Piccolina

Hi everyone

I'm planning to have 15 nights flying in and out of Rome at the end of September for a total of 15 nights. Sicily has been on my to-see list for a long time so we're planning to spend a good chunk of our time in Sicily for this trip. We enjoy good food, driving, sightseeing and a bit of downtime. Flying into Palermo and out of Catania for a few days in Rome at the end.

Suggested itinerary (after looking at many posts on this forum!)

Arrive in Palermo, 3 nights there, with day trips to Cefalu and Monreale
1 night in Selinunte (Sciacca/Menfi, possibly visiting Segesta on the way)
1 night near/in Agrigento (Valley of the Temples)
2 nights Piazza Armerino (Villa Casale, possibly Morgantina and/or Caltagirone, depending on time)
3 nights Siracusa (day trips to Necropolis at Pantalica and/or Noto, depending on our mood and time)
1 night Catania??
3-4 nights in Rome but I think minimum 3 nights. We've been to Rome before so this trip is mainly for food and some shopping. Happy to do 3 nights here if adding an extra night on Sicily is worthwhile

Greatly appreciate your help on following:

- We want to avoid one night stay. Looking at itinerary above, how can I eliminate this? Can I go from Siracusa to Catania on the same day to catch our flight?
- Taormina - happy to skip as I've read that it is very touristy and we don't have much interest to go up Mount Etna. Thoughts?
- Any other suggestions would be most appreciated!

Grazie!!

kja

If you’ve been reading posts on this forum, then you probably already know most of what I will say:

While it depends on what YOU want to see and experience:

- 12 nights is VERY little for Sicily. If you must fly into and out of Rome (must you?), consider putting all but your night before departure in Sicily, as it is much easier to reach Rome than anywhere in Sicily.

- 3 nights is VERY little for Palermo. Monreale is, IMO, one of the few “must-sees” ANYwhere in the world. Since 3 nights really gives you only 2 days, and Monreale will take ½ day, and Palermo is FULL of magnificent sights, and it sounds like you might be dealing with jet lag while in Palermo, whether you have time for a day trip to Cefalu (let alone for seeing even the highlights of Palermo) is, I think, a legitimate question.

- With the time you have, I wouldn’t try to fit in Morgantina or Caltagirone – but maybe those places have a particular appeal to you?

- 3 nights in Siracusa (do consider staying in Ortigia!) really means 2 days there, giving you just barely enough time for Siracusa and – IF you skip many of what I would consider it’s highlights -- you will maybe, just maybe (depending on your interests, have time for Noto.

- Leading me to ask: Are you taking time for transportation into account in your plan? That isn’t immediately obvious….

- If you are willing to leave luggage in your car while visiting sites (a very personal decision) and if you leave Palermo early enough one day, you can visit Segesta AND Selinunte en route to Agrigento; if so, adding a night to Agrigento would make sense because you won’t be able to visit the Valley of the Temples until the next day, and doing so can take pretty much the full day.

- Likewise, if you are willing to leave luggage in your care, you can make it from Agrigento to Siracusa in one day, leaving Agrigento early, stopping at the Villa Romana del Casale for a few hours, and then reaching Siracusa that evening. That would let you cut out the nights in Piazza Armerino – but would require you to adjust your time in Agrigento and Siracusa.

- I found Taormina so overrun with tourists that I’m not sure I can recommend it, beautiful as it is. That said, I don’t recommend skipping it, either – it is beautiful, and the views from the theater are jaw-dropping. You might consider options for staying there just long enough to visit it early and late in the day (while leaving during the day) or staying close enough to let you get there before the influx of daytrippers.

- Even if you make this plan work, it seems extremely fast paced. Maybe that’s your preference, but I must admit that it doesn’t seem to me that you have taken timing into sufficient consideration. JMO.

Hope that helps!

thursdaysd

Agree with everything kja said, especially about Palermo and Taormino.

Piccolina

@kja - thank you so much for your advice. Much appreciated. After taking your comments into consideration (ie. removing Piazza Armerino), I have revised the itinerary as follow to remove the one night stay.

I'm not entirely opposed to one night stay so if you think the itinerary could benefit from a one night stay somewhere, please do suggest!

Palermo - 3 nights (or can do 4 but need to take it out from one of the nights in Sicily)
Seliunte - 2 nights (i want to visit the beach and make it less hectic)
Arigento - 2 nights
Syracusa - 3 nights
Catania - 2 nights (is 2 nights needed or can add 1 night to Palermo?)
Rome - 3 nights (preferrably 4 nights but this would mean taking one night away from above)

In terms of transportation, I am thinking of picking up a car on the way out of Palermo to Seliunte. Do you recommend we drop off the car when we enter Syracusa or keep it until we go to Catania airport?

