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Sicily itinerary help
I am looking for advice about how to best use two days-and where to stay for one night- in SE Sicily at the end of eleven days in Sicily this October.
Perhaps we are trying to do much in too little time, but much of this is already reserved and set in stone. Briefly our itinerary is as follows. (We will have a rental car for the entire time.) Day 1-fly into Trapani from Perugia (will have just spent two weeks in Umbria). See city highlights. Sleep Trapani Day 2- Morning-Erice Afternoon- Segesta Sleep Trapani Day 3- drive to Agrigento, stopping for a couple of hours in Selinunte. Sleep Agrigento. Day 4- Morning at Valley of Temples Afternoon drive to Monreale arriving in time to spend a couple of hours at Cathedral Sleep Monreale Day 5- highlights of Palermo. Any tour recommendations to enable us to see as much as possible in the short time frame we have allotted? Sleep Monreale Day 6- Drive to Taormina via Cefalu where we will stop for a bit Sleep Taormina Day7, 8, 9 Sleep Taormina. Day trips to Etna and other local interests. These four nights in Taormina will be the “slow travel” part of Sicily for us. Days 10 and 11- We will head south from Taormina on the morning of the 10th day and fly out of Catania to Malta late in the evening of the eleventh day. Originally we had planned this last night to stay in Taormina as well, and just drive to Catania the last day in time to spend a few hours in the city before our flight. But I have recently amended that, planning now to see a least a bit of the SE. What suggestions do you have for what we should not miss in this limited two days? And what accommodation suggestions for that last night, keeping in mind that we will still have a car?) I look forward to your suggestions. Dee |
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We stayed just outside Siracusa, here :
http://www.hotelilparco.net/it/gallery.php spectacular gardens and very relaxing contrast to the rest of Sicily which can be "busy". Suggest a day out to Noto and a walk on the beach at the natural park of Vendicari, really good bird life. Plenty of good restaurants in Ortigia which is 5 minutes drive from Il Parco. |
We stayed on Ortigia. Very atmospheric, also flat with decent parking, easy to get in and out. Depending upon how much sightseeing energy you have at that point, you could spend all your time there or daytrip to Noto, the Villa Tellaro, Modica, Ragusa. Link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ecial-trip.cfm |
Another vote for Ortigia. This was my favorite town in Sicily. You can easily fill 2 days there, Ortigia would be an ideal place to wrap up your time to Sicily.
One other comment: depending on when you arrive in Trapani, you may want to visit Erice that first day giving yourself a more relaxed visit to Segesta and the surrounding countryside. |
Thanks for your insights. We plan to take your advice and stay in Ortigia. Any other specific accomodation advice?
I think that we may daytrip to Noto. With our limited time, is one Baroque city "enough" and if so, is Noto indeed the best one? I enjoyed your photos Bob. Thanks for the link. |
Noto is probably the best Baroque city for your purposes. While we were there mid-day, it's supposed to be at its loveliest as the sun is setting. The Caffè Sicilia, catty-cornered from the Cathedral, would be an excellent stop for a granita and a brioche.
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On Ortigia we stayed at Palazza dl Sale, which I highly recommend.
The old part of Palermo was smaller than I had imagined. We saw Cappella Palatina, the Cathedral, a few of the Serpotta oratorios (can do this on one ticket, does not take long), Piazza Marina, Quattro Canti, and Fontana Pretoria all in one day. And the Cathedral at Monreale--plus did some shopping in the new part of town and walked around that area. If I were you I would just pick my top sights to see, plan a route and follow it. Have a great time! |
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Thank you again for replies that have helped me to firm up details for this part of our trip. We will stay in Ortigia and daytrip to Noto. And with the assurance that Palermo's main sites are manageable in a day, we will plan to do that on our own.
I have another question. Would you give up any of the two days to spend a bit of time in Catania before a late evening flight, or would our time be better spent in Ortigia/Siracusa that last afternoon and evening? |
With the short amount of time that you have, I would definitely concentrate on Ortigia. Catania is a larger, grittier city that I don't think you would enjoy for just an evening. One of the best sights in Catania is the fish market and that ends about 1:00 p.m. Ortigia has lots of ambiance --I would enjoy that for as long as you can.
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I STRONGLY recommend a great place to stay near the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento: B&B Villa Diana at http://www.villadiana.ag.it/ I loved this place; about 5 minutes from the Valley of Temples in the countryside. The rooms are lovely, the decoration is exquisite, the value is great. Dario, the Innkeeper, is a really sweet person. Every room has a private balcony facing the countryside. Breakfast the next morning was very nice as well. We used a GPS in Sicily with no problems.
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I stayed at Villa Diana too--great place. I am just finishing the bottle of Dario's olive oil that I purchased. Make sure you get explicit directions, though. There is more than one road that points to Favara, as we learned. And learned. And learned.
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Leely-- I was a bit nervous about the directions-- even Dario warned us on his email not to use the GPS but go by his directions. We opted to actually followed our GPS (Carmin) and it took us to the door with no problems whatsoever! Go figure. Loved the place; so relaxing.
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We stayed at Villa Diana too! And we got hopelessly lost! But it was a perfect place to stay while visiting the temples.
You will have a great time. Be sure to have lunch at Antica Marina in the fish market in Catania. Our family still talks about the meal we had there (and the market it simply incredible). |
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