First Time in Sicily - itinerary Feedback Welcome

These are all good places! My only comment is that Catania and Taormina are very close together (about a one hour drive) so I don't know if it makes sense to have them both as bases. Maybe you can swap Catania for somewhere a bit further south?

If you are looking for tour companies for Mount Etna, we really liked Etna People.

Full disclosure I did not spend any time in Catania, but it’s not the most popular city and in a sense kind of overlaps with Palermo as your taste of urban Sicily. Leaving Ortigia out of your itinerary is… well, mistake is a strong word so let’s just called it a “missed opportunity.” Ortigia is a true four-quadrant destination: history, beauty, culture and convenience. Very easy to reach even directly from Catania airport. Four days there flew by. And if you’re interested in day tripping to Noto, I’d say it’s more worthwhile to do it from Ortigia vs Catania. I don’t think I’m alone when I rank Palermo and Ortigia as probably the top two destinations in Sicily that aren’t exclusively archeological sites.

Speaking of archaeological sites. Are you driving? Unless you’re planning on driving along the north coast, the autostrada connecting the east coast and the rest of the island basically takes you past the two greatest sights in Sicily: Valley of the Temples and Villa Romana. It’d be a shame to miss them. I know you’re trying to maintain a certain focus, but you can hit these by investing an overnight along the way.

Since my posting and after doing more reading, I think I shouldn’t use Taormina as a base. My new itinerary, draft three, is to land in Catania and stay in Ortigia for four days, then Catania for four days, and Palermo for four days. Each city will include a few day trips.

I think you will like your change to Catania, Ortygia and Palermo. I agree it is a shame to miss Villa Romana and Agrigento. You likely could do Villa Romana from Catania in a day trip. I can't see if you are using a car or public transportation. I'm sure there are day tours to Villa Romana from Catania, and IMO, it'd be a nightmare to have a car in Catania and Palermo anyway.

If you are using public transportation and wanted to add Agrigento. Flix bus goes from Catania to Agrigento fairly efficiently and you could go to Palermo from there.

Thanks for the info. The reason I’m starting with Ortigia is because the routing to Palermo is easiest from Catania. We land in Catania, go straight to Ortigia for our first base, then come back to Catania for the second base, and then continue on to Palermo. This keeps the flow simple while still letting us spend time in all three places.

I think a lot of sights blend together over time, but the Valley of the Temples is one of those that will always stand-out, I wouldn’t skip it.