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12 days in Sicily

We are 2 sisters 70/72 coming from Greece islands and Athens trip and then to Sicily on 9/17 for about 12 days. We are not driving at all, but will use trains if possible, or a car service between cities if there are no trains. Interests....some history, of course....just wondering around town, Mt. Edna, and of course food is on the top of the list. We figure we will start out at in Catania and end in Palermo. We are open to any suggestions from people in the know.

Thanks in advance for the help, Jane

Posted by
5188 posts

Jane,
I visited Sicily a few years ago, and traveled in reserve; started in Palermo and flew out of Catania. I traveled via public transportation.

I will share my trip report to give you some ideas for a possible itinerary.

I’d also suggest getting a couple of guidebooks for more ideas.

Once you narrow down your itinerary, I , and others here, will be happy to answer any questions that may come up.

Happy planning!

Posted by
5508 posts

Sicily can be a little tricky relying on public transportation. We went around the entire island. If you start at Catania, you can do the train to Randazzo by Mt. Etna and then continue counterclockwise via train to Palermo. From Randazzo you would have to take the train to Riposto and then switch trains. From there on it would be pretty straightforward. Possible stops could be Taormina, Messina, Cefalu. We stayed 2 nights in Cefalu and loved it there. We wished we had additional days, we could have done some nice day trips from there.

If you want to go clockwise from Catania, you can take the train to Siracusa, Noto then Ragusa. From Ragusa on, you would have to use buses or a private driver to Palermo. Possible stops between Ragusa and Palermo would be Agrigento, Selinunte,Segesta, Mazara and Trapani. There are many possible daytrips from both Trapani and Palermo.

I found the Rick Steves guide especially helpful for planning our trip to Sicily. You could see which cities interest you and then each chapter gives you options for transportation to travel between the cities.

With 12 days using solely public transportation, you will have to plan carefully because in some areas it does take longer to get around with public transportation, especially along the southern coast.

We had a private driver take us to wineries and also to guide us around Randazzo. If that is of interest, I could provide his contact info.

Posted by
103 posts

jules m,
My wife and I are planning to be in Sicily for a month this fall with 10 days before and after the Rick Steves tour. We plan to use public transportation but will need to get from Ragusa to Cefalù, probably using a private driver, so I would appreciate your info and suggestions on that and also any tips for Cefalù, where we plan to be for 5 days. Thanks.

Posted by
5508 posts

@Lew, are you willing to rent a car for a couple days? If so, I would recommend driving the portion of your trip Ragusa to Cefalu. You could stop at Villa Romana which was amazing and the town of Enna. I'm sure there would be buses, but it would take much longer. In Cefalu, I highly recommend staying at BB Scirocco. They have a gorgeous roof terrace that looks over the city and is right next to La Rocco (I recommend hiking up it). Scirocco is very reasonably priced, the owner is just wonderful and they do a lovely breakfast on their terrace. We spent a lot of time walking around Cefalu, such a cute town. In terms of day trips, other guests were talking about day trips they'd taken with a bus or train. I don't remember the names of the cities. You could contact Nicole at Scirocco if you stay there and ask her for suggestions for activities and day trips.

The driver we had is based at Randazzo by Mt. Etna. Ragusa would be out of his range.

Posted by
103 posts

Thanks, jules m. I'd rather not rent a car. I have been in touch with a couple of drivers. We'll find a solution, another little adventure, no doubt. We already have a reservation via booking.com for a Cefalù b&b (Cefalù in Blu). I hope it will be as nice as the one you recommended. We definitely intend to hike La Rocco and look forward to relaxing in town since it will be near the end of our journey in Sicily.

Posted by
5508 posts

@Lew, I can certainly understand. We were less than thrilled to drive. We did feel that it worked out better than expected, but we structured it so we wouldn't be driving around and narrow roads with big drops or tight city centers. When we travel our first choice is always public transportation. Sicily's buses and trains were more reliable and nicer than we expected.

Posted by
17 posts

Thank you everyone.
and Thank you Priscilla for sharing your trip itinerary and your friend Zoe. My thought was maybe get a home base and then do days trips. Lugging a suitcase from place to place, gets very old. We already have our return flight out of Palermo.
If we fly into Catania, hotel in either Siracusa or Taormina and then day trips from there.
Train/bus from Siracusa to Agrigento, then onto Palermo, or maybe renting a car????
Thank you everyone, Jane