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Fall Trip to Sicily

Posted by (Long Island, NY) on

Greetings All: my girlfriend and I are planning our 2 week trip to Sicily. Unlike many of the posts I have found in this Forum, we are travelling this fall in October (2019) leaving the US around the 8th. I am writing to ask folks about logistics and places to set up a base from which to make day trips both on the west and then again on the east coast.

Our plan is fly into Palermo and spend 1 week exploring the western side of Sicily. We will rent a car at some point, but will prefer mass transit if practical. We plan to visit Palermo, Cefalu, Erice, Trapani, Segesta and perhaps Marsala. We will then drive around the south coast, stopping in Agrigento, then on towards Siracusa to spend a 2nd week exploring the east coast of Sicily, that will include Comisco, Ragusa, Noto, Catania, Etna and Taormina. We prefer to try and relocate as little as possible so I am looking at staying between Palermo and Trapani, in either Airbnb's or an Agristurismo. Please note that on the eastern side we plan to stay in Catania, as that is where we fly out from. I am familiar with driving in Italy, but I am not sure of travel times in making day trips in Sicily.

I will appreciate feedback on the following:
1 - Is it feasible staying in one location on the west coast or do you recommend staying in more than one place?
2 - And on the east coast (see below)?
3 - Should we plan on a night n Agrigento?
4 - Should we stay a night somewhere near Comiso-Ragusa-Noto-Siracusa before arriving in Catania?
5 - Any recommendations on places to stay, (that are in addition to those posted this month for Palermo and Trapani) will also be appreciated, as well as a recommendation in or near Catania.
And we will be looking for Rick's new Sicily Guidebook late this Spring. Thanks to all

Posted by
401 posts

West coast
Palermo to Cefalu is easy and ideal by train also due to difficulty of parking in both. Cefalu will be busy even in October (we visited October 2016). Palermo down to the Trapani area is hardgoing by public transport, you would definitely need a car for visiting the Trapani area. I note you say you want to relocate as little as possible

- to stay in just one place stay in/near castellamare del Golfo, which is fine for Trapani, Erice, segesta by car and then drive up to somewhere near Palermo and go in by public transport for the day and forget Cefalu
- or stay 3 nights in Palermo to see Palermo and Cefalu then pick up a car and relocate directly to Trapani to visit the other places
East coast
Again it would be better to stay in 2 places. Ortigia/Siracusa to visit Comiso-Ragusa-Noto-Siracusa and then Catania for Catania, Etna and Taormina.
You could stop for a few hours in Agrigento driving between Trapani and Siracusa. I also reccommend Modica together with Ragusa. If cost isn't an issue you'll find it a lot better to rent a car considering that you want to see a lot of things in a short time. Visiting sicily using public transport is possible and we've done it but uses up more time than you have available. Enjoy your trip

Posted by
11660 posts

A friend just did Sicily using only two bases. She said it was a bad idea and was exhausted with all the time spent driving.
Rent a car as you leave Palermo. Drop it off in Siracusa. We met people who were stuck and unable to find a way to get to their next stop and were stuck using taxis locally.
Use public transport to go to Catania for flight and/or to visit Taormina.
West coast, yes to a night staying in Agrigento.
It looks like you are skipping my favorite spot in Sicily, Ortigia Is off of Siracusa. Please reconsider.
Catania has a lot of traffic and I can’t imagine using it as a base. Traffic jams. Just go to the airport there when you leave.
Yes, spend a night in one of the baroque cities en route to( hopefully) Ortigia.

Posted by
7268 posts

While you could have a couple bases, you’d spend a lot of time driving to get to the places you want to see. Once you got to Trapani, most of the west coast will not be intestate driving and less of the south coast is. Driving on the rural roads is slow and the roads are poorly marked. Below are the places we stayed at and the number of nights. We fly in to, and out of, Catania.

Agrigento - B&B Villa San Marcos - 2
Marsala - Hotel Carmine - 1
Erice - Hotel Villa San Giovanni - 3
Monreale - B&B Elvira Al Duomo - 2 (used a bus to go into Palermo)
Cefalu - Hotel Alberi del Paradiso - 1
Taormina - Hotel Bel Soggiorno - 2
Catania area - we stayed on a military base and took day trips to Catania, Syracusa/Ortigia, and Noto. - total 4 nights. (Used a bus to go into Catania)

If we had to do it again we would drop a night from each Catania and Erice and add them to Ragusa or Modica; places we didn’t get to. Prior to the trip, I used Google maps to find public parking lots in Syracusa and Noto, and plugged them into my GPS. It took me right to them and save a lot of looking around. We spent 3 hours walking the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.

Posted by
16 posts

My husband and I spent three weeks on Sicily a few years ago starting in Palermo and going clockwise around the island and moving hotels as we went. As have the others, I'd highly recommend a car for Sicily or you will be on the country roads back and forth all the time. We took a three day side trip to the Aeolian Islands, but with only two weeks, you have lots to see without adding those...amazing as they are. I'd also not recommend Catania as a base for the traffic reasons already pointed out. Definitely see Palermo (Hotel Joli), Cefalu, Taormina (Pensione Svizzera...beautiful views), Ortigia/Siracusa, Agrigento for one night max, Erice is unique but pretty tiny for a longer than one night stay. We cut inland to see the mosaics at Piazza Armerina, which were very worth the trip. Segesta to us was the most stunning place for setting along with the Greek theater in Taormina. Check out the village of Scopello (Pensione Tranchina) for a step back in time and from there get directions for the back roads to Segesta. For a great little beach town above Scopello, San Vito lo Capo is perfect. Have a great trip...you can't go wrong in any way with a trip to Sicily.

Posted by
6 posts

Many thanks to everyone. I didn't consider the time spent getting in and out of a City like Catania so we are not going to stay in the city. Suggestions on how to break up the vacation have been so very helpful. i appreciate you all taking the time to post a reply. Thanks again.

Posted by
557 posts

Just a thought since you are on his forum. Have you looked at the RS tours for the area? Go to many places and you don’t have to worry about driving. Just a thought

Posted by
76 posts

We are also traveling to Sicily in 10/19. We spent a good deal of time in Cefalu our last trip. Took the ferry from Reggio Calabria to Messina, drove to Taormina, were horrified with the tour buses and traffic and drove the other direction to Cefalu.

We like to drive, so that isn't a problem for us. We even took a day trip to Bronte (pistachio capital of the world) on small back roads enjoying the Sicilian countryside and epic views of Mt Etna.

I disagree with people saying not to stay in Cefalu. We found it a delightful town with outstanding restaurants and local culture. We are not the types to spend much time in churches or museums, so experiencing the beach, the lungomare and the people was perfect for us.

We will be west this trip and are considering a trip to the Almond Museum in Favara in the Agrigento region. Has anyone tried that?

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