Four days in sicily

Palermo's good! Easy express bus, 12-ish euros, from the airport to city center. Take a StrEat food tour with Marco (raves on trip advisor, & from us) - he's terrific, takes you to great little places, speaks superb English. The street markets bustle, & Palermo's street food is fantastic; I'm sitting here salivating. Go to Monreale (8 km SW) for stunning 12th century Byzantine gold mosaics in the Norman cathedral; easy day trip, public transportation-accessible as well as private companies. (You do NOT want to drive in Palermo, traffic's crazy/infamous.) There's almost-as-knock-out churches within Palermo, & a welter of architecture; lots of Baroque; great walk-about city, especially with a gelato in hand. We stayed (with a group) at the Plaza Opera Hotel, good modern hotel/location/ breakfast, on a side street very near the very grand Teatro Politeama Garibaldi, itself on a major piazza. Read up on Sicily's food & history & interwoven cultures - it's a way different place from mainland Italy. Lonely Planet has a good Sicily guidebook. Have a great trip! Vicki (& Stewart)

Wow, thank you for the reply! It sounds like Palermo is definitely an option in terms of a base. We are so excited to check out Sicily!

Thanks again,
Andrea

In the other direction, Cefalu can be a very good daytrip from Palermo. Beautiful setting, cathedral with amazing mosaic, and beaches.

Another option would be Taormina as a base and visit the eastern coast of Sicily. Fly in and out of Catania.

If you don't want to drive, either Palermo or Taormina make good bases. I loved both.

If you want to drive and want to see other places in Sicily, a great base is an agriturismo near the center of the island, Agriturismo Silvia Silitti. Here's my review: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/sicily-caltanisetta-central-sicily-agrigurismo

For Palermo or the agriturismo, fly into Palermo. For Taormina, fly into Catania. Both have frequent flights from Rome on multiple carriers; use Skyscanner to find all your options: http://www.skyscanner.com/

Note that if you're checking bags anyway, Alitalia includes one checked bag in their fares, so they can be cheaper than a "budget" carrier. If you do want to book an Alitalia domestic ticket, use their International website, as it often shows better prices than their US site.

My VERY detailed report on my Sicily trip from last year is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina

Thanks for the information! We decided to extend the Sicily part of our trip in exchange for one of the other cities we were going to visit. I'll check out that agriturismo because now that is on the menu for us. Your trip review is awesome!

Thanks again, Andrea