Hello travelers,
I finally got all my flights ready, international flights and locals to Sicily. I’ll be there for 20 days, traveling solo and relying on public transportations only. I’m having a hard time figuring it out my itinerary to coordinate with train rides or buses. I’ll start in Palermo as a home base for 6 or 7 days due to jet lagging, visiting day trips, Cefalu, Monreale, Trapani and Erice and back to Palermo to ride the train to Catania. From Catania partially home base to visit Taormina, Castelmola, Cefalu. Then a few days in Cefalu to visit Noto. My dilemma is for Ragusa, should I also stay 1-2 nights there to visit the town & Modina? Or should I go just for a day? I don’t want to pack and unpack too often traveling without a car. I might also visit Agrigento for a day possibly from Palermo by train. Any suggestions? Thank you
Posted by
US
602 posts
That's a good amount of time in Sicily and quite doable with public transportation. However, I have found buses are generally better than trains for certain areas of Sicily. You might want to do a little more research on your transportation options. There are several different bus companies in Sicily, depending on the areas served. They are: AST (Azienda Siciliana Trasporti); Interbus; SAIS Autolinee; SAIS Trasporti; and Salemi.
There are a couple of confusing points in your post. Cefalu is close to Palermo, not Catania or Noto. Cefalu is a one hr train ride from Palermo. You can take a bus from Catania to Taormina or Noto. The town of Modica (Modena is in Emilia-Romagna region) is a bus ride from Noto. I haven't been to Ragusa, so can't comment on that. A day trip from Palermo to Agrigento would be a very long day. Can you consider an overnight stay?
I'm sure others on this forum will provide other suggestions. Buon viaggio.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Sorry I meant Syracuse, not Cefalu! From Syracuse I’ll stay a few days to be able to visit Noto and perhaps Ragusa which I’m not sure if it’s worth of staying over night end of October, going into November? I’ve heard from other travelers that it’s pretty empty and some shops close the end of the touristic season. Ragusa seems like an interesting town to visit, as well as Modina which is so close to Ragusa.
Thanks
Posted by
California 🦋
5259 posts
I’ll start in Palermo as a home base for 6 or 7 days due to jet lagging, visiting day trips, Cefalu, Monreale, Trapani and Erice and back to Palermo to ride the train to Catania.
A day trip from Palermo to Trapani would be a very long day, especially if traveling via public transportation. You may consider spending a few nights in Trapani, and then visiting Erice, & Segesta from there.
If you consider staying in Trapani, you can then get to Agrigento via bus, or train.
I’d suggest going by bus because the train would take way longer since you’d have to backtracks to Palermo.
In terms of visiting Agrigento, as a day trip, from Palermo.
I agree with Sempre Italia, it would be a long day since train takes 2 hours each way.
Traveling via public transportation is very doable, but ( as you know) it takes more time to travel from one place to the next.
Wishing you a great trip!