Thanks again!

kja

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to suggest that you skip the Villa Romana del Casale -- I only meant that you didn't need to stay in Piazza Armerina to see it. IMO, the Villa is one of Sicily's most magnificent sites.

I haven't been to Catania, so I really can't speak to it, but I think you might want to consider finding a way to add a night to Palermo, whether that means taking a night from Catania or elsewhere. If you do shift a night from Catania to Palermo, consider a night in Taormina rather than Catania -- as I said, it's atrocious during the day, but it can be quite wonderful after day-trippers leave.

Picking up a car on your way out of Palermo makes sense, and check the options for agencies with offices in the city (rather than traveling to the airport, as some people inexplicably do). And with this plan, returning the car as soon as you reach Siracusa makes a lot of sense -- you won't need it after that, and it could instead be an unpleasant encumbrance.

Enjoy!

Piccolina

Thanks @kja. Just did more reading and perhaps best to remove Catania completely (and take bus from Syracusa to Catania airport). Then I can add 1 or 2 nights to Ragusa as the drive from Arigento to Syracusa in one day seems really hectic!


Palermo - 3 nights (or can do 4 but need to take it out from one of the nights in Sicily)
Seliunte - 2 nights (i want to visit the beach and make it less hectic)
Arigento - 2 nights
Ragusa - 1 or 2 nights (but will need to remove one from Syracusa)
Syracusa - 2 or 3 nights
Rome - 3 nights (preferrably 4 nights but this would mean taking one night away from above)

KayF

Hi, just wanted to give you another opinion, which you may not want It can make planning hard as everyone has such different ideas! We loved Taormina. It was busy and a bit expensive but enjoyed our 3 nights there, it's very attractive with some great views. We hiked up to Castelmola where we felt like we were on top of the world.

Didn't enjoy Ortigia or Siracusa that much, just not for us. I loved seeing the mosaics at Piazza Armerina, they were amazing. Thought Agrigento was disappointing. We were in Catania for a short while (flew in, train through, etc) but didn't see anything that made us want to go back. Noto has some beautiful buildings but be careful what time you visit as most things shut for siesta.

We also had a few nights on Lipari, one of the Aeolian islands, which we really liked. Ferry from Milazzo was very Italian with what seemed to be 'suggested' timetables.

Also, just my two cents, but I would not leave luggage, or anything really, in the car while sightseeing. Not a great idea.

Kay

Piccolina

Hi @KayF - thank you for your advice. Always happy to hear from everyone who's done Sicily!

Agree with you on not leaving luggage in the car. I've done that previously in Spain and Portugal but I get the feeling this is quite dangerous in Sicily (correct me if I'm wrong!). You mentioned about Agrigento not doing much for you - how long does it take to see Valley of the Temples? If so, perhaps I can cut this down to a one night and then move on to Ragusa....Thoughts?

Thanks again!

Leely2

My sightseeing days are intense and long, but at sights themselves I tend to linger. I spent several hours at the Valle dei Templi. We stayed one night. I’m sure there’s more to see and do in the area, but that was all the time We has and I felt it was sufficient.

FWIW, we had a private driver take us from Siracusa (Ortigia) to CTA. Easy.

You really should check the TripAdvisor Sicily forum. You’ll get some folks that live in Sicily posting as well as a greater number of casual Sicily tourists.

Not advocating it, but we left luggage in the trunk when we stopped at Segesta.

kja

If you aren't willing to leave luggage in your car, then you'll need a night somewhere from which to visit the Villa Romana del Casale.

I could be wrong, but I think you're trying to fit too much in to a short trip. I don't believe it is possible to see all of Sicily's highlights in the time you have, so you have to make some difficult choices, but you'll see some wonderful things no matter what you choose.

KayF

Hi Piccolina, I think we only spent about 1-2 hours at Agrigento. We did a day tour by bus from Taormina, that visited Agrigento then Piazza Armerina. I would have preferred more time seeing the mosaics but that's the thing with tours. We didn't have a hire car on that trip.

I agree with kja that maybe you are trying to see too much. Could you cut something out? It really depends on if you like moving on a lot or staying in one place a bit longer. Everyone has different travel styles.

Kay

kja

By contrast, I spent about 8 hours at Agrigento -- as KayF says, people really differ!