Group Travel Sicily October 2019

Two free days in each city, or only one? I'm assuming two.

From Taormina:

• Siracusa and the Baroque towns of Ragusa, Noto, Modica and Scicli. Doing these as day-trips from Taormina is absolutely not ideal, but going to Sicily for 9 nights and not getting to that part of the island is borderline unthinkable. Do you have to spend 4 nights in Taormina? It is very pretty, but it is not large and it is extremely touristy.

From Palermo:

• Trapani and Erice. Again, pretty far from Palermo.
  

Other options from Palermo:

• Villa Romana del Casale outside Piazza Armerina, P.A. itself, and whatever other places in the interior you have time for--Caltagirone? Enna? I haven't checked driving time from Palermo. Don't know how this would work out by public transportation. I traveled into the interior from Catania rather than Palermo.

• Cefalu, a former fishing village now a touristy beach town. But very easy to get to from Palermo, by train if you wish.

One free day in each city (Taormina and Palermo)
Thank you

Extend your time on Sicily to see Siracusa and the Baroque towns.

I agree with acraven. Both Trapani/Erice, and Erice are between 1 and 1.5 hours drive from Palermo. Siracusa is about a 2 hours drive from Taormina. I think the other towns might be a little too far away for a day trip, or would make for a very long day. You could go into Catania, which is closer to Taormina, but Siracusa is nicer to visit.

Siracusa is my favorite place in Sicily, and the little Baroque towns are very interesting. I cannot really fathom 4 nights in Taormina; although gorgeous, it felt like the $$$ shopping district of a port town where a large cruise ship had disgorged its passengers.