2 weeks in Sicily

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Sicily&utf8=%E2%9C%93

Above is the result of just one Search here. You can further refine other Searches. Review posts under Italy and Trip Reports here on the Forum. We have no idea your group size, age, budget, season, etc.

Safe travels.

Monreale is a beautiful cathedral in the hills above Palermo, a must see. Palermo has many historic sites to visit.
Ortigia is a gem; we spent a week there. We spent a day in Siracusa while staying on Ortigia, and it has some very interesting ancient ruins. We loved Sicily and since you have Sicilian roots, you will have an extra special trip. Enjoy it all. We started our trip in Palermo and went counter clockwise around the island, ending in Taormina which was beautiful but was our least favourite place. When we return to Sicily, we will not visit Taormina again. You also could do Sicily clockwise, flying into Catania and out of Palermo. It actually was the easiest trip itinerary we have planned independently.

Thank you so much. I'm reading up on all your suggestions.

We spent two weeks in Sicily last May. You can’t see all of Sicily in that time, especially if you want a relaxed pace. This is what we did and would not say our pace was relaxed. We rented a car leaving Siracusa and returned it at airport before going to Palermo. We used buses and trains otherwise.

Flew into catania airport. Took bus to Taormina.
Taormina 3 nights
Siracusa (Ortigia) 3 nights
Ragusa 2 nights
Argrigento 1 night
Outside Erice 2 nights
Palermo 3 nights flew to Rome, spent night and flew back to US.

I also did a trip report (below) Before deciding itinerary, I read every trip report I could find on Sicily.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/14-days-in-sicily-by-bus-train-and-car-in-may-but-with-november-weather

Since you are flying in and out of Palermo and since most of the places you mentioned are on the western side of the island I suggest just concentrating these two weeks on that side. I very much like the eastern side too and think you should visit Siracusa and Ortigia and other beautiful towns, but your two weeks would best be served be staying on the western side for this trip if you want to see most of the towns you have read about. I think a huge factor in your planning is the location of your ancestral town. I assume it is near Palermo or on the western side since you are flying in and out of there.

All of the towns you listed are beautiful. Like you, I love exploring smaller towns but Palermo also fascinated me. Use Palermo as a base for a few days. i don't know your travel style, but you could easily stay 5-6 nights in Palermo, do daytrips from there and then spend your remaining days in other bases. From Palermo you can easily daytrip to Cefalù, Monreale, Segesta and possibly your ancestral town depending on where it is. Another base for your beach experience could be Castellammare del Golfo or Scopello or San Vito lo Capo. Castellammare del Golfo and Erice could also be daytrips from Palermo. If you stay in Trapani you can see Erice and possibly the Salt Flats and Marsala.

I found Mazara del Vallo to be perfect for a two night stop. Mazara del Vallo was intriguing with its Tunisian influence. From there, I took the train and bus as a daytrip to the gorgeous ruins at the Selinunte archeological park right on the sea. I highly recommend you visit there, especially if you do not get to Agrigento.

Do you want to stay a night or two in your ancestral town? Do you still have relatives there? I have done this and it is so rewarding. Many of the Sicilian civil and church records for the towns in the Palermo province are online. Those early Sicilian records were quite detailed and can even tell you the address where your ancestors lived as well as lots of other important info. I visited the streets where my grandparents were born, the church where they were baptized and married, met relatives that still live there, and found my great grandmother's tomb in the cemetery. It was quite a moving experience for me, after growing up hearing all the stories my Sicilian grandmother told me about her town. I have now visited their town twice and stay in contact with the relatives I got to meet.

Thank you so much for comments. Very helpful. Yes we will be staying in Mazara del Vallo for 2 nights.
Appreciate your time and thoughtful comments and suggestions.

We did a western Sicily car trip. We loved staying in some beautiful, but quiet places like Scopello (west of Palermo)/ and Marinella (along the coast east of Marsala). When are you going? We went in March and enjoyed the wildflowers.

Thank you.
We are going mid April - May1.

On our trip we had the following stays. We flew in and out of Catania.

Catania area - 3 nights (day trips into Catania, Ortigia, and Noto)
Agrigento- 2 nights
Marsala - 1 night
Erice - 3 nights
Monreale - 2 nights (day trip into Palermo)
Cefalù- 1 night
Taormina - 2 nights
Catania area - 1 night prior to departure

If we were to do it again, we’d cut one night from each Catania and Erice and use that time elsewhere. You could swap Marsala for Mazara del Vallo since they are close to each other.
While some could spend a week on Ortigia, I was ready to leave it after a few hours. We did have a rental car.

