Tenative Itinerary N/NW/Central Sicily
 

Ok here is my beginning itinerary

As a recap from a previous thread, we are doing a short cruise from Rome south to Amalfi, Capri, Sicily and Malta. We visit places on the east/south coast, Taormina, Ortigia, Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. We end in Malta and will fly to Palermo, mainly to get a taste of the north/northwestern/central parts of Sicily

This itinerary is faster paced than we usually do, we are "slow tourists", but I don't think this will work this time, we want to visit some highlights so we know the areas we want to come back to.

We are booked in Palermo and Agrigento, others not done yet, the 2 nights before Cefalu still up in the air

So please any suggestions/recommendations greatly appreciated!

(DAY 1,2,3)
Cruise/Tour over, fly Malta to Palermo 12:40-1:30 Air Malta or Alitalia
Meet Driver, go to Apartment in Palermo, stay 3 nights
Upon arrival ~ do Laundry, walk the area, dinner
2 full days for sightseeing Palermo

(DAY 4)
Driver takes us to Palermo Airport to pick up rental car
Drive first to Monreale Cathedral, then1 night in Scopello or Castellammare del Golfo (Hotel Cala Marina?)

(DAY 5)
Walk/explore Zingaro Nature reserve in the morning
Drive to Segesta Archeological Park
Drive to Erice, stay 1 night

(DAY 6)
few hours in the morning Erice
Drive coastal road through Salt Pans and Marsala to Selinute
Drive Selinute to Agrigento (Colleverde Park Hotel)

(DAY 7, 8)
Visit Valley of Temples in the morning(again, tour does it once, but I want our own time there)
Drive to area north of Enna, south of Cefalu ~ stay 2 nights maybe at Masseria Susafa near Polizzi Generosa, but if anyone else has a suggestion please speak up :)
Would like to visit Villa Romana del Casale the first full day
~~ and when we leave after the 2nd night, drive to Cefalu via some smaller towns in the mountains (not necessarily stopping at them, find lunch somewhere before we get to Cefalu) Petralia Soprana, Geraci Siculo, Gangi
Supposed to be a interesting/pretty area? Thoughts?

(DAY 9)
Stay Cefalu (want to see the Cathedral) 1 night

(DAY 10)
Cefalu early morning, drive from Cefalu to Palermo Airport for 3:15 flight to FCO, stay 1 night FCO Hilton

(DAY 11)
Early flight home from FCO to Dulles

I highly recommend visiting the archeological museum at The Valley of the Temples.
Glad to see that you are including Selinute.
No time in Trapani?

Hi wrenwood,

I think your Day 6 is far too ambitious. I stayed in Erice and loved it. There is a lot to see there. Be sure to get off the main street and up to the ruined fort and public gardens. Several nice churches and some good artists galleries off the main road too.

I drove straight from Scopello to Menfi (La Forresteria Planeta Estate, highly recommend). I checked in and then visited Selinute for the afternoon. I chose this because the road along the coast is a much more time consuming route. I honestly don't see how you can drive from Erice, along the coast with a stop at the salt pans, through Marsala, and visit Selinute then continue on to Agrigento. If you won't have time to stop in Marsala maybe best to take the faster route? Also, there is no left luggage at Selinute so you will have the risk of your belongings in the trunk. This is definitely not recommended in Sicily which makes sightseeing and route planning a big challenge. Maybe an overnight in Menfi like I did?

There is left luggage at Agrigento if you chose to replan this part.

Also, visit Monreale via bus as a half day trip out of Palermo. I did the bus and the traffic to get up to Monreale was unbelievable. Parking is very scarce. Again, you would have the luggage in the trunk issue. If you decide to take the risk, be sure to carry all valuables with you. Be sure you are comfortable with the chance of losing whatever is in your trunk.

A few comments:

2 days is very little for Palermo, even for fast paced travelers. Consider thinking through your priorities in advance, or adding time.

Day 4 makes little sense to me. Why go to Palermo’s airport to pick up your rental car? You should be able to go to an agency on the outskirts of Palermo by public transportation or taxi and be on an autostrado within minutes of claiming your csr and without backtracking. And if you do decide to go to the airport, there is a bus that is comfortable, convenient, and operates frequently.

Then, why visit Monreale only once you have a car? It’s only a ½ hour or so from Palermo by a frequent bus. And although I can’t speak from personal experience, I’m not sure that parking in Monreale would be easy or convenient.

