We will be doing the RS Best of Sicily tour in Oct 2022 and would like to add a day or two to see Ragusa, Noto, Modica and Scicli. Our tour ends in Catania and we would rather not rent a car and drive ourselves. Public transportation is fine, as is hiring a guide/driver. We are most likely flying out of Catania, so we need to end up there to begin our travel back to the states. We are seasoned RS travelers in our 60’s, and grateful to be able to do long days, with lots of walking, hilly terrain and stairs. Would appreciate recommendations on where to stay and how best to see these small towns, or any other smaller places not covered on our 11-day tour.
Posted by
11153 posts
You may get help from local poster Vagabonda if you post your question on TripAdvisor’s Sicily Forum. She is quite helpful.
Posted by
Irving
2948 posts
Hi Jony, from the Catania Centrale station, you can take a direct train to Siracusa (1h 15m) and sleep there and take direct trains to:
Siracusa to Ragusa (2h 15m). If you hire a driver it’ll take 1h 45m.
Siracusa to Noto (45m)
Siracusa to Modica (1h 45m)
Siracusa to Scicli (1h 45m)
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
Jony,
Excellent choice to visit those baroque towns. Our tour ended in Taormina & we took the train to Ortigia. You could return to Ortigia (our favorite) or base yourselves in Ragusa. If you choose Ortigia our favorite B&B is La Via Della Giudecca. laviadellagiudecca.it. It’s minutes from the Duomo and in the heart of the centro storico. We had planned to revisit Ortigia last year but had to cancel due to the lockdown. Our B&B host “Roberta” arranged a driver to transport us to Noto, Ragusa & Modica. The driver dropped us off at each location and gave us plenty of time to see the amazing highlights.
We took the train back to Catania the day before our flight home.
Posted by
OP
Rochester NY
36 posts
Thank you for the helpful responses, as well as the recommendation to check out the Trip Advisor Sicily forum--Vagabonda clearly knows Sicily! My next question is the timing so we can decide how much we can do in a day. How much time should we allow in Ragusa, Noto, Modica and Scicli?
Posted by
Washington DC
27104 posts
I think the historic area in Ragusa is more expansive than in the other towns. Ragusa is built on two levels; you might want to take a bus or a taxi between them. If I were planning to spend the night in one of the Baroque towns (i.e., not in Siracusa), it would be in Ragusa.
Noto's historic center is perhaps the smallest.
Modica is built in a ravine, so there's some up-and-down to deal with. Scicli may need roughly as much time as Modica?? I don't keep notes on how much time I spend at day-trip destinations, so it's hard for me to say.
Don't forget to allow time for lunch somewhere.
Posted by
near San Francisco
4601 posts
We just picked a few things to do in each of Modica and Noto - seeing the beautiful Baroque churches in each town, a palazzo and a small, family-run chocolate "factory" in Modica where they gave us a 45 minute tour and tasting. (Who knew that Chocolate and Rosemary would become a favorite!)
We visited both towns on our drive from Ragusa to Ortigia, where we arrived before checkin, so both towns (and driving between them) in 3/4 of a day.
Posted by
OP
Rochester NY
36 posts
Thanks everyone. This give us enough information to outline our plans. Mostly likely a two night stay in Ragusa, with one full day spent there and a second full day touring two of the other towns. On our way to or from Catania, we’ll engage a driver, so we can visit the third town. That seems like enough time to explore each of the towns, linger a bit when we find a terrace or spot that we like, and not feel rushed. We will overnight in Catania before our flight the next day.