Let me second your recommendation to get to Villa Romana del Casale early. We were staying nearby and got there close to there a bit before 10. It opens at 9. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. Within an hour we started seeing tour groups arriving, but they were far back from us. This was in early May last year. Also as a point of info - we saw LOTS of school groups all over Sicily when we were there. We were told that April/May is when the school groups tour, so be prepared.

Rasputin/Yestravel - at the moment, our itinerary has us spending two nights in Agrigento [after 2 nights in Ragusa] and when we leave Agrigento, travelling to Taormina via Villa Romana.

Based on what you are both saying, that's beginning to look like a bad idea.

I'm toying with 2 alternatives - Plan A is to spend just one night in Agrigento, and after touring the Temples, drive to somewhere near the Villa to spend the night then get to the Villa as early as possible. Plan B is to cut Agrigento out completely, add a night to Ragusa, and then drive slowly to PA, stopping somewhere near the Villa over night as with Plan A. After the Villa we have a look at Enna and then proceed to Taormina.

What say you?

I would not cut out Agrigento -- it's one of the highlights of Sicily. I'd go with option A "spend just one night in Agrigento, and after touring the Temples, drive to somewhere near the Villa to spend the night then get to the Villa as early as possible."

No problem going to Enna from there and then heading to Taormina. It's ~30-40 minutes to Enna from Romana del Casale as I recall. I've been to Enna twice now and wasn't impressed either time. It does have a nice view.

Thanks for this. Brings back lots of memories.

I'll third the idea of getting to the Villa early as our experience--having driven up from Agrigento the same day-- was similar to Rasputin's.

ok - Agrigento stays in [for now!] but we find somewhere to stay near the Villa so we can go there first thing in the morning.

Next question - if not Enna en route to Taormina after the Villa, where?

Where you stop depends upon how much time you have after you see the mosaics and how much you enjoy driving. And of course, what you like to do.
We're big on wandering and exploring without really knowing what we might find. We also enjoy driving so keep that in mind-- Two ideas might be:

We liked wandering around Caltagirone on a Sunday afternoon. The "famous" steps wee a touch disappointing -- they looked better in the photos we saw. We like ceramic alot, but there were also some interesting buildings and apparently public gardens per this TR. We had a nice Sunday lunch in a small restaurant the owner of the ceramic shop where we bought a bowl took us. Caltagirone is under an hour from the ruins and Taormina probably under 4 hours from there.

A longer day would be to go see Mt. Etna. We drove up some crazy roads around Etna and then drove up to the top---bbrrr, but fascinating. We also had maybe the best meal of our trip at Ristorante al Buongustaio, Nicolsi. We just ran across it and still talk about it--wonderful family run small place.

thanks, yes travel. I think that one of the most difficult things to work out till you get to a place is how much is doable in a day so our experiences are most valuable.

Annhig,

I chose to stay at a wine estate in between Piazza Armerina and Caltagirone for similar reasons. It was Il Gigliotto. I understand it gets mixed reviews, but I was very happy there for my one night. Beautiful property and stunning views, especiaaly when I was there in late April. You can see why they do lots of weddings. Their wine was pretty good and the long multicourse dinner so, so.

They kept my luggage while I went to Villa Romana and i retuned to pick it up after. Drove on to Caltagirone for a shortened visit, just not enough time! Then continued on to Scicli

Agree with the major school field trip time being in April and May. Wow! Lots of kids groups in Agrigento, siracusa Arch park, and Villa Romana.

PS,

There is another place that some people really like, but I dont think its quite as well located, not exactly between the two towns, but you moght check put Villa Clementine.

Annhig not sure where you are starting your trip from, but your initial idea seemed to be too much back and forthing.
I would visit Agrigento for the following reasons 1. That you are really interested and have studied Greek/Roman history (otherwise it is just an old pile of stones).
2. That you like walking in the heat (it was hot in early April - I can't imagine what it would be like even a month later let alone in high season). You can drive to one or other of the gates but one way or the other you will either have a long walk down or up or have to take a taxi E6 from one gate to your car or vice versa. The path is unrelenting and there is only one café along the route. Toilets (pay and own toilet paper).
3. You are sure that your interest is a true one and not just to say that you have been there, done that.

That said the two main temples are truly worth seeing even if you have visited Segesta and Selinunte.

If there was some way to cut the walk short and just visit those two then it would be worth the stop.

We Australians do not have the luxury of cheap and short flights so our trips have to be maximised and itinerised to the nth degree. We can't afford to wander and hope to pick up accommodation along the way at a price that 4 to five weeks of travel will allow.