Cefalu is also just a short, convenient trip by public transportation from Palermo. If you want to spend a night in Cefalu, by all means, go for it! but if you just want to see the cathedral, I think you are making your trip unnecessarily complicated. JMO.

Also: A short (re)visit to the Valley of the Temples might or might not meet your needs. The site is divided into two large areas, and getting from one entrance to another, or looping from one entrance back to that same entrance, is not necessarily something you can do quickly. And FWIW, I second the recommendation for the museum, which is a bit off site.

I realize this is fast paced, but we are limited in time and just want to get an idea of which areas we may want to go back to.

I'm sure like Rome, one could easily spend 5 days in Palermo, but 2.5 days is what we have.
I mentioned getting the rental car at the airport as they usually have more availability of automatic transmissions, but we will check that out as I do see Hertz, Avis and Europcar on the north side of Palermo.

One reason we are not taking buses anywhere is because I tend to get carsick/nauseous on them, which tends to ruin the experience https://www.fodors.com/community/ima...ojis/1f616.png

Originally I planned to stay in Trapani and taking the cable car up to Erice, but then decided I really wanted to be in Erice in the evening and morning before there were lots of people.

I agree, I think I can cut off some time on Day 6, by seeing the salt pans at Selinagrande, and then cutting inland to Selinute instead along the coastal route through Marsala

I thought about La Forresteria Planeta Estate, it looks gorgeous, the problem being that their availability/booking engine has no availability for the night we would want to stay there https://www.fodors.com/community/ima...ojis/1f627.png
I will take look and see if there is another place to stay in that area. How much time should we allocate to Selinute?

I booked at Colleverde Park Hotel in Agrigento ( it has a very liberal cancellation policy) which does have rooms with a view of the Temples as it is apparently up the hill from Villa Athena Hotel where I would love to stay, but ......$$$$$$
At the Valley of the Temples we see both the Temples and visit the Archaeological Museum with Smithsonian. I wanted to stay there so we could re-visit first thing in the morning for some photos, and we can always re-visit the Museum if we want more time.

Day 7,8 question
I had planned on visiting Villa Romana del Casale from Susafa
However what do you think of this plan?

(DAY 7) Drive from Valley of the Temples to Villa Romana del Casale. How much time should be allocated to Villa Romana del Casale?
Stay somewhere near there or outside Enna or ?

(DAY 8) Drive from wherever we stay near Villa Romana del Casale or outside Enna or ? to Cefalu via Polizza Generosa, Petralia Soprana, Gangi, Geraci Siculo, Castelbuono. This would give us 2 nights in Cefalu

Thanks for all your help and suggestions!

IIRC, I spent just over 2 hours in the Villa Romana del Casale and that seemed about right to me. I've read that there are sometimes long lines these days, but have no idea whether you would encounter that.

Day 8: Petralia Soprano= VG place for lunch stop. Check out its rear end, which features a picturesque zig-zag path down from Church SM di Loretto to a peaceful, tree-lined section---easy & pleasant walk. One of those 'only in Italy' moments.
Day 7 Lodging suggestion in Cefalu: if you want the very best view of the Cathedral, then consider renting an apartment from Francesco Barrale. He is part of a youngish consortium team of guys that rent out several apartments right next door to the Cathedral. All units share a fantastically-situated terrace, from which there are peerless foto ops. Special note: do not consume vast quantities of vino or whatever the night before attempting said foto op terrace---the stairs up are narrow and unforgiving.
Tante belle cose Wrenwood!
I am done. The end.

Zebec, thanks for the wine warning! How do I find his apartments?
I do want terrace, balcony with great views
I assume I will hear bells all night, drives me crazy, but love being close

Thanks kja, may plan for 3 hours as despite the frenzy of our itinerary, when we have time, we are slow tourists!

Yo Wrenwood,
Funny thing--I have no memory of church bells in Cefalu. The noise that we had inflicted on us came from numerous LOUD political speeches directly below us in the square---it was election time 7 yrs ago. In Palermo then, we experienced a minor earthquake, the third of our travels.
Anyway, Francesco Barrale: mob. 39 3930263122
email: [email protected] fax 0921.925074. Our apartment was the 'Federico' and it was fine but lacked the tiny laundry corner that some of their other apartment units had. Btw, the aforementioned terrace is a large communal one. Incidentally, didja' know that scenes from 'Cinema Paradiso' were filmed in Cefalu?
Finally, some pronunciation: Petralia Sprano= 'peh-tray-lia....'
I am done. The end.

Wrenwood,

two places to ck for lodging:near Piazza Armerina is Villa Clementine. Very good reviews.

