Help with 14 nights in Sicily

Stay one night around Selinunte.Stay 4 nights in Ortigia. Stay 2 nights in Taormina or ,perhaps, skip it. It was our least favorite place in Sicily.

Trying to fit in a drive from Palermo to Agrigento with visits to see both Segesta and Selinunte is too much for one day. You will need several hours at each site plus the driving time. Selinunte is expansive. Both Segesta and Selinunte will take time to explore. I suggest you consider visiting both Segesta and medieval Erice together on one day as you leave Palermo. They are relatively close to each other. You didn't mention Erice in your original plan but it is well worth a stop. Stay somewhere between Erice and Selinunte for the night, maybe in Mazara del Vallo. Mazara del Vallo is a colorful seaside town with a pretty and compact historical center with lots of Tunisian influence. Stay in or visit the historical center of the city ( but you would have to find out where to safely park your car. ). Then the next morning head over to explore Selinunte which is not far, spend several hours there and from there continue on to Agrigento. Marinella is a very small beach town right next to the Selinunte ruins. It may be easier to stay there with a car in terms of safely parking. I really enjoyed my visit to Selinunte. Unlike Agrigento, it is not crowded at all and you are free to roam all over the seaside ruins. Since you said you like ruins, you will enjoy Agrigento and don't forget the archeological park in Siracusa and the gorgeous Greek theater in Taormina. Do you have time on your drive from Agrigento to Ragusa to visit the Villa Romana del Casale to see the Roman mosaics? Three nights in Taormina wouldn't be necessary unless you use it as a base to visit Etna, the wineries or other surrounding sites. I have been to Sicily three times and greatly admire its beauty, food, people, traditions, and grit.

Loved Sicily except for Taormina which I would avoid. Taormina was the only place that was touristy.

Three nights in Palermo is pretty minimal to me unless you will arrive early in the day, not jetlagged (as might be the case if you are spending time in Rome before traveling to Sicily.

I'm not really interested in Greek ruins, so I haven't been to Agrigento. I wonder whether 3 nights are necessary--or even useful--there...

I second the recommendation to see the Villa Romana del Casale. That and Segesta were my favorites of the places you've mentioned. If I went back to Taormina, I'd stay at the beach across from Isola Bella.

It’s definitely doable. The drive from Palermo to Segesta takes about 1h (highway), then it’s another 1h on mostly highway from Segesta to Selinunte, and finally about 2h from Selinunte to Agrigento on regular road.

Imo, Erice is underwhelming and not really worth the detour. Ragusa, Modica and Noto are far more interesting and they come later during your trip. I had high expectations for Mazara, but it’s quite dirty, and its medina is nothing like its counterparts in Tunisia - again, doesn't worth the detour imo.

I think we will break up the trip and stay 1 night near Selinute. Any advice on a place to stay in Marinella? Thanks for all your helpful tips!

I think 2 days in Palermo is enough- that allows you to see the main sights and also pop over for a half day to Monreale.

I don't think Agrigento as a city is that nice, so I would recommend less time there, maybe even 1 day and start heading East. Some places not to miss is Enna, Caltagirone, Piazza Armerina, Modica and Noto.

People tend to stay on the coastal areas, but at least going a bit inland to Enna is really nice for a day trip. Since you have 14 nights, you can most definitley cover all what you wrote and my mentions without feeling stressed.

Enjoy, you are going to love it!

Just my opinion, but one doesn’t need three nights in Taormina. We found two nights to be sufficient.

The same for Agrigento. The draw are the temples that can be seen in 3-4 hours. There’s little to the town itself and can easily be skipped. After seeing the temples at Agrigento and two at Selinunte, we had seen more than enough temples. We had temple burnout and skipped the remainder of Selinunte and Segesta altogether.

On our trip we departed Agrigento, went to Selinunte, then spent a night in Marsala.

How long you stay in Palermo and Ortigia depends on what you want to do in each and whether you intend to take any day trips from them. Popular day trips from Palermo are Monreale and Cefalù. Noto is a nice trip from Ortigia.

Unlike others, we enjoyed two nights in Taormina — with the gorgeous Greek amphitheatre and a day drive to wineries around the base of Mt. Etna. Valley of the Temples at dusk was a highlight for us — highly recommend! Cefalu was the one place in Sicily we found to be super touristy and unwelcoming. Otherwise, we loved Sicily and would happily return.

Have a great trip!