western sicily advise
 

We're planning our second trip to Sicily and among other places will spend time in Scopello and Sciacca (we'll have 4 nights in Palermo). We have 7 nights to split - which place to take the extra day? Figure we'll see Segesta on the day travelling from one to the other. Thank you.

We are leaving next week for a 5 day trip to western Sicily and plan to spend Day 1 visiting San Vito Lo Capo, Segeste, Erice night in Trapani, Day 2 Marsala, Mazara del vallo, Selinunte, night in Sciacca, Day 3 Agrigento night in masseria in Palma di Montechiaro (home of Tomasi di lampedusa)Day 4 Piazza Armerina and night in masseria in Polizzi Generosa, Day 5 Cefalu and back to Palermo for the ferry. If you have any questions for when we get back I'll be glad to answer. When are you leaving?

looking forward to hearing about your trip when you return.In Oct. we are traveling from Rome to Calabria then to Sicily.Of your stops we will be visiting Segeste,Erice,Cefalu and Palermo

My husband and I returned from Sicily a few days ago. We were very surprised to find the island absolutely packed with tour buses and tourists. In my opinion, the travelers posting here are trying to do far too much in a short period of time. It takes longer to go from place to place than one would think just looking at the map. Let me know how you survived your whirlwind tour.

We are back and survived! Funnily enough we didn't see any buses or tour groups except for in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento. And that wasn't too bad at all. The other places we visited were very quiet and tourist-free. I will write a short trip report very soon.

I was on Sicily late April and early May (trip report in progress), and was surprised by how many tourists I saw, but Taormina, Mt. Etna and Agrigento were definitely the worst. In the west I would definitely recomend spending time in Trapani, which I liked much more than I expected, and Erice, which I loved. I spent two nights in Erice, but if you can't afford to overnight you can avoid the tourist crowds very easily - most of them stay on the main street where the shops are.

Hi, I live in Sicily and we have started to see more and more tourists arrive as the season gets going. But with a bit of carefull planning it is always possible to avoid the buses at the Tourist sites. Normally if you get there early say by 9 / 9.30 you will beat the crowds, this is certainly the case at Agrigento and Taormina. I live with my partner who is a guide and we run a very small travel agency. We love San Vito Lo Capo which has a great beech and amazing food and Polizzi Generosa is a gem within the Madonie National Park not far from where we live in Cefalu. We have a lot of friends there who run small hotels, B&B and Agriturismo's. Please let me know if you need any advice on accommodation or excursions as we would love to help. Rob.