I booked into the Villa Sogno as well. Sounds too good to be true but I thought I deserved it.

is this it:

http://en.villasogno.it/

looks lovely, but no prices posted, which puts me off. how much is your splurge costing ahotpoet?

Yes annhig, that is it. I booked through Priceline.com. They and Booking.com are the only two sites that seem to have that hotel. I paid €100 per night inclusive. I thought that was pretty inexpensive.

ahotpoet, it really does look too good to be true but it has gotten rave reviews. And it's about the cheapest place we're staying.

I stayed at the Villa Sogno in June 2010. You can click on my name for my trip report which has information about restaurants and what we did in the area as well as our stay at the VS.

bon_voyage, wonderful trip report! This weekend, I'm going to go over it slowly and take notes. The Villa Sogno may not be to everyone's taste, but I think it will be a nice change.

Grazie, laurieco, and I think Villa Sogno will work well for your night in the west.

€100 looks like a good price for the Sogno.

I hope that you enjoy it and all your other accommodation and i look forward to your trip report!!!

Hi Laurico,
I am staying at the Villa Sogno for 3 nights midweek starting May 8. I am paying 225 euro for single occupancy through booking.com. I have seen somewhere that if you book directly with Sogno they offer a 5% discount.
Bon Voyage, it may have been your trip report that put the place on my radar in the first place.

ahotpoet, Booking.com and Priceline.com both had the same price for a double for the night I will be there. I hope we both like it!

laurico ad ahotpoet,

I will be staying at La Foresteria, Planeta Estate near Menfi for my stop at Selinute. It will be interesting for us all to compare notes when we get back! I'm going before you - mid-April.

Dayle,
I wish we were all going to be there at the same time. Imagine the gtg report we could post.
I will be on the lookout for reports since I will be following you both.

Dayle, when will you be there? We may just cross paths.

have a great trip... anxious to hear all about it..

B&K

Sorry to be late to the party and I did not read every entry.

Native NY'er here and I have seen any driving in NYC, like I did in Sicily. But do not fight it, embrace it.

Sicily became one of favorite trips and like many here we have visited many, many countries. I think we enjoyed our time on the western side of the island more than the eastern. And that is not to say we did not enjoy the hell of the eastern side. Beside Agrigento which is now the agenda, one of our favorite towns was Cefalu. It is seemly beautiful and enticing.

I would spend three days in Palermo.

laurieco,

I will be arriving at the Palermo airport 4/20 and going straight to Erice. I'm doing a complete counter-clockwise loop, including the Aeolians. I end in Palermo 5/8 - 5/11.

My stops are many, lots of moving around, but I would rather do that than drive back and forth with lots of backtracking.
Erice, Scopello, Selinute, Agrigento, Piazza Armerina, Scicli, Ortigia, Taormina, Lipari, Palermo.

I just can't wait!

Sorry, I would NOT spend 3 days in Palermo.

Why not? That's not very useful without an explanation. I found plenty to see in Palermo, plus Monreale takes at least half a day.

I am excited for my short time in Palermo. I'll only have 2 1/2 days so I won't see everything, but I hope to see the major sites and Monreale, maybe a little time strolling one of the markets.

Why wouldn't you spend 3 days? Most posters who have visited like Palermo.

Dayle - I'm excited that you're finally going, I remember when you were first planning this back when I went. I'm looking forward to your TR!

Sorry laurieco, I may have missed this: you didn't consider 2 nights in Modica or Ragisa (or Scicli)? Hard to pick a favorite, but we loved our time in Modica.

Count me as another Palermo fan. A fabulous, gritty, historical city with lots of crazy charm.

Sorry, Ragusa not Ragisa. I am a pathetic typist.

Leely, Everything is set now and I'm not in the mood to change any of the reservations as it took a lot of time and research to come up with the itinerary I now have. Besides, we have to save something for the next time!

I understand--it's very hard to choose from among Sicily's treasures. Have a wonderful trip. You too, Dayle. And ahotpoet.

The big day is tomorrow. Hopefully we'll survive the Airberlin flight and be in Catania Monday morning! I'm so looking forward to this.

Have a great trip, laurieco!

We leave may 19. Look forward to your TR. have a great trip.

Just saw this, leely2. Thanks. I leave in a week. Sailing Transatlantic on the Sillouette first.

Laurieco, By the time I get there maybe you will have posted about your trip.

Dayle, and everybody else, enjoy!

Hi Laurieco,

Loving your 10 day itinerary and everyone's feedback to go with it!

I was hoping you all could help me out here with a decision... a BIG decision!

I am looking to take my girlfriend away in June for 10 days and during those 10 days I intend to propose to her BUT I am torn between Sicily or the Amalfi coast?!

what do you guys suggest and why???

Got to Sicily Monday morning. Our luggage didn't arrive until Tuesday evening. Catania was fun. Parts of the city are beautiful and have loads of character. We're in Taormina now. It's gorgeous. We're staying at the Grand Hotel San Pietro. Beautiful hotel and I think the most expensive, but worth the price. We have a balcony that overlooks the Naxos bay.

Vora, bring your girlfriend to Taormina and stay at this hotel (part of the Relais & Chateaux hotels). Spring for a room with a balcony and view. You will be engaged before you know it. Good luck!

Got to Sicily Monday morning. Our luggage didn't arrive until Tuesday evening. Catania was fun.>>

it must have been even more fun without the luggage!

glad you're having such a nice time, laurico. We were considering a trip to Sicily this year, but we're going to OZ in november/december instead, so Sicily will have to wait a bit longer.

Oh, I just saw this thread for the first time.

laurieco, Sicily is my favorite place in the world! I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Don't miss Monreale from Palermo - easily reached by public bus. If you have time, stop off at Cefalu to see the town and the cathedral, and if you feel ambitious, climb the Rocca that dominates the town.

Buon viaggio!

Checking in. Sicily is wonderful..we are in Syracuse now, have been here two nights, and driving to Agrigento tomorrow. Will stop off in Noto on the way. Afraid we won't have time for the mosaics. Next time. I would love to do a trip report but I am so annoyed with Fodor's for trying to eliminate the Lounge, that I refuse to give them anything they could use for free or add any value to their site. If I do a trip report, it will be on Trip Advisor or Frommer's..I'll post the link.

Hmmm, I don't see anything that looks like the Lounge at Frommers. And it's not even clear whether Frommers will survive, maybe Arthur and Pauline can revive it, now they've bought it back from its demise at Google, maybe not.

Laurieco, where did you stay in siracusa and how did you like it? Continue checking in!

Loved Agrigento. The best so far. Syracuse was wonderful. We stayed at the Cavalieri, which is a 5 minute walk to Ortygia.

Did not care for Noto at all and thought it was a waste of our time. Some beautiful buildings but hated the town. Selinunte on the other hand is great. We are at the Villa Sogno. The hosts are lovely, as is the place itself. Very comfortable and we overslept!

Eccellente, laurico.

keep it coming!

What did you hate about Noto?

We are also staying at villa sogno. Hope you will consider brief TR either here or on TA. Many of us are going to sicily soon! Thx for the tips. Will keep tuning in for more.

Kja, Noto was just way too touristy and not quaint or pretty enough to overcome it. It just gave me a bad vibe. DH felt the same. We've been in Palermo now for a few days and not loving it either. We most definitely preferred eastern Sicily to the west part of the island. Some nice sights in Palermo, but again, not enough to overcome the negative. Too much of a big city feel but not in a good way. Would rather be in Rome, where we are headed to tomorrow morning.