Itinerary Help- 7-8 days in Eastern Sicily

When is your trip?

I adored Siracusa (stay in Ortygia) and the three inland towns you mentioned. Of the latter, Ragusa needs the most time to see, so I'd base there if you don't just want to day-trip from Ortygia.

I hope you'll have time for the fish market in Catania. Time permitting, you could easily spend several hours just moseying around the historic center of Catania. Etna can be seen easily from a distance if you don't want to do some walking there.

Taormina is stunning but tends to get massive day-time crowds, I assume off cruise ships. The proximity of (apparently) good beaches also ramps up the number of visitors. I wasn't mentally prepared for the throngs in the town and was ready to move on in 2 or 3 hours. I imagine it's a different experience if you spend the night or can stay well into the evening.

I enjoyed the archaeological park in Siracusa but such things don't generally interest me much, so I skipped Agrigento and can't comment on how much time you'll need there. I did very much like the Villa Romana del Casale mosaic site near Piazza Armerina.

You can use ViaMichelin to estimate the driving times for your itinerary; the estimates are said to be a bit optimistic, so you should pad them. From my seat on the many buses I took, the highways looked good and not generally heavily traveled, but I'd expect it to be slow going in the cities because of traffic and in the towns/villages because of the often-narrow roads.

In addition to planned outdoor walking (perhaps around Etna?), you'll find plenty of opportunities while seeing the sights in Ortygia/Siracusa, Ragusa and Catania.

Thank you so much for the reply. We are planning to be in Eastern Sicily during the 2-3rd weeks of September. I heard that this is the shoulder of the peak season, so hopefully beautiful weather and fewer tourists. I wish we had time to do both eastern and western Sicily. But considering our 7-8 days, it sounds like we should do the eastern side that is more traveled and larger option of honeymooner-type hotels. Perhaps, we will one day return to roam the wilder beaches of western Sicily or the islands.

You have given me some great ideas! I'm glad that the cities I mentioned sound like a good start. I feel like Sicily is not as traveled as the rest of Italy, so I haven't had anyone to ask who had been there.

While not "honeymooners" i would suggest you check out the Hilton in Giardini and use it as a base for Catania and Syracuse, and am sure you won't be disappointed by the attention you will receive from them--we have stayed there 3 times and the service and attention is first class. also, you can view Mount Etna Etna from the Hotel as you go to Breakfast before the clouds come up, and the show at night. It's a short hop from there to the parking garage at Taormina and easy access to both Catania and Syracuse, plus the staff at the Hilton will guide you to some very tasty restaurants in Giardini that will allow for leisurely dinners with nice views and non-Taormina prices.
Personally, I would skip the valley of the Temples, and, instead, go to the Piazza Armenia-it's closer and an easier drive.It is normally beautiful in September, and hope you enjoy .

Siracusa needs a couple of nights, I recommend staying in Ortigia.

Same for Taormina.

You can spend a night in Piazza Armerina (not Armenia) and visit the Villa Romana del Casale in a long morning or afternoon; with a car, you can add Morgantina and make a daytrip of it.

Agrigento is further west, the archeological zone is vast, and there is a nice museum as well.

You can do this with a car (don't forget the International Driver's Permit from AAA), but it's a lot of places for 7-8 days. Is that 6-7 nights?

Oh, definitely fly!

With the amount of time you have, I definitely agree that you're smart to stick to the eastern part of the island. It takes more than 2 weeks, even with your own transportation, even to pretend to see all parts of the island. Try really hard to make it eight days rather than seven!

It would not be my choice to spend all my nights near Taormina because of the driving time spent on repeated trips south. You might decide that Siracusa needs more than one day (especially if you're day-tripping to it), and I don't think you'd get a lot out of Ragusa-Modica-Noto if you tried to cram them into a single day-trip, either. In the end, I believe you'll end up spending more time in the south than in the Taormina area unless you just want to lie on the beach. The driving time to Piazza Armerina is about the same from Taormina and Siracusa, though, so that's something you could do from a northern base.

In case you haven't stumbled on this information yet: The granita (non-dairy sorbet) in Sicily is fabulous. Different flavors crop up at different places, but I especially liked the almond. In Noto and Catania you can sometimes find a special combination that's about 95% almond with a dab of intense, barely-sweet coffee granita on top. You will also see places offering granita + brioche for breakfast. The granita in mainland Italy usually just isn't the same, though the regular gelato there is wonderful.

If you are going to Siracusa, I would stay on Ortygia, the old part of town. Similarly, for Ragusa the old town in very charming. We stayed at the Hotel Gutkowski in Siracusa and the Hotel del'Oroglio in Ragusa. Note that car traffic is restricted/forbidden the old sections of these towns. Sometimes you have to leave your car in another part of town.