Help with Sicily, To Tour or not to Tour?

I can speak only for Sicily, but if you've traveled most of Italy tour-free, Sicily should be no problem. I drove three friends around Sicily for 2 1/2 weeks, and we had a great trip. Now that RS is touring there, you can get some ideas for a trip from their tour. You do need a car IMHO. Less English is spoken in the smaller places, but Sicilians are wonderfully friendly. Towns are smaller, roads less travelled, traffic much easier (except in Naples!) and I survived driving there, even though I wouldn't recommend it. My last visit was 5 years ago, and GPS mapping was comically lacking sometimes, but that may have improved. Sites are spread throughout the country, and major highways rarely connect them, so 2 weeks in Sicily alone would probably be a minimum of time I would try to stay there. Lonely Planet had some good info, and I think there was a Sicily specialist on a Frommer board who was very helpful. September may still be blazing hot, not sure. We were there right before Easter, and it was lovely.

So hotter than Atlanta in July? LOL Is October better? I have about 2 weeks, I was thinking 7 or 8 nights in Sicily. Would you recommend a home base and travel to Palermo, Taormina and Syracusa for day trips or perhaps 3 nights in each town. What about towns inland? Is the island safe? Are there any places you would avoid We basically want to tour some towns, eat, relax beach side. We are not great hikers but don't mind walking difficult trails or longs days. After Sicily maybe 3 nights in Sardinia then 3 nights in Corsica. I have not received any other help on this forum. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Lorie

Here is a link to a site I used for much of my Sicily planning.
You can dig down thru hundreds of links for all kinds of info about Sicily.
I LOVE Sicily - I had a wonderful time there and Cefalu was one of my
very favorite towns.

Best of Sicily

You can see a lot of Sicily without a car, but it's best to drive, at least part of the time. I did it solo and had a great time. Do have good driving directions and a good road map (I didn't and made a few errors - not terrible, just a little wasted time). In Malta do not plan on using a car. They drive on the left, having been in the British Empire until 1964 and the roads are overcrowded much of the time. I haven't been to Sardinia.

Sicily deserves at least a week and 5 days in Malta is certainly not too much.

The weather is unpredictable. You could have glorious warm sunny days, or you could have pouring rain, though much less chance of that. If you want to have some beach time, I'd opt for September before the water gets too cold.

Will be leaving for Sicily in three weeks and will be there for just about three weeks. We are connecting in Rome (flight from Newark) to a flight to Catania.

We are staying in Taormina, Syracuse, Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Trapani, and Palermo; sometimes in a hotel, once in an agriturisimo, often in B & Bs.

Reluctantly, we are renting a car as it seems the best way to get around. We have been to Italy three times in the last nine years and have always traveled by train. Having grown up and learned to drive in New York City, driving anywhere does not faze me although we plan to drop our car at the Palermo airport and take a bus into the city. When we leave Palermo for our flight back to Rome (where we will spend a few days), we will take the bus back to the airport. I don't see the need for a car in Palermo.

We have never taken a tour and I do all the planning and arrangements myself. It's a great way of learning "the lay of the land." I have lived with guidebooks and maps to Sicily for about 6 months and feel confident in the itinerary we have planned out for ourselves.

The only planned tour that we are taking is to Mt. Etna. I could drive but I know that I will miss things by doing so. By joining a tour, I am sure not to miss anything. Everything else, we are doing on our own. We have our routines, know how we react to long days, know what we like and dislike (we are both in our mid 60s): this has worked well all over Europe and in Italy and I don't see how or why Sicily would be any different. The only change in routine here is the driving.

Should be a great trip and we are looking forward to it.

We have done both Sicily and Sardinia with a day trip from Sardinia to Corisca this last June. What we did was one trip to the West(Palermo, Erice, Segesta, Agrigento ) and one to the East(Taormina, Syracuse, Piazza Armenia, and Chefalu) Staying respectively in Palermo, Erice, on the first, and Griodina Naxos, Cefalu, and flying out of Palermo on both trips.
For Sardinia, we flew into and out of Cagliari and spent most of our time on the West and North Coast, which, for beaches, is unmatched. If I were you, would fly into Alghero(which we loved) or Olbia,tour your way along the coasts, and either take the ferry or fly in Palermo and then do Western Sicily(Palermo, Erice,Segesta, Agrigento). Candidly, prior to going to Sardinia, Sicliy was at the top of our EU locations, but no longer. We went to Sardinia at the urging of our Italian friends, who all vacation there annually. You can swim in September, lounge in Alghero, visit world class wineries on the North and West coast, dine even cheaper than in Sicily, and then go to Sicily and see the temples and mosaics and history in Sicily.
Driving in either isn't a chore except in Palermo, however, you'd probably should rent cars on each island-be aware that they will hit you with dorp-off fees if not returned to the city you rent in.
Finally, we will be back in Sicily for a whirlwind 4 day trip with our 11 year old grandson to see the temples, Monreale and Mt. Etnea in November

I NEED to write a trip report!!! I keep putting it off! I've been to Sicily twice, once for ten days, and once for two weeks. I don't know how old you are or what your interests are, but here's my take. (We ARE going again, we love love love it!)

