Hello! I have six days to play around in Sicily prior to my Rick Steves 11 day Sicily tour that starts in Palermo and ends in Catania( see itinerary for details). I arrive in Palermo and I’m looking for things to do for six nights prior to the tour. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
6 days is a lot of time outside of the tour. Palermo is a great place to visit, is it possible u could begin your trip elsewhere like Naples or Malta?
1 day to recover from jetlag, 1 day each for the sights of Palermo and Cefalu. If it's beach weather or if you rent a car . . . . .
Just want to stay in Sicily and won’t rent a car so am looking for a 6 day itinerary. I will have 2 days in Palermo when my tour starts. Is Cefalu with staying overnight? What about the islands nearby? Thanks for your replies!
Just saw you’re not planning on driving a rental car, so that could change things. Still, we had 2 weeks at Christmastime in 2012, and went to many of the places Rick’s Tour will visit. The tour goes to Erice for a good part of a day, but it’s so wonderful that you could go there before the tour, too. If we’d had more time, we would’ve gone to Cefalù and islands north of the northeast part of Sicily, but haven’t been yet, so no personal recommendations.
If you’re interested in Ancient Greek sites, you’ll visit Segesta and Agrigento temples, but there’s also Selinunte and Morgantina. The latter is reachable if you stay in Caltagirone, a town worth visiting, too.
Then there’s Modica, a paradise for chocolate in the lower town, and a beautiful upper town.
We spent Christmas Eve and day at the agriturismo featured in Rick’s video from more than 20 years ago, and you could do that, too, but would need a car or driver to get you there.
The tour no longer goes to Ragusa, which is definitely worth a visit. Palermo could use more time than you'll have on the tour. If you want islands, I'd suggest the Aeolians. I did a day-trip to the Egadi Islands and didn't think they were all that exciting except for folks entranced by not-overrun, sandy beaches.
You won't run out of things to do, but there's a risk you'll be moving around a lot as you fill in gaps in the tour. Be aware that bus service from town to town is often non-existent on Sundays and holidays, so you'll need to plan around that.
Not super familiar with with the tour itinerary, but I would recommend letting the tour cover the hard to see bits and let yourself settle in to a few other places that are easy to visit. If you split your time between Palermo and Cefalù for those days, that would be pretty ok by my standards. I found Palermo very enjoyable, and worthwhile to just hang out in. The different neighborhoods are fun to explore. I’m sure the tour doesn’t include beach time in Cefalù, an easy way to relax and enjoy the place. The suggestion of the Aeolian islands is also a good one, a destination that’s easy enough but further afield than most folks will get to see.
Otherwise, going from Palermo to the hilltowns of the southeast, or Taormina seems like a long way to go and back considering how much traveling the tour will then cover. I feel like staying relatively close to Palermo and absorbing the culture for a few days would be more rewarding.
I just looked at the Sicily tour itinerary and see that it only schedules you for one day in Palermo, and that day includes a trip out to Monreale. That's certainly a very short time in this amazing city; it's almost like the RS tour folks expect you to arrive early and explore some of Palermo on your own. It truly is a fascinating city, and very pedestrian friendly. There is plenty to see and do and experience in Palermo that could easily fill 3-4 days. I concur with the suggestions above to spend at least three days there, and a couple in Cefalu (which the tour does not visit). You might also look for some specialized day tours in/around Palermo; there is a day tour that goes up into a high interior village with farms, etc; another day tour looks at how the mafia has affected Sicily, and evolved through the decades; another day tour offers a shopping/eating experience. I suggest googling "day tours from Palermo" and see if any of those speak to you.
Thank you! All great ideas. Anyone have a low cost Airbnb in Palermo? Or suggested place in Cefalu?
I am also doing the Sicily tour, starting on September 27. We are arriving in Palermo on the 24th and I have planned a bunch of things to do in Palermo - a food tour (Streaty), an anti-Mafia tour (Addiopizzo tour) and a tour of the Kalsa district (Uncovered Sicily tours) - in addition to wandering around the city and exploring on our own using the new RS guide book. You could also do a daytrip to Cefalu (using the train that departs hourly) or Mondello beach which is quite close to Palermo. Daytrips to Modica, Ragusa, and Noto in southeastern Sicily are probably not practical, especially without a car, as there is no quick means of public transportation (i.e. no direct trains or bus!) and even with a car, you are talking a 3-hour drive!
I arrived 2 days before my Sicily tour began and had no problem filling that time with activities not included in the tour. I had been to Palermo once before, otherwise I could have easily added a third day of pre-tour sightseeing. Cefalu is an easy and worthwhile day trip from Palermo. If you can, I'd move 1 or 2 of your 6 days to the end of the trip and spend that time in and around Catania. The people on my tour who spent an extra day in Catania really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately my flight is set to depart on the last day of tour so can’t add on at the end. Should I overnight in Cefalu if just day trip?
Thanks for all replies again!!!
You don't say when you're going to be in Sicily. Personally I would only spend a night or two in Cefalu if the weather was nice and I was planning to enjoy the beaches, but then again it could be a nice change of pace from busy Palermo. You could spend a few days in Palermo, head to Cefalu for a couple of nights and then return to Palermo for the start of your tour. The train ride is only about an hour.
I'll be there Oct 11-18 prior to my tour. Thank you for the suggestion!
We spent 3 nights in Cefalu. There is a great historical section and nice beach walk too. Tons of good restaurants and bars.
