel Villa Ritz (but c.1996/7) - conversion of old villa, quite modest, some areas very slightly run down but was fine for me then; lower rooms smaller & no balconies, top floor rooms looked better & had large balconies. V. close to Corso (just outside gate at one end). I'm sure would be <E200.

Hotel Monte Tauro (also c.1996/7) - modern concrete hotel, not v. attractive from outside but v. comfortable; all rooms v. large, nicely furnished & decent sized balconies; nice pool; short walk uphill to Corso. Probably <E200.

San Domenico Palace (2000) (it was our honeymoon :-) ) : converted monastery; gorgeous if you get one of the ground floor rooms like ours - huge, quite grand & with a decent sized terrace. Some rooms have v. small balcony & some have none. Nice pool & lovely gardens. Short walk uphill to Corso. Imagine >E200, though, unless you can get a good deal somewhere.

Hotel Villa Belvedere (2002). Converted old villa; quite nice midrange hotel but need to choose room carefully to get a balcony big enough to sit on & a good view - views from rooms & pool have been partly obscured by large modern Hotel Villa Diodora next door. Rooms very simple but pleasant. Short walk from the Corso, near the public gardens. I'm sure you could get this for <E200 - friends of mine booked in 2001 directly with the hotel & found that cheaper (also able to insist on large balcony).

Also search using 'Taormina hotel' on this forum & see the usual sites like Tripadvisor.

Whatever you do, don't take halfboard - Taormina has lots of good restaurants.

BTW I'd also second skipping Cefalu - I didn't like it much at all, cut short my stay there & went back to Taormina.

Good morning, stayed a number of times at the Jolly Hotel Del Foro Italico, it is off a main street across the street from the wide beach with an amusement part, north of the hotel. It is 4 star with 277 rooms and naturally the front rooms fac the water, it has avery nice pool and pool area along with a respectible dining room.. Montreale is a must while in Palermo, but do not excluded Cefalu is a very interesting town along with its duomo....Possibly visiting Cefalu enroute to Taormina since being a little for a beach resort...
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..

Hi bethinmilan,
We just came back from a trip to Sicily 2 months ago(middle of July - and it was HOT!), and it was beautiful! We flew from Malta to Catania, then took a bus(about 1&1/4 hours)to Siracusa. Spent 2 full days and nights there, which gave us enough time to explore Ortygia(the historic old quarter), and the Neopolis Archeological Park area(which has Greek and Roman ruins, catacombs, and an excellent museum). We then took a train from Siracusa to Taormina(about 2hours). Actually the train station is in Giadini Naxos, so we hooked up with some fellow travelers from Germany, and split a cab up to Taormina - which is as beautifully-situated as everyone says! We also spent 2 days and nights there, which seemed a good amount of time to see the sights. We stayed at the Pensione Svizzera, which is in an excellent location, a few-minutes walk to the old town's gate(built in the 1300's!).
We then took a bus(about 1&1/2 hours)back to Catania Airport - for our flight back to Malta.
By the way, many thanks to GAC - for the very helpful info regarding trains, buses and sightseeing recommendations!
If you need more info, just ask.
LARZ

I agree with all those who say that the cathedral at Monreale near Palermo is more impressive than the cathedral at Cefalu -- for one, it has many more mosaics -- and the Cappella dei Normanni in Palermo itself is also splendid.

But I would like to put in a word for stopping at Cefalu on the way to Taormina. To my mind, the austerity of the cathedral at Cefalu is also impressive in its way, and the figure of Christ Pantocrator in the apse mosaic is more moving than the one in Monreale.

Only an opinion...