First trip: Did not rent a car. My husband didn't want to, and that's just fine. He likes to "settle in" and enjoy a place and
do day trips. I found a company quite by accident and it turned out to be Great Luck! : legendofsicily.com They rent apartments of all sizes, also BnB's, etc. We went with friends and rented a lovely two bedroom apartment in Taormina, which is breathtaking!
We planned on staying a week, but we were having so much fun we stayed 10 days because the apartment was free for a few more days. Through legendofsicily.com, we also signed up for several day-tours. We went to Syracuse, which is a good bit South, and that was a very full day. Many Greek Ruins, and interesting "caves." etc, more than I can remember! The tour guide was Very Educated, spoke perfect English, his car was spotless, and we went to a number of places that day. Syracuse was lovely! Taormina, all by itself, can keep one entertained and well fed for a number of days. The Greek Theatre, is older than the Coloseum by far, and is well preserved! So we spent a day or two in Taormina -- Taormina is up high on the Rocks, and has such beautiful views of the Med. Sea, and many restaurants have these beautiful views. Magnificent churches, and also much history. Another day trip we took was to Gambino Vini -- a majestic Winery that is small, family owned -- and we had a wine tasting with delicious heavy hors'oeuvres. (sp) That same morning we visited the "Pride of Taormina" the beautiful Mt. Etna. Again, we were very pleased with the guide. There are also some interesting shorter day trips that our friends took, but my husband was enjoying going down to the Sea via the Gondola that connects the upper town of Taormina with the seaside of Isola Bela......I believe. He enjoyed just relaxing, eating a pizza, admiring the beautiful view, etc. It was so BEAUTIFUL! We returned to Catania airport, connected to Rome and went home.

The Second trip, I took girlfriends, and did pretty much the same as above, but we left Taormina by train and took a vacation from our vacation and went to a beautiful (splurge) seaside hotel in Cefalu. As beautiful as Taormina is, our jaws absolutely dropped when we saw the view from the hotel. We'd done so much touring and walking, after spending a few days in Rome before Sicily, that we never left the hotel grounds and loved every single meal, the beautiful sea views and the blissful rest. Hotel le Calette, and their on-line pictures do NOT do it justice!)

We left Cefalu by train and went to Palermo. I loved the hotel there An OLD Grand Dame, Palace Centrale. It was an old palace. She's a little worn in places, but you do know you're in Italy/Sicily with the beautiful statues and chandeliers, and it is centrally located to almost all of the sites. The girlfriends left, my husband came, and he wanted to see our old friends that we made in Taormina, so we returned to Taormina for four days and flew back to Rome/US together.

The next trip, we'll probably fly into Palermo -- didn't spend enough time there and head South to Agrigento, Amerinia, and wee more of the West side, as well as some of the inner sites. I haven't investigated all of these yet. We will rent a car outside of Palermo, probably at the airport. I haven't figured out where to base ourselves, as my husband does like to stay in one place for at least five days. He hates the packing up and getting into a different bed every two days -- now I enjoy it as well. We've rented apartments all over Europe, but legendofsicily.com was special! He gave us such personal attention, walked us through Taormina, restaurant recommendations, etc. No reservatioins recommending!

I talk too much and got cut off! Last sentence should read, I have absolutely no reservations about recommending Legendofsicily.com He is a Very Special Guy. I've recommended him to several friends and he has never disappointed.

Re the weather!!! Who knows!? The first trip was mid-September two years ago, and it was warm, not hot, but we had a few afternoon thundershowers. The second trip was last September and the heat was brutal!!! No rain. Rome was miserable! I've been to Rome at least a half dozen times at different times of the year and never ate a meal inside before last year. I had to eat inside in the A.C. and look at the fountains through the windows. We didn't swim either time. The Med is freezing! I'd go last week of Sept. Mid-Oct/Nov. can rain a lot. (normally -- what is 'normal?) Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

My very detailed report of my Sicily trip in April-May of 2014 is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina

You can take a tour if you wish, but if you saw the rest of Italy without a tour, Sicily will not be any "harder." I know why you're asking: before we went, my friend and I kept reading how Sicily was so different from Italy, and not always in good ways. But while we were there, over and over again, we kept saying to each other, "it's still Italy." Sure it's different, but each region of Italy is different from the others. We both agreed that Hawaii is more different from the mainland of the US, than Sicily is different from mainland Italy.

If you use the Best of Sicily website and research towns and sights you are interested in seeing, there's no reason why you should have any problem visiting Sicily without a tour. We are in our early 70s/late 60s and last year spent 4 weeks in Sicily. We rented a car and traveled the island in a counter clockwise direction and loved every minute of it! We saw most of what we wanted, ate when and where we wanted, rested when we wanted, etc. The roads are great although if you drive in historical districts in the small towns you may have problems with directions. Sicily has so much beautiful scenery, so many interesting historical towns and sights, and possibly the best Italian (ok, it's Sicilian) food. There is so much to see and do in Sicily you may have a hard time narrowing down your itinerary if you also want to visit Sardinia and Malta in your 2 week period.