We were glad we visited Enna. Other posters including Vagabonda on TA questioned why we wanted to visit. It seemed to us, a shame to drive to Caltanissetta and then cut across to PA without the short trip to Enna. Like all Italian towns, a heap of money is needed to bring them up to their former glory.

Caltagirone

As we had wasted time in getting out of the other towns, we did not have the few hours we had planned on in Caltigirone on the day we arrived. Peter was pretty worn out with the driving and we were late getting out and getting something to eat. We wandered the main street looking for the piazza shop the hosts had recommended to us, but in the dark missed it altogether, looking at other things. In the end we bought a bottle of wine and some pizza from a shop near the steps and brought it back to the B & B.
The next morning, before breakfast I legged it to the steps. Yes they are better in photographs. Many of them are dirty and damaged and there are weeds growing among them.
Early morning runners passed me on the steps. I took my time, photographing the tiles as I went up. Even though there are 147 steps you have to take two steps on each one, so double that. Lots of ceramic shops and restaurants along the way and some B & Bs. One had a particular fetching balcony on the corner overlooking the steps. What a wonderful place to sit and watch the world go by.
Several steps along the way and looking down the many vicoli to see what I was missing. The view back to the church where were staying and beyond was wonderful with the starlings still flying madly around.

The churches including the Duomo were ofcourse closed at that early hour so they were just photographed from the outside. Interesting to see the town wake up and the children being taken to school. Groups of men outside the bars having their morning grappa and coffee.

I thoroughly enjoyed my early morning walk. This is something we planned to do and only ended doing this in Trapani because Peter was so tired during driving. We hope to catch up with this activity which we normally do in any city/town we are.

Delightful breakfast and meeting other guests from Milan.

Villa Clementine is 15 minutes from the Villa Romana del Casale, and 5 minutes from the center of Piazza Armerina. I will be happy to report our impressions of the place after our stay in May.

@annhig If you do decide to visit Enna, try to visit the restaurant Centrale for lunch or a meal. It's very good and reasonable.

I wonder if the groups of school kids would be gone for the day if we wait til later in the afternoon to visit Villa Romana. There seems to be conflicting reports of whether later in the day or earlier in the day is the better time. Any ideas?

Apparently the archeological museum in Agrigento adds a lot to the visit to the temples. I certainly wouldn't claim to have studied Greek history, but doing a little research before you go about the Vallei dei Templi and the activities that took place there should really help bring it to life.

I do remember it being very hot there, and I think on this re-visit that we will try to get there early, take time off during the noon when it's so hot, and continue in the later part of the day if we feel it necessary to continue the visit.

Sundried, I will also be at Villa Clementine in May. When will you be there?

The question of visiting early in the day vs. late in the day is one I'm also trying to figure out. As we, too, will only be staying 1 night in Villa Clementine to visit Romana del Casale and then on to Agrigento for 1 night, it would seem easier logistically to visit toward the end of the day as we arrive at a place, rather than wait till the next morning. Yet it sounds like a morning visit at Romana deal Casale might be pleasanter. We will be driving from Scicli so we'd have time later in the day....ahh, the difficult decisions of travel!

I can't speak to Villa Romana del Casale in the late afternoon as we were there in the am, but at other places I seem to recall the school kids departing around 2-3. Of course that could always differ for different sites. Much of VRdC is under cover so you are protected from the strong sun.

My suggestion would be to see what the weather is like temp wise. When I visited in mid April it was perfect weather for my tastes. Sunny, but not too hot. I went in early spring because I hate humidity and heat together.

Agrigento was warm, but not too hot for me. Villa Romana wasnt hot at all. However, I have heard from others trip reports that it can get hot under the structures that shelter the mosaics. If its supposed to be a hot day,go early.

Even thought there were lots of people, it didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Goodpoints & suggestions, yestravel and Dayle. We've sometimes arrived at sites at the end of the day and found that to be a surprisingly good time as most tour groups are gone. But the point about the weather and the cover heating up at the Villa Romana is something to keep in mind.

Rasputin-- sorry to take the discussion away from your trip report. I'm enjoying following you on your travels! it,does sound like the driving has been more exhausting than you had expected and I hope this is not affecting your experience too much.

Annhig not sure where you are starting your trip from, but your initial idea seemed to be too much back and forthing.>>

hi Rasputin,

not wanting to hijack your TR, but seeking your valuable comments, our present itinerary for 10 days and 10 nights is [ flying into Catania in the early morning] Syracuse/Ortygia 3 nights, Ragusa 2 nights, Agrigento 2 nights, and Taormina 3 nights, with a mid-morning flight home out of Catania on day 11. You may have guessed that we are Brits so we able to do short flights around Europe and have the option of coming back; OTOH it's taken me 60 years to get to Sicily so I wouldn't bet on a return visit too soon.