Palermo deserves 3 nights or more. You might want to leave it at the end, since you plan to fly out of there.
You should probably rent a car upon arrival. Since the PMO airport is quite west of the city, you should head further west of the airport right away.

Besides Mazara del Vallo, which you plan to visit already, the following are nice places to see on the western side of the island:
Castellammare, Scopello & Zingaro Nature Reserve, Erice, San Vito lo Capo, Segesta (temple), Selinunte (many temples).

If you like small towns I suggest either Scopello (very small) or Castellammare (a bit larger). Scopello is next to the Zingaro Reserve. I've stayed in Scopello, and from there I took day trips to all of the above. All of the places in the list above are within 1 hour drive from Scopello or from next door Castellammare.

Erice is also a beautiful town on top of a steep hill. If you want you can stay there overnight for a night or two, but personally I wouldn't choose it as a base to visit all other places because to get up there the road is long and with endless hairpin curves, and getting in an out would have made my wife too car sick.

In the south, try to devote at least a day to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.

In the Eastern side, Siracusa (Ortigia island), Taormina, are the top places. Taormina is very touristy and expensive.

In the Siracusa/Ortygia corner of the island you have a number of attractive Baroque towns; Ragusa, Noto, Modica and Scicli are the ones most often mentioned.

Sicily is really big. Was there for 3 weeks and only saw a small corner. DON'T RUSH. Travel as if you will be back....
loved Argigento.
Syracuse, too.

I spent about 2 weeks in Sicily in 2022. I flew into Palermo and out of Catania. I would strongly recommend this so you don't have to return to Palermo. Catania is pretty close to Siracusa.

From Palermo, good daytrips are Cefalu and Monreale. From Siracusa, good daytrips are Noto and Ragusa. Also, look into going to the Valley of the Temples. If you're driving, go to the Valley and then move on, but if you're going by train, you'll probably have to spend the night in Agrigento.

I would spend more time in Siracusa than Palermo. I spend 5 nights in Palermo but would reduce it to 3 or 4.

My trip:
Palermo (5 nights)
Agrigento (2)
Siracusa (5)
Taormina (2)
Catania (2)

Thank you fir all the fantastic suggestions.

So great to have these suggestions.
Now to build our Itinerary

the advice to focus your two weeks in Western Sicily is spot on, and you will be spoiled for great choices of things to do. I would suggest including Agrigento in your trip -- that could be your furthest point eastward. Segesta and Selinunte are also amazing sites to visit, and take much less time than the Valley of Temples in Agrigento.

we loved Trapani! great small city, easily walkable in the historic area and along the sea. Erice is easy to do as a day trip from there.....we were underwhelmed by Erice overall, but as a home baker, Maria Grammatico's shop was a big draw for me. we also loved our visit to Mozia.

Castellammare del Golfo is a sweet spot to visit, and we used it as a base to go for a short hike in Lo Zingaro.

so many choices for great experiences await you!!

I'll, say it, Looking for a slower pace vacation itinerary does not jive with some of the suggestions that propose 7 stops in two weeks.

You would do fine just spending your time in Palermo and up to a week in Mazara del Vallo alone. If that might be too slow, add a few days in Cefalu as a break from Palermo, and/or a couple days around Trapani. Forget anything to the East (Agrigento, Ragusa, Ortigia, Syracuse, Mt. Etna, Taormina) Resist the urge to "add just one more stop" or fall into the trap of needing to see a "can't miss" sight.

Another perspective — We had a great self-drive trip to Sicily last September. This is how we spent our days:

1. Arrive Catania drive to Taormina via Castelmola
2. Etna wineries loop, back to Taormina
3. To Ortigia
   
4. To Ragusa via Noto
   
5. Ragusa - Modica - Scicli - Ragusa
6. To Agrigento via Villa del Casale
7. Agrigento
   
8. To Cefalu’
9. To Palermo via Monreale
10. Palermo
11. Depart from Palermo

For us, one day/night was enough to explore Ortigia as we were not interested in Siracusa. We enjoyed staying two nights in Ragusa. Modica was our favorite of the small towns we visited. We drove early to Villa Casales then on to Agrigento which worked out great. There we spent the afternoon wandering in the old city and had an excellent meal. Next day we drove by the Turkish Steps on the way to a beautiful sandy beach. Late afternoon we went to the archeological museum at Valley of the Temples which then we toured at sunset into the evening. It was magical! Monreale Cathedral was a most worthwhile stop en route to Palermo. The only miss was Cefalu. We found it extremely crowded, touristy and, overall unwelcoming. Food was good most everywhere but especially Palermo. You have more time to visit Mazara del Vallo, which looks awesome. Typically, we do not make return trips but we’d return to Sicily in a heartbeat. Have a great trip!