Greetings!!

Breaking my head working on a 9-nights and 8 full day itinerary. I keep going back and forth trying to decide whether we (traveling as a group of ladies) should fly to Catania or Palermo (and depart from the other side). Traveling mid-Sept / beginning of October (waiting for the airline to quote both routes).

Initially, I thought we should land in Catania and leave from Palermo. Maybe give a bit of free time in Palermo to the ladies to do some fun shopping (at the markets, souvenirs, and such) on the last day.

I know it's subjective. But during my planings, I am trying to save the best for last so to say. For example, Russia: start in Moscow and finish in St. Peter (just because I personally think it's a better city with more to do). Again, I know it's personal preferences )))

Besides the cities/attractions, also need to consider the possible hotels. Since our group is kind of big, we cannot stay at cute boutique hotels. To balance prices for the hotels with a special accommodation idea that I have (staying overnight at Castello di Falconara ). So the hotels right now that I'm talking to:

Eastside:
-- Palace Catania | UNA Esperienze (seems best in terms of location to visit Syracuse and Taormina ffor daily excursions)
-- Hotel Mercure Siracusa Prometeo (the most reasonable rate which would be helpful since renting the castle is expensive )))

Palermo: all hotels around 260EUR / night for Twin rooms. Seem reasonable? which of these hotels would be our best option?
-- Excelsior Palace Palermo
-- Grand Hotel Wagner
-- Eurostars Centrale Palace

Thank you for your feedback!
Anna

Hi Anna,

We did the reverse: landed in Palermo and flew out of Catania although we stayed in Siracusa (Ortygia.) As you say it is subjective, but we liked Ortygia even better than Palermo and thought it was a nice way to end our Sicilian stay. We found the flight times worked a bit better for us going in that direction.

I don't think it really matters which way you do it so you might choose based on flight times and prices.

I've still got a boatload of research to do for our trip to Sicily in September, but so far, it's being driven by the fact that EasyJet is offering flights RT Bordeaux-Catania for 34 euros. I figure at that price we'll work with whatever itinerary seems logical within our time constraints, which aren't many.

I would end in Palermo because the hotel options you are considering there are more central and would let your group wander, shop, etc., with some free time at the end of the trip, as you mention in your OP.

You list two hotels for the east side, one in Catania proper and the other in Siracusa, out of the way for walking—so not sure what your plan is there.

ETA: But otherwise I don’t think it matters that much. How big is your group? Are you sure you cannot find a suitable hotel on Ortigia?

Here's another vote for Ortigya where we stayed in the very comfortable Hotel Livingstone - no hotel parking as such but the porter will park your car for you which makes life a lot easier. With only 9 nights/8 days, I would not bother with Taormina. I suggest 3 nights in Ortigya, 2 in Ragusa, [go via Noto and/orModica], one at Agrigento [travelling via Pizza Armerinato see the outstanding roman mosaics at the Villa Casale ] and 3 in Palermo.

of course there are countless other ways to do this as I'm sure other people will prove!

Our family stayed at the Grand Hotel Wagner at the end of June in 2010. The hotel had been recently refurbished, service was good, and we liked it’s location between the old and new cities. We paid €125/night and, even accounting for inflation, €260/night for a double/2 twins room seems high. I’m also surprised that you can’t find anything suitable at this point for your group on Ortigia.

Have you checked the opening hours for the things you want to see and experience?

I am kind of getting smilar impression ...that is IF one can stay on the island of Ortygia. And I now realize that hotels (at least the ones i found) are boutique and pretty much full for the months of Sept / Oct. I am not sure if agencies hold room blocks or if everyone is just going to Sicily this year ;(((.

wow, for that price! Good for you!

I would email the hotels about their availability in Sept/Oct. Sometimes they show no availability on the booking site because the booking site is not set up to take reservations that far out.

Glad to hear a vote for Palermo.
Not many hotels have rooms for 15 people. That's how I narrowed down Palace Catania (which kind of seems nice and is near the main street. also hear that Catania has really good food) and Mercury Syracuse (nothing exciting about this hotel). I think Mercury hotel is right across from the Greek theater and the archeological park though, so I thought that could work if we start there in the morning and then spend the afternoon in Ortygia. Ortygia hotels are small and once again are full. I found Henry's House which looks cute. But since they only have 14 rooms, the rooms range from 220EUR to 390EUR. That's expensive! Also, big buses cannot unload groups in Ortygia.

unfortunately, the "no availability" is what I am getting from the hotels themselves.

I hope I am not offending Sicily... but I didn't expect Sicily to have prices like that for hotels. We've visited Spain, Russia, Portugal, Austria... and we never paid more than 220EUR, even at a 5 star hotel in Madrid. (well, with the exception of Porto last year where we paid 280EUR for a room that had 900EUR listed price but that was a treat). Most of the time, prices are below 200EUR. So, prices in Sicily are a bit of an unpleasant surprise. I think it is due to Sept / Oct being such a popular time to visit. Too late now, but I should have tried scheduling the trip for April.

So far, only the main sites like Valley of the Temples and Villa de Romana because these would be done during a transfer between hotels, so I was glad that they are open throughout the day. I understand that many places (Monreale cathedral, etc) have a break between morning and afternoon hours.

Right. And some places may be closed entirely on one or more days.

Or for longer. Or with at least a modicum of planning before you get your ladies to commit. And IIRC, unfortunately, it's not the first time you've encountered this lesson.

<<Not many hotels have rooms for 15 people. That's how I narrowed down Palace Catania (which kind of seems nice and is near the main street. also hear that Catania has really good food) and Mercury Syracuse (nothing exciting about this hotel). I think Mercury hotel is right across from the Greek theater and the archeological park though, so I thought that could work if we start there in the morning and then spend the afternoon in Ortygia. Ortygia hotels are small and once again are full. I found Henry's House which looks cute. But since they only have 14 rooms, the rooms range from 220EUR to 390EUR. That's expensive! Also, big buses cannot unload groups in Ortygia.>>

I had missed that you were a group of 15 needing 15 rooms. In that case I would definitely go for something like the Mercure as it avoids arguments between group members about who's got the nicest room, best value, etc etc. And the position opposite the archaeological park is a little out of the centre but taxis are cheap. The same applies in other places - go for modern and ease of access.

minamax: 15 people - WOW! Sorry, I can't help you with that, I struggled with planning for ONE person.

I started with a plan for about 12 days and ended up with 18 days. I am flying from London to Catania and out of Palermo with lots of day trips and doing everything by public transportation.

These links may help you:

https://www.voyagetips.com/en/10-days-in-sicily/
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/it...ons-in-sicily/
https://www.voyagetips.com/en/2-3-4-5-days-in-sicily/
https://www.voyagetips.com/en/2-weeks-in-sicily/
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/it...cily-itinerary

Here is my plan for 18 days (note: if you are driving you will be able to get around a lot quicker than I).

Regards … Ger

Check this Rick Steve's video out -very useful!


Regards Ger

Thank you Ger for the link! This one is a great one! And thank you for sharing your itinerary ideas. Sounds like you'll have a relaxing time and see a lot of what Sicily has to offer! You are getting closer to your trip, I think, so good luck with the rest of the planning!

Will keep you posted on which hotel we end up choosing!