Credit card vs cash in Sicily

My experience is pre-Covid, but all the historic sites and lodging accepted credit cards, as did the restaurants. We did use a lot of cash for small purchases because we had it.

We were in Sicily a year ago, credit and contactless was common. I would have cash on hand, I like to carry around about 50 euro, if you wound up using a 100 euro in a couple weeks, that would be a lot. You mostly have the option to use cash.

So, getting 100 or 200 euro is probably fine; 500 euro would be way too much.

Great, thank you both so much!

Sicily is one place where I felt like cash was king. Major stuff will have contactless/credit card but most everyone else wanted cash. I was in a few places (Morgantina) where they only took cash. Folks would often be quite annoyed (though never rude) about not having exact cash. It was positively funny at times, with a lot of pantomime “boo-hoo-hooing” anytime I had to break a big bill.

I would get no more than €100-200 when you leave. In the US you get lousy exchange rate. Then in Italy you can use the Bancomat (ATM) machines like you use at home, to withdraw cash. When you withdraw cash in Italy it might be beneficial if you make few large withdrawals rather than many small ones as many US banks charge a fixed ATM fee when you use another bank.
Credit cards are widely accepted but small transactions (like an espresso, or a bottle of water) are usually handled with cash. I generally use cards for transactions over €20 or so.