Accommodations in Sicily - Catania or Taormina

We had the best time of our lives in Taormina! There are Greek Ruins within the walls of the city that you can tour yourselves, beautiful churches, wonderful shops and restaurants. We found a guide/apartment rental through GoSicily......I've private messaged you their website and facebook page. I think they were just starting up when we stayed there, and they've grown and offer even more day-trips, etc. We loved these guys! Weddings, beautiful Weddings as only the Sicilians can do it! We rented an apartment for a week and ended up staying 10 days. It will be pretty cold in February, but it's low season there now, and I'm sure you'll be able to get accommodations.
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I like Taormina as well, but also love Siracusa (Ortygia), and it might be a little warmer down there. We've been to Ragusa, but don't like it as well as Siracusa.

Taormina is quaint and pretty. Good spot also for Mt. Etna. Siracusa is also very quaint and pretty, especially Ortigia island (the core of the old city). Siracusa has probably more to see in terms of historical sites and museums. Unless you have a compelling reason, I wouldn't stay in Palermo (city) for 4 days with a car. First of all you can visit Palermo and Monreale in two days. But if you want to take day trips elsewhere in the area (Segesta, Cefalu, Selinunte, Erice, etc.) I would choose a location outside of the city, because the traffic in Palermo is conducive to stress. I would stay in Palermo two nights, then rent a car and get out of town to visit the surrounding areas. Then you can go to the East and visit both Taormina and Siracusa (stay in either or both).

Taormina is beautiful but Siracusa will put you closer to Ragusa and Noto. If you stay in or near Palermo, don't miss Segesta, Erice, Monreale and Cefalu. The. Villa Romana do Casale is also a great place to see. If you are interested in any of these, or other sights in Permo, send me a PM.

We loved our stay in Sicily and would love to go back. We did the exact opposite of what you're doing in that we took the train from Naples to S. Giovanni and ferry across to Messina. Taormina has the most fantastic view and is not be missed. We stayed below in Giardini di Naxos ( Hotel La Riva was not fancy, but comfortable and clean.) After driving up Mt. Etna, we headed to Siracusa, not a long drive. We stayed in Ortygia, where you might enjoy a several night stay. Highly recommend B&B L'Approdo Delle Sirene, which served the best breakfast we had on the entire trip. The Neapolis in Siracusa is very enjoyable.
We did not get to Ragusa, but made a quick stop in Noto, another Baroque city. In Piazza Armerina, we stayed at the agriturismo Villa Trigona. If you stay there, be sure to take advantage of the Sicilian dinner they offer - unforgettable. While there, you'll want to see the mosaics at nearby Viale del Casale. Agrigento is just simply amazing. We did not get to any of the other similar areas. We ended our Sicilian stay in Palermo. To be honest, we saw very little in Palermo as we had a couple of unnerving encounters with the locals. We stayed in the nice Hotel Vecchio Borgo, but the area was suspect and we did not feel comfortable walking in town. I personally would not want to spend 3-4 nights in Palermo. We did take the trip to Monreale and that was totally worth it. We took the overnight ferry to Civitavecchia. We found Sicily to be beautiful, not crowded or touristy. Enjoy!

Thanks so much for all the great info! I am new to this site and so impressed by the willingness of others to share info that adds so much to our trip! Based on the wonderful feedback that I have received, my husband and I will be drawing up a new itinerary for Sicily. We will still land in Palermo but only spend 1-2 days in the city before heading out to explore the island by car. We love road-trips in Canada and the USA but didn't think it would be doable in Europe because of language barriers, but with the feed-back we have been receiving, it does sound like it will work. I do have another question...Will we be able to find some reasonably priced agro-tourisimo (B&B like) places withOUT advance reservations? Also, we do not speak any Italian, will that be a problem? Thanks again for all the helpful and insightful advice!

Pauline, we're here at the last minute, but it would be smart to at least be able to read roadsigns and express needs! If you can get "Pimsleur's" short Italian version audio cd's, I'd encourage you to do it (I got mine at Barnes & Noble years ago) Rick Steves' books have the roadsigns in them, and DO learn and memorize them, since you will probably be the "navigator" and your husband the driver. NOTE: He needs an International Drivers license for Italy which he can get at a AAA location! (Your car rental agency probably told you that. Sicilians in rural areas probably will speak little to no English -- and Sicilian is a completely independent and recognized language, but many of them do speak Italian. As long as you're staying in places that have a tourist industry, most people in the service industry will be English speaking
I am so jealous of your trip, and wish you could put me in the trunk of your car!!

Re the reservations question: End February is low season, and I don't think you'll have any trouble with places being full. But DO have some idea of which towns on the Amalfi Coast you want to stay. If you go to the home page of this site, and go to "heroic B& B experiences" there are many suggestions and references from people who have had great experiences. It's a little disorganized, and not broken down country by country, but I know there are a few raved about in there.

The B&B'S and Agriturismos are located on the "Graffiti Wall" page of this website. Two were highly thought of in S. Italy: casa correale B&B inSorrento and il cedro in Catanzano, Italia (Calabria) Hope this helps! I do wish you'd communicate with my friends in Taormina! They do great day trips to the Eastern side of Sicily