From all I'm reading I'm thinking that on the day we supposedly leave Agrigento, to drive from there to Villa Romana de Casale, tour the villa, then drive onto Taormina is too much. We could do Plan A above, but that leaves us with 2 successive one-night stands which we really hate. I should like to see Agrigento [though I'm pretty certain DH could take or leave it] but I also think that I might welcome the extra time around the Baroque towns and the southern coast that Plan B would give us.

sundried - I will look forward to seeing what you think of the Villa Clementine - I have already bookmarked the Centrale in Enna for a possible lunch after the Villa Romana.

annhig, for what it's worth we will be staying in Piazza Armerina for only one night just to visit the Villa Romana mosaics. Since my husband prefers to be in a town in the evenings for dinner and a passeggiata, we found B&B Diana, convenient and inexpensive, in the center of town. The reviews on TA are excellent and the photos look good. Might be the answer to your Agrigento to Taormina difficulty.

Thanks for letting us piggyback on your trip report Rasputin1! Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

Just to put some perspective on the Greek Roman ruins. England ofcourse has great Roman ruins and well preserved with a lot of information.
In Italy we would say that ofcourse each State/town want to promote their tourist attraction - its their livelihood. Paestum in southern Italy has great Greek temples - well preserved and accessible (although I don't know about now). As someone said do your research and don't let someone else's view influence what you see. Their reasons and perspective could very well be very different to yours. If they have not seen a lot of one particular thing, then they will ofcourse think what they have seen is the best. On the other hand if you have experienced a number of any such things (eg Baroque towns) then you will have a better impression of what is really worth your short time. Having seen Modica, Sicili and Noto. I would have avoided Sicili except I was influenced by people who had not had the experience we have had of Baroque architecture in Europe.

Ragusa

Pretty much an easy morning drive and we noted the many dry stone walls which seemed not to make any sense as they surrounded small plots (all overgrown) or very narrow ones. One would have to be a mountain goat to do anything with them.
Then we got to Ragusa. We followed the signs to Centro and had to ask directions. Finally found ourselves in Ragusa Superiore (new town). As I said earlier we decided to park the car in a covered car park in Corso Italia and only paid E3 for safe parking for 4 hours. The information office outside the New Duomo was helpful and gave us a lot of information and a map. They suggested that we walk down to Ragusa Ilba and when we got to the Giardini at the end, take the No 1 bus back and it would stop just outside the car park.
The new Duomo is very photogenic and there is a good café in front of it if you have not had time for breakfast.

If ofcourse you are coming from Modica you will come first to Ragusa Ilba and a different parking lot.

The stairs/windy narrow streets to Ragusa Ilba are in themselves interesting and we spent more than the 20 mins the TO said it would take, stopping to view old closed churches, people going about their business and photogenic balconies and alleys. If you do go down this path, there is a small shop selling souvenirs. If you are interested in postcards, this is the place to buy them. They are the cheapest we saw and the same or even better quality.
Up and up we go. Piazza di Repubblica has some views over the gorge and another small TO.

You can follow the outer road Via del Mercato if you want views of the gorge.

We visited as many of the churches as we could. Chiesa Santa Maria delle Scale has 340 steps and was built over a Norman convent and rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake. The Gothic doorway and external pulpit are still there.
Church of San Giorgio is another Baroque church with three tiers of columns and 13 stained glass windows.
Church of San Giuseppe in Piazza Pola has an unusual oval shaped interior with the cupola decorated with paintings of St Benedict's Glory.
Finally made our way to the Giardini, a quick look in the gardens shows that they could be lovely when all the flowers are out. The little church of San Giorgio can only be entered infrequently but it is a little gem in this setting. There is a lot of work going on in the garden so it was not completely open. On the other side is a children's playground. The tickets are purchased from the Tabacci on the corner and the bus stop is not marked. However there is a bus shelter just on the garden wall and this is where the bus will come to. Watch that you are taking the correct number bus or you will end up somewhere else.
Ragusa was an interesting stop, but I would not spend more than a day there. Perhaps the views at night are nice. A number of posters who have stayed there have indicated this.

On to Modica. You can travel here by bus from Ragusa Ilba. The bus stop is on Corso Umberto I. There are 12 buses a day.

Again Modica has two towns, Alta at the top of the gorge and Bassa at the bottom.

Once again we did not want to negotiate the roads and chose a B & B out of town which had indicated that there was a bus we could take into town. Perfect we thought.