Itinerary Help 14 days in Sicily

I'd want to spend some time in Palermo (perhaps side-tripping to Cefalu) and in Trapani/Erice. I think they would need to be separate stops. I rather doubt that there's enough around Agrigento to justify a long stay there, but I haven't been to that part of Sicily (not a big fan of classical ruins).

I think you might enjoy the Villa Romana del Casale outside Piazza Armerina.

Siracusa and the Baroque towns (Ragusa, Noto, Modica, Scicli) are my favorite part of Sicily, but I see that you have already been to Siracusa, so perhaps you don't need to revisit it on this trip.

Hi Julia,
I had to look up Aspra to see where that was, so since I see that it is outside of Palermo I assume you have already been to Palermo, Monreale and maybe Cefalu? If not, there is lots to see and do if you use Palermo as a base. Are you flying into Catania or Palermo? I would fly into one and out of the other and use that path as a loose framework for the itinerary. Will you have a rental car or will you depend on local transportation? If you don't have a car you might consider a private driver for some days because with five of you the cost can be divided up and may be reasonable for harder to reach places. Since Bronte is your ancestral town of interest and a must see and it is near Etna, I would look at ways to go visit the Etna area, and Patti/Tindrai, Taormina, maybe Catania from that base. It depends on your transportation. If no car, then I would only stay in Bronte for a day or two and move on from there, again maybe to one of the towns near Catania or Catania itself as a three or four day base. While in Bronte, if you go to the town hall, you can most likely get copies of birth certificates and marriage registry. ) You may contact them in advance to ask. As Acraven said, Agrigento would be a great stop but I would not use it as a three or four day base. When you went to Ortygia did you also visit Ragusa or Modica? ragusa might be a good base for that area and consider Scicli, Piazza Armerina, Enna, , etc. as possible daytrips. Then I would head towards Agrigento and either on to Segesta and Palermo area or Agrigento and over to a base on the west coast like Trapani or Marsala. If you like ruins there is Selinunte right on the path from Agrigento to Marsala. The hard part is just narrowing it all down. Good luck.

Julia, I just did some research on the town of Bronte and wanted to tell you that I see there is a traditional Sicilian cart museum, Museo del Carretto Siciliano Gullotti, in that town! I would certainly take the time to visit that!
Pat

Planning this trip is a bit challenging b/c I have seen quite a lot already as you have surmised. We will have a car. Already been to Ragusa/Noto/Modica twice..also spent 3 nights in Trapani where we day tripped to Erice, Favignana, Segesta. I have loved it all but there is so much more to see. I know nothing about the Agrigento area...would 2 nights there be good?..(I'm thinking one day to explore the town, one day the temples) .

If you are planning day trips from Agrigento, then 4 nights might be ok. By itself, two days should suffice. We stayed at B&B Villa San Marcos for 2 nights. It could be difficult to find if you don’t look it up beforehand, but we were able to walk to the Valley of the Temples and Kolybetra gardens in about 15 minutes. Walking to the temples, around them, and back to the B&B took 3 hours. The gardens and the Temple of Vulcan took half that time. We didn’t drive up into town as we ate dinner at the B&B, but it isn’t that large and on the side of a steep hill. I have no idea about the ease of parking in town. There’s a nice rock formation at Scala dei Turchi and nearby Lido Rosello. Other possible towns to visit are Licata and Gela.

You'll want a full day for the temples and the archaeology museum in Agrigento. Piazza Armerina is about 1.5 hours away by car, and has a centro storico worth exploring, and the nearby Villa Romana del Casale is a wow. I see that Gela is not much more than an hour away. I didn't get there, but it rings a bell, so it must have been a place I considered but didn't have time for.

We spent two nights in Agrigento at Colleverde Park Hotel which I recommend, excellent dining room too. Arrival day we explored the Valley of the Temples and the next morning went to the Archeological Museum, both were really worthwhile. The temple complex is amazing.
We went into the small city of Agrigento for lunch, parked near city hall, police station, newspaper offices, large pay lot. We walked up Via Athena. There are some some nice shops but a lot of run down places. We turned around after a while, never made it all the way to the cathedral as it was looking rather dicey, and found a good , casual spot for lunch. GustoSi, set back on a side street.
Driving from Selinunte to Agrigento, we pulled off and drove into a few seaside towns for lunch and left, very poor and run down, dilapadated. We did not encounter this on the east coast of Sicily.