Hello everyone,

I would appreciate feedback on our Sicily itinerary. We will arrive in Rome on September 24, connect to Palermo, travel through Sicily by car, then fly from Catania to Rome on October 8 and spend our final nights in Rome before flying home on October 11.


Sept 24–28: Palermo - Day trips/options: Monreale and possibly Cefalù by train.


Sept 28–30: Trapani - Base for western Sicily. - Day trips/options if time permits: Erice, salt pans, Segesta.


Sept 30–Oct 1: Agrigento


Oct 1–3: Ragusa - Day trips/options if time permits: Modica and Scicli.


Oct 3–6: Ortigia / Siracusa - Stay in Ortigia. - Day trips/options: Noto and hopefully a southeast beach.


Oct 6–8: Taormina - Day trips/options: Mount Etna or Catania.


Oct 8–11: Rome - Drive from Taormina to Catania Airport, return the car, fly to Rome, and spend the last three nights there.


We will rent a car on our last day in Palermo, use it for the rest of the Sicily route, and return it at Catania Airport. For the bases after Palermo, do you have any recommendations for where to stay that is convenient, has parking, and avoids ZTL restrictions?



Does this route make sense geographically?

Is one night in Agrigento enough if we only want to see the Valley of the Temples?

Are we giving enough time to Palermo, Ortigia, and the southeast Baroque towns?

Would you reduce Trapani or Taormina, or does this look balanced?


Thank you!

I must admit that I’m having trouble identifying your actual itinerary, as you are counting your transit days in both your departure and your arrival cities. So, for example, You don’t really have from the 28th to the 30th in Trapani: Part of the 28th is getting there from Palermo and part of the 30th is going on to Agrigento. It would be very helpful if you lay your plan out by NIGHTS, e.g., Palermo (4 nights); Trapani (2 nights), etc. I think that if you do that you’ll see that you have much less time in each location than you seem to believe. Once you do that, and give us a better sense of your plan, we will be better positioned to comment.

As for your questions:

One night is usually enough for Agrigento if your sole aim there is to see the Valley of the Temples BUT you will need to be mindful of the time if you want to reach your next destination before sunset.

How much time for each location depends on what YOU want to see and do. I wanted more time for both Palermo and Ortigia / Siracusa than you are giving them; YMMV. You need to decide what you want and plot those specific things onto a calendar.

Note that visiting Mt. Etna means very different things to different people. Some people want to go to the top; others want to visit the wineries. Make sure you know which you want.