Catania or Palermo after RST

I’ve never taken the tour, but Palermo has way more to offer than Catania.

There is much more to see in Palermo. We would like to return there a third time.

As you are departing from Palermo my suggestion is Palermo for the last night.

I’m doing this tour in October. My flight home departs from Rome so after tour ends in Catania I’m moving on to Rome for a few nights.

We did the tour and much preferred Palermo over Catania. Since you're flight out is from Palermo (Punta Raisa), that's too long a drive to make on the day of your flight.

We will definitely sleep in Palermo the night before our flight, but we have an additional night after the tour - that's why we're debating staying in Catania. It sounds like there is a good case for spending in Palermo - were there things that you didn't see on the tour that you wished you had? I'm also fine with just strolling around and enjoying the markets and shops.

Maybe consider staying that extra night in Cefalu - closer to Palermo in the right direction, and sounds worthwhile.

And dont forget the airport (Punta Raisa) is a distance from Palermo (I think 45 minutes?) so take that into account.

Another vote for visiting Cefalù. Make sure you visit its beautiful cathedral, shop for souvenirs, enjoy a delicious seafood meal, and a creamy gelato!

I also suggest visiting the majestic Capella Palatina in the Norman Palace while in Palermo.

Enjoy your time in beautiful Sicily!

We have two days in Cefalu on the front end before we meet the tour.

The Sicily tour is fabulous! Definitely spend the extra day in Palermo as there is so much to see that is not included on the tour. Teatro Massimo is beautiful and has guided tours in English. The Normal Palace, Cappella Palatina, and Palermo's cathedral are all worth a visit. Enjoy!

Hi Kim, I grew up in St. Louis and see you are there. My maternal grandparents immigrated from a small mountain town near Palermo to St. Louis so maybe my opinion is biased! You can find plenty to do in either Catania or Palermo but I would also use that extra time in Palermo. Great city to walk around and explore and eat! If you like visiting churches I suggest seeing the very baroque Chiesa del Gesu, the cathedral, the Martorana and the San Domenico Church. If you have any interest in religious sites there is the Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia (patron saint of Palermo) in the cave on Mt Pellegrino. I enjoyed the Regional Archaeological Museum Antonio Salinas, it is not a particularly big museum. If you didn’t get to a puppet show on your tour, that is a lot of fun and very worth doing. Check to see if there are any performances or concerts scheduled at the Opera House or Teatro Politeama Garibaldi. The Teatro Massimo offers tours of the opera house. There is a flea/antique market - mercato delle pulci- not far from the cathedral. The Capuchin catacombs were weirdly interesting. Maybe do a street food walking tour. Walk by the port and into Kalsa area through the Porta Felice. On my last trip to Palermo I wanted to visit the Zisa Castle and Gardens but ran out of time . I think you can keep yourself very busy in Palermo for that extra day.

Thanks so much everyone - so many excellent suggestions! Can anyone who has taken the train from Catania to Palermo comment on the ease/timing of that?

We did the tour and much preferred Palermo over Catania.

Stan - May I ask what it was that made you prefer Palermo over Catania?

@Estimated Prophet. Of course its easy to make sweeping judgments based on one visit to each, albeit on the toru the OP is taking. We saw much of interest all over Sicily. I found Palermo surprisingly open and full of gems in architecture, history, art, food and the general attitude of the people. Even the grittier parts that we saw, felt like a living contemporary city. What we saw of Catania, was less inviting, more business-like, and the things of interest harder to find. Sort of like Palermo being NYC, versus Catania being New Jersey (if that means anything to you). All subjective of course, but that's what travel does - sharpen your instincts.

I absolutely agree with Stan’s take on the difference between Palermo and Catania and would spend extra days in Palermo. Even though we had 4 days there before the Sicily tour began, there was so much more to see. Unless you have time set aside there before the tour begins, in my opinion, you only begin to scratch the surface with the tour because you spend time at Monreale. We were fascinated by the Norman Palace and Capella Palatine (when we were there in April it was the only site that had reserved times) would have loved to see a performance at Teatro Massimo, although we did get to see part of a rehearsal when we took the tour and ate things on our Streaty Food Tour that we would have experienced on our own.