Itinerary Suggestions for 20 Days in Sicily

Looks pretty good to me. I thought I'd point out, that you really could get to Monreale on your own.

I might have stopped in Ragusa for a couple nights, but I see your objective. We just really loved Ragusa, especially in the morning and at night.

What is the plan in Catania? The RS guide has a nice walking tour. Try not to do it early afternoon, you may find many of the churches closed. The WWII museum in Catania is excellent, we enjoyed the cathedral and fish market. There is a tourist train that I believe starts in/near Catania, and goes around Mount Etna. Randazzo is charming and we enjoyed our walk around the town. Lots of lava, so interesting. Also, if you are into wine, there are many wineries.

Not sure what to recommend for picking up a car in Palermo. I wouldn't want to drive in Palermo. The airport is an option. There are a few by the marina that look to be close to a highway that might take you out of town.

Jules,
Thank you for your thoughts! As for Catania, I recommend this article in the Guardian (I hope link works!):
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/jun/12/the-reinvention-of-catania-sicilys-once-crime-ridden-second-city

Also, Katie Parla website has good city guides for Palermo and Sicily (including Catania):
https://katieparla.com/city-guides/

Katie says, "Catania is magic"!

Thanks again!

Gosh, never heard of Katie Parla, but looks like she has a guide for London where we're going next. Thanks.

Have fun in Sicily!

Here is my biggest concern: have you considered taking the bus or train from Palermo to Agrigento and picking up a rental car there? There is good public transportation from Palermo to Agrigento. I think you may need actually two nights in Agrigento unless you plan to leave Palermo very early on that last day. You have to get your rental car, drive about two hours or longer to Agrigento, check in to your accomodation, have lunch at some point, then you will want to go to the ruins and probably the museum and allow yourself several hours for exploring those areas. Seems like a day packed with activity. Then you want to leave early the next morning for the Villa Roman del Casale. Give yourself two nights and you will have time to explore the city of Agrigento on your first afternoon or evening and use the next day to take your time to explore the ruins and museum. Maybe take a day away from Palermo.

I have used Palermo as a six night base before. Lots to see in Palermo and many daytrip options but some not so easy to get to by public transport. Possible daytrips from Palermo include: Mondello, Cefalù, Segesta, Erice, Castellammare del Golfo, Scopello, Borgo Parrini, The Sanctuary cave of Santa Rosalia on Monte Pellegrino, and many more. Without a car to do your daytrips I am not sure I would stay nine nights so I think it would be ok to take a night away from Palermo and add it to Agrigento. It is easy to get from Palermo airport by taxi, train, bus or shared taxi. There is an excellent youtube video here that shows you just how to do it. The bus and shared taxis are cheap and have a designated route and stops. They do not take you directly to your BnB or hotel. It is also easy to get to Monreale by public bus. I have never rented a car in Sicily but have used the trains, the buses and private drivers.

Siracusa/ Ortigia is a real gem. Stay In Ortigia. There are public bus routes that pick up at different points in Ortigia and go over to Siracusa and its archaeological park. Try to see the puppet show at the Teatro dei Pupi on Via della Giudecca. It was fun. Eat a sandwich or lunch at Caseficcio Borderi right next to the street market.

I like Catania. I just stayed there four days in March. As others have mentioned I too enjoyed the Military museum dedicated to the invasion of Sicily. Also check out the Palazzo Biscari which is about three blocks from the Sant' Agata cathedral. Lots of daytrips from Catania too: The Aci towns (Acireale, Acicastello, Acitrezza), Mt Etna, Taormina, Zafferana Etnea, the wineries, and more.

Two adfitional good side trips from Siracusa are Modica and Scicli. You would not need a separate day for each of those places.

I like long stays, too, but I recommend considering 2 or 3 nights west of Palermo to see Trapani, Erice and some of the other points of interest out that way. I only managed to get to Trapani and Erice.

I love Palermo, but even with day trips nine nights might be a bit much. The tourist’s Palermo, central Palermo is actually kind of small. With four nights I did plenty of great exploring, but you often also end up treading the same ground.

While I agree with and appreciate your travel philosophy, I think Sicily is one of those places where a bit more moving around can reap bigger rewards. Like, just adding a night in Agrigento creates an opportunity to see Selinute or Torre Salsa reserve. Or a couple nights in Trapani opens up Erice or Favignana. I consider Palermo to be overloaded with nine nights, taking it down to 6-7 is still a lot of time but affords you a lot of sightseeing opportunities elsewhere.

I’m not against having someone drive you to Monreale. Sure the bus is easy, but it drops you off with a not insignificant steep hike up the road to the cathedral. I think you’d be fine picking your rental car up anywhere. All you’re doing is driving out of town. Most “don’t drive in the city” warnings is advice against driving within a city for sightseeing purposes.

Our trip was the reverse of your plan, picking up a car at the Catania airport and dropping it off on arrival to Palermo. We used Hertz which has a location in Palermo city (Palermo - Via Messina 7E) where you could pick up your car without having to go to the airport which is about 30 km in the wrong direction if you are heading to Agrigento.

Thanks to all for your valuable, well reasoned inputs! Following advice, we reduced our stay in Palermo to 7-nights. We added a night to Agrigento. I will investigate bus from Palermo to Agrigento. We added another night to Siracusa to allow additional day trips to recommended small towns. We'll save Northwest coast of Sicily for another trip.

Thanks again to all. You are what makes RS Travel Forum such an amazing source of information!

I sent you a PM describing our latest trip to Sicily. If you don't have your RS account set up to send you email notifications of replies and PMs, you might not have seen it (ask me how I know this!).