Feelings about Sicily?

For something completely different than the same ol' same ol', I would.

A veteran Siciliana like Zoe could chime in better, but a week in Sicily in May would be fantastic. Weather wise it will be a lot warmer than Paris, for sure. Seven days is not really enough time to tour the entire island, but if you fly into Palermo, you could focus on there, south to Agrigento, west to Trapani--maybe visit the out-island of Favignana--and back to Palermo.

If you could fly into Catania, then you have the whole eastern coast at your disposal--south to Siracusa, north to Taormina, Mt. Etna, all the medieval villages around there. Maybe even, from Pozzallo, a day trip to Malta? Not sure about that one.

Sicily--from my few days there--is Italy, but it's not. It's Greece, it's Algeria, it's exotic. It's a do.

Italians rank Sicily as the most beautiful region in Italy pretty much every year, so it's definitely an option to consider.

As you also mentioned, there is a lot to do and see there in terms of both natural beauty and historical sights, so with only a week you might have to make a selection of the things you can do in such a short time. If you rent a car, you will be able to see more things. But don't rent it while in Palermo. It has the worst traffic in Italy (or maybe Europe) according to TomTom traffic data. Just time your rental for when you are out of Palermo.

The more time you can spend in Sicilia the better. Major classical archeological sites are in Agrigento, Siracusa, Selinunte, villa Romana del Casale, and the Greek theatre in Taormina. All of these are on the southern and eastern coasts (Villa Romana is inland).

If you can give it ten days or more, you can add a couple of other places (Palermo, Cefalu, Segesta, Erice, Monreale).

If you have a car, several of these can be daytrips. Public transportation can be a bit more challenging, especially if you have a tight schedule.

Good beaches in/near Agrigento, Cefalu, Taormina, Siracusa, Selinunte.

I will be in Sicilia for three weeks in May, PM me or post here if you need specific information on hotels, etc. as your plans evolve.

Thanks. You are giving me lots to think about. I'm starting to wonder if we should spend more/all of our time there. Sicily seems to have a lot of what we're looking for in a trip. For some reason I'm having a hard time getting excited about Benelux. Though I'm not sure why not...the architecture and canals look beautiful in photos.

I love Sicily - it is one of my all time favorite places.
Favorite town Cefalu - a beachy community on the north side of Sicily

Here is a link to a lot of info about Sicily.
Best of Sicily

Are there any pitfalls to be aware of in Sicily? I've been reading around the web and several people mention litter and maintenance issues that are much worse than that of the mainland. Was that a problem for any of you? I'm not passing judgement, just wondering what to expect.

It's not a pitfall, and I think it's to be expected, but the tourist infrastructure is underwhelming the further down you go south in Italy (it's a poorer region than the north, and there is a serious underinvestment in promoting tourism in spite of all the cultural treasures that are found there). The roads are fine, but getting travel related information online leaves something to be desired (that's probably why there are so many questions about good guidebooks on this forum). I found it very helpful to know Italian to navigate websites (very clunky and no translation into English), some tourist attractions (again, no English translations in some of the less touristed ones), and basic communications with people who were not directly in the tourist industry (very few people speak anything other than Italian). I wasn't surprised with any of that, but it took a bit more work to plan getting around on public transport and a few other idiosyncracies.

I didn't find Sicily to be that different from mainland Italy, but then again, I've only toured the south part (south of Rome). I'm not saying it was hard to travel there, but I think I benefitted from knowing enough of the language to make everything a lot less painful. I had to really dig through some local websites to find the info I needed, like a basic town map with streets and attractions listed (and opening/closing times). My overall impression of Sicily is that it was a very good value (except for Taormina) and laid back (except Palermo and Catania). The small towns are great. Sicily is perfect for slow travel, slow food movement, and just taking it easy. The archeological sites are a definite highlight. In one week, that may be hard to do because there's so much to see. My own trip was much too rushed.

I was fortunate enough to spend 18 days in Sicily in 2015. I can't drive a manual-transmission car and was limited to trains and (mostly) buses. I have no interest in beaches and little in classical sites (I skipped Agrigento, Segesta and Selinunte), and I could still have used more time. I think spending the bulk of your time in Sicily would be fabulous.

Sicily pretty much has it all. Palermo is a hectic, somewhat gritty city and shouldn't be your first stop, but it has a couple of fabulous markets and nearly uncountable interesting churches and oratorios.

There are other beautiful historic coastal cities and towns, but don't ignore the interior. There are lovely Baroque towns clustered in the southeast, not too far from Siracusa, and the area around the Villa Romana del Casale in the interior has a number of worthwhile stops.

I went to a couple of the Egadi Islands near Trapani and found them a bit underwhelming aside from the availability of sandy beaches. If you want to visit an off-shore island or two, I'd recommend the Aeolian islands instead.

I didn't find out about the BestOfSicily website until after my trip, but others here have recommended it. I see that it's pretty tour-centric so will just point out that I managed fine without taking tours, though it does take extra time to get the necessary information when you're using public buses. (Hint: There's very little bus service on Sundays.)

We've spent a total of five weeks in Sicily (all by public transportation) and there are still places we haven't yet been. From what you say you enjoy, it seems like three weeks in Sicily wouldn't be too much. One of the villages on the edge of the Madonie mountains, Polizzi Generosa, is accessible by public transportation from Cefalu (another recommended spot) or Palermo. If you're driving, you could go farther into the mountains and find more crumbly towns.

I also think Sicily sounds much more like what you're looking for on this trip. You can see Rick's (2) Sicily tour itineraries online, even if you don't want to move quite that quickly. I'd look at the Michelin Green Guide (for sightseeing background) and Michelin driving map specific to Sicily, not the whole country.

