Been to Sicily? Recommendations?

After many trips to Italy, one to England, one to Paris, one to Austria/Switerland, etc.....finally decided to go to Sicily. Best trip of my life!!! We rented a lovely apartment with a view (four adults), in Taormina and through our rental agent, Claudio Pugliese, hired a very reasonably priced driver/guide to take us on two day trips. One to Mt. Etna fabulous! Another to the hill town where Godfather I was filmed, a winery for a wine tasting/with food, a honey farm, etc., I used this website: www.holidaysinsicily.co.uk Our delightful guide, Angelo, just put his website up, new, not a lot on it yet: www.magicofsicily.com Claudio and Angelo are both life-time residents of Taormina and they have a "love affair" going with their volcano. Both of them are very fluent in English, and despite my worries, Claudio was impeccably honest and gave great transportation advice, and arranged transportation to the airport in Catania at a price that was only EU 10 more than the bus! (We wished we'd trusted him sooner on our way TO Taormina as well! The food in Sicily was perhaps the best we'd ever had on any of our trips, and Taormina is a plethora of lovely and reasonable places to dine! Greek Theatre ruins, and many romantic weddings taking place every day in their main Piazza. GO!! Have fun!
We loved it so much we're going back in October! Couldn't get enough!

I agree with the previous writer that Sicily is a great travel destination. We took the train from Naples and then traveled by rental car once we arrived in Sicily. The road system is fine and the traffic is much lighter than in northern Italy. Favorite spots included Agrigento, Selinunte, Piazza Armerina, Syracusa, Erice and Palermo. We did not visit Mt. Etna because it was active during our stay (but exciting to view from a distance). The ruins are dramatic and the scenery is beautiful.

With a background in archaeology i went for the ruins - I think we encountered 10 temples on our trip! Loved Taormina - the view of Etna from the Greek/Roman theatre is stunning. Liked the old part of Syracuse and the cathedral which incorporated a Greek Temple. Selinute has a good beach and ruins of a Greek city and three impressive temples. Segusta has an unfinished temple in a beautiful setting - but do go up to the hill-top theatre with stunning views. And of course the Valley of the Temples. Loved Cefalu with its Norman cathedral and mosaics and Mount Royal outside of Palermo with its Cathedral and glittering gold mosaics covering all the interior walls. Sicily is a great place with fantastic sites dating back before even Greeks arrived. Get a good guide book (unfortunately, although Rick Steves does a tour to Sicily he does not seem to have published a book about it). I am not particularly fond of the Lonely Planet guides (not enough background information) but Rough Guides probably do one.

I replied yesterday and recommended www.magicofsicily.com The website is lovely, take a look! Lots of day trips added as well as a cooking school. When I first saw it, it wasn't completed, and didn't recommend enthusiastically enough.

Thanks for all the responses. I am really interested in seeing the ancient ruins. I will have to go to Taormina after all the recommendations!

One more addition to my list of recommendations: Morgantina, IF you are interested in archaelogy and are using a rental car (rather than public transportation) in Sicily. We visited this ancient Greek site many years ago and were fortunate enought to be there while there was active digging. Very interesting to watch. and the scenery up in the high hills of Sicily was beautiful. I remember we took a picnic lunch because it is a very rural area but perhaps it's a bit more developed now.

We spent nine days in Sicily last September. We used Taormina as out base. It was spectacular. One of the best trips I've taken. Taormina is beautiful. We took day trips to Etna and Agrigento (not to be missed in my opinion.) As it was very warm, we had several beach days too. The scenery is indeed as beautiful as the photographs. And the food....the best I've had in Italy. Go - you will not be disappointed. However, do be patient. It is Sicily. Go with the flow.

For summer holidays many Italians, as well as people from abroad, choose Sicilian beaches, which in many cases are every bit as beautiful as the most exotic ones. Sicily has some beautiful beaches including in Catania. If you love scenic beauty then Sicily has it all. It is a great place including if you are looking for somewhere to go diving on your vacation. If you are looking for a relaxing holiday then the slow pace of life in Sicily might be perfect for you. Apartments in Sicily

Love Sicily. Great suggestion about Morgantina, it's just a few kilometers further than the Villa Romana de Casale, and both are uncovering and restoring parts of the sites. Near Palermo you can easily get to Segesta(an unfinished Greek temple in a spectacular setting, with ruins of the town nearby), Monreale, and Erice. If you want time at a beach, go to Cefalu and see the fabulous mosaic in the cathedral while you are there (there is a long stretch of good beach and a rock behind the cathedral if you are inclined to hike). Agrigento is great, so is Taormina, Mount Etna is amazing (you can drive quite far up and then take a funicular if the weather and volcano permit). I love Siracusa (stay in Ortygia, the old town). Where is Westerville?

http://www.bestofsicily.com/

We just got back from a week in Sicily and loved it. Spent 2 nights in Agrigento, including a full day at the Valley of Temples and the museum, and then rented a car for a day and drove to Syracuse, staying in the old city Ortigia. Five nights there was probably too many; I wish we had taken the last 2 and gone to Taormina. There are ancient Greek theaters in Taormina and in Syracuse, and we enjoyed Oedipus the King in the theater in Syracuse where Aeschylus may have acted... amazing. Of course it was in Italian and a somewhat odd production, but it was still very cool. I think there is a play every night from mid-May to late June. I'm happy to recommend our lodgings in Agrigento and Siracusa; send a PM if you'd like more information. I will also second the recommendation for Villa Romana del Casale; we didn't make it to Morgantina but the mosaics at the villa were beautiful.