Il Sogno near Selinute is also highly reviewed.

I havent stayed at either.

I would e mail or call La Forresteria and ask to be put on their wait list. Keep checking back They are quite good in the service department and Imsure they will call if your night opens up.

If you havent already planned your night inWrice, I highly recommend Erice Pietre Antice apts. Lovely! They are booking.com and Massimo is an outstanding host. He also has a BandB in Trapani, but unfortunately I dont remember its name.

Just a couple of comments; one is that we didn’t enjoy the coastal road all the way along to Selinunte, it was flat and tiresome so you won’t be missing much.

I would recommend Villa Sogno as a very welcoming place to stay. Great breakfasts and nice hosts.

We we stayed at Colleverde, not all rooms have a view, you must specifically book a room with view. Although the rooms are a bit dated the beautiful garden more than makes up for that. The staff was great too.

Getting to the Villa Romana early before tour buses and school buses will be more conducive to having a relaxed tour. Mid afternoon we could barely get a glimpse due to crowds of school kids.

We drove south to Selinunte via the highway back a little from coast, pretty scenery, farm fields, mountains.
For Villa Sogno look carefully at the photos of the rooms online to see if you would like staying in one of them. Rather over the top decor.

Agree the photos are a bit over the top. Fortunately the rooms are not.

First Revision

(DAY 1,2,3)
Cruise/Tour over, fly Malta to Palermo 12:40-1:30 Air Malta or Alitalia
Meet Driver, go to Apartment in Palermo, stay 3 nights
Upon arrival ~ do Laundry, walk the area, dinner
2 full days for sightseeing Palermo

(DAY 4)
Driver takes us to pick up rental car in outskirts of Palermo
Drive first to Monreale Cathedral, then on to Cefalu, stay 1 night Cefalu
Explore, see Cathedral in Cefalu late afternoon or early next morning

(DAY 5)
See Cathedral in Cefalu early morning if not done day before
Leave Cefalu, drive mountain route (Castelbuono, Geraci Siculo, Gangi, Petralia Soprana and Sottana, Poliazi Generosa) to Susafa, stay 1 night
I have no idea at this point which towns we might venture into, the appeal is the mountain scenery and hill towns

(DAY 6)
Leave Susafa, drive to Villa Romana Casale, stay 1 night at ? Visit Villa afternoon or early next morning

(DAY 7)
Vist Villa Romana in the morning if not done the afternoon before, drive to Selinute (Valley of Temples if time) stay 1 night La Foresteria Menfi (will cancel Hotel in Agrigento)

(DAY 8)
Vist Selinute in the morning if not done previous afternoon, drive to Erice, stay 1 night, hopefully at Erice Pietre Antiche

(DAY 9)
Explore Erice, Segsta if time, drive to Castellammare, stay 1 night at ?

(DAY 10)
Drive from Castellammare to Palermo Airport for 3:15 flight to FCO, stay 1 night FCO Hilton

(DAY 11)
Early flight home from FCO to Dulles


This allows a stay at La Foresteria Menfi, they couldn't accommodate my first date requested, and since they were booked solid for 4 days I assume there is a wedding/event, so I didn't think a cancellation was likely.

Let me know your thoughts https://www.fodors.com/community/ima...ojis/1f609.png

Caltagirone is worth a visit, especially if you are interested in ceramics.

Hi Michael, love ceramics, but don't think we will have time to visit Caltagirone :(

How long before a flight from Palermo Airport should one arrive?

If we have a 3:15 flight to FCO, is staying in Erice the night before be advisable? Is the traffic heavy on that route?

Wrenwood: I'm no expert with only one visit to Sicily under my belt but I can address a couple of your thoughts. Also, my trip report covers much of your itinerary.

We rented at Nartobartolo Station in Palermo, and found it very easy. We used AutoEurope as we always do. Getting on the road to Erice was really pretty simple. We didn't encounter traffic, and my guess would be that you could easily spend your last night in Erice. That, however, is based on very little experience.

My other thought is to tell you that we spent 3 nights in Palermo and although we had to move fast, we felt satisfied with our trip, and we totally enjoyed Palermo. It turned out to be a favorite for us.

Our top two favorite historic sites were the Valley of the Temples and Segesta. I hate to see you miss them.

So glad you are staying at La Foresteria and Eric Pietre Antice. You will enjoy both for diff reasons. I think you will be ok staying at Erice before flight. I would get there at least 3 hrs early if returning car.