The only "pitfall" that stands out in my memory is a lot of dog poop on the sidewalks of Palermo. But maybe I chose to walk a route that everyone else knew was for dog walkers. (This is also my memory of Florence's sidewalks in times past, not recently, and let's not even mention Paris.)

If you liked Italy, you'll love Sicily. And especially if you like archaeological sites! They are everywhere ... the amphitheater in Taormina, the archeological park in Siricusa, and of course Agrigento. And the water ... beautiful seascapes everywhere. The locals are wonderful, the food is amazing.

We spent 18 days in Sicily in late April-early May 2015 and absolutely loved it. There is so much to see that we didn't even get to the northern coast, so we are looking forward to going back. If you go, I would recommend you spend your entire 3 weeks there.

We visited Taormina>Ortigia>Agrigento>Trapani. We also spent a couple of unplanned days on Favignana, one of the Egadi islands just off Trapani, because we had caught bad colds and just needed a place to recover for a few days. Not a lot to do there but it does offer some beautiful beaches and the opportunity to ride bikes around a small, mostly-flat, not-busy island. We stayed in an amazingly inexpensive apartment and really enjoyed it. The kids might enjoy this.

Sicily does not quite have the tourist infrastructure of the most-visited parts of Italy .... it reminded us more of Puglia. But you can easily make your way around and figure things out. Sicily really reminded us of Greece (one of our favorite places). And by the way, Spain wasn't our favorite either.

Wow, you guys have encouraged me to give Sicily a try. Next step: convince my husband, who thinks we're going to Benelux!

I loved Sicily. We were there a long time ago, 2009, when our son-in-law was stationed at NATO Base Sigonella. Our daughter drove us around to see Agrigento, Cefalu, and the Villa Romana del Casale -- among other places. I'd gladly go back again.

I was in Sicily about 4 years ago for the two weeks straddling May 1. The wildflowers were incredibly abundant, the seas were a dozen shades of blue, the Greek temples shone in the sunlight, the people were all wonderfully friendly and helpful . . . though outside of tourist "places" (hotels, shops, restaurants), it seemed that hardly anyone over 35 spoke any English. Driving was easy, the roads were good and there was little traffic outside Palermo and Catania (where it wasn't all that difficult to drive, just very very very slow). The food was great - especially the locally grown fruits and vegetables.

I used the DK Eyewitness Sicily guide book for planning. Get one and show it to your DH. Once he sees what awaits him, you may find him much more persuadable.

Currently planning my first trip there for the same reasons you mentioned. I can't speak to what it is like when you are there but the planning isn't much different than the rest of Italy or Spain (outside cities like Rome or Barcelona which have a huge amount of English info). Things like local bus schedules seem to be tough, but more attractions than I thought have English pages. Google chrome auto translate takes care of rest. I found lovely, well reviewed apartment/apart hotels through booking.com. We will have a car and I have been "driving" around on google maps - roads seem fine.

I will be seeing Siracusa (day trip to Noto), Etna, Valley of Temples, Scopello (beach village with days to Erice and Segesta), and Palermo (Monreale too). I'm missing a lot but have only a bit over 2 weeks ;) Originally I wanted to see Malta too but that's just too much.

I do feel more comfortable with a car (everywhere but Palermo - I'm dropping it before I go there, then fly home after a few nights) This is because public transit seems more limited than other places in Italy, but I hear it is doable on train and bus.

Some people I know who are a little more...picky than me...find it unpolished. Of course these same people find Rome intolerable. Have you been to Rome or southern Italy? I love Rome and find Naples fascinating but difficult. I think I will love Sicily, but we will see. FYI - Southern Spain is my favorite and one of the things that draw me to places is a unique mix of cultures. Sicily has that in spades, so I am excited. Benelux is nice too but I'd take the mix of Greek/Arab/Byzantine/Norman/Italian instead. A matter of preference.

Lonely Planet just updated their Sicily book, and I hear blue guides will have their update out soon.

Rome2Rio is a godsend for bus information, but back in the day I used this site for bus information in Sicily: http://sicilia.indettaglio.it/eng/autolinee/motore/tratte_sql.html?Fermata_1=Palermo&Fermata_2=Catania&Invia=Send

If Rome2Rio doesn't get you there, try the above.

I had a great trip to Sicily in April-May of 2014. My VERY detailed trip report is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina

The short version: GO! And, spend as long as you can there.

One thing I put near the end of the report that I will emphasize here: my friend and I kept saying "Sicily is still Italy." Before our trip we kept hearing about how different it was. But every region of Italy is different from the other ones; Sicily didn't feel more different, and certainly didn't feel like a different country. Hawaii is more different from mainland US than Sicily is from mainland Italy.

Another thing: we kept hearing about Palermo as though it were Naples on crack. Having been to Naples, both my friend and I agreed Palermo was more like a slightly scruffy Rome, and far less "wild" than Naples. We didn't get to Catania, which sounds a bit rougher. But contrary to what one poster said above, we didn't find it at all difficult or stressful to start our trip in Palermo - particularly since our B&B was on a traffic free street, in a good area (details in the trip report above).

We would definitely rent a car. With a party of 5, it's cheaper and more convenient than public transit. 9 years ago, we rented a motorhome and drove from Dusseldorf to Paestum and back over 3.5 weeks. It was incredible fun. Driving a motorhome along the Almafi coast was an "interesting" experience that I will NEVER forget. I have the utmost respect for DH's driving ability.

I'm now thinking of spending 2 weeks in Sicily, with one week in northern France. This will be our kids' first international trip since the older boys were toddlers. I think it would be nice for them to see a contrast of places/cultures. PS: I've been talking with DH today and he is enthusiastic of this potential change of plan.