Any Advice on Sicily

Hello, T. Ann!

I love Sicily and have been there many times. For Greek and Roman ruins, the high points are Agrigento, Siracusa, Taormina and Naxos, the Villa Romana de Casale near Piazza Armerina, Segesta near Trapani, and Selinunte. Erice, a beautiful hilltop medieval city, is also near Trapani. These places are all over Sicily, but in eight days you could get to many of them.

Some other places that I return to every time are Cefalu and Palermo. I also love the Lipari islands, but I don't know if that would interest you.

You can reach all of these places by train/bus, but In eight days, a car would be much more convenient.

When you make your selections, I can suggest some hotels and restaurants.

Do not miss the cathedral in Monreale (12th c.), about a 20 minute drive outside of Palermo. The interior is filled with exquisite mosaics depicting stories from the Old and New Testaments. If you go, be sure to include the cloisters. I'm sure you can get there by public transport if you don't rent a car.

Rosalyn is right, and there is a bus from Palermo to Monreale.

Many of the ruins you are interested (see Zoe's comment) are out of town in the countryside, therefore a car would be more efficient. For Western Sicily I like to use the village of Scopello as a base. Most hotels have wifi everywhere in Italy. For restaurants ask the locals.

I was in Sicily in April/May 2014. My VERY detailed trip report, including where I stayed and ate, and information about our car rental (which went fine) is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina

Thank you all so much! All of your responses have been great. Thank you Zoe for offering to help with hotels. Once I figure out what areas I want to stay I will definitely ask for advice. And, Harold thank you for pointing me in the direction of your post, it is very helpful. Thank you Roslyn for the Monreale suggestion. I am definitely going to look into that. Sounds beautiful and I would hate to miss it if I don't have to. Also, Roberto, thank you for your confirmation about driving. I have been thinking it would be better to drive than trying public transportation for some of the things I wanted to do.

Thank you again everyone and if you remember anything else please let me know!

If you have time in Palermo you may consider seeing a puppet show, go to the catacombs, or take a Palermo street food tour with Marco Romeo (http://www.streatpalermo.it/en). The street food tour was not only food, but also a walking tour of the various markets and tourist sites. I can recommend him highly, and say Hi for me (Don Sciame). Two restaurants that we liked in Palermo were "Osteria Lo Bianco" and "Ferro di Cavallo".

The ruins of Agrigento and Siracusa can be visited by city bus, less convenient than a car but still possible.

Note that in Agrigento the main street is a ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato) during the day.

There are a couple of conveniently located garages in Taormina if you decide to stay in the centro storico.

Thank you Don and Zoe! Those are great ideas. Zoe what is a ZTL (Zona Traffico Limitato)? Is it that only certain types of cars/buses etc... can travel during those times on this road?

Thank you again to everyone. These suggestions have helped a great deal and any more are welcome.

A ZTL is a restricted traffic area, usually the entire historic center of the city., sometimes just part of it. Residents of that area have a permit to drive there. Some cities activate the ZTL during peak hours, there will be signs posted and probably flashing lights. If your hotel is in that area, they can give your info to the local police while you unload/load your car, or perhaps get you permission to park on their property.

You won't know you've violated this space until you get a charge on your credit card statement for the info the rental company forwarded to the police - the much larger fine will catch up with you perhaps a year later.

Regarding private tour guides: I used legendofsicily.com for two separate trips with two separate couples. They are the best tour guides I ever used in all of my European travels. They are based in Taormina (which is a breathtakingly beautiful town, with a magnificent ancient Greek Theatre). In addition to tours, they also rent apartments and BnB's, both of which I've used because Taormina hotels are very expensive.

They offer a number of tours to: A magnificent Vineyard with wine tasting and incredible appetizers, Mt. Etna, The Greek ruins of Syracuse and some pretty incredible caves. The guides spoke perfect English, know their history of the area, and have a great friendly disposition and wonderful sense of humor! I've sent several friends this way and they all have been extremely pleased.