Preliminary Sicily Itinerary

I am starting to post my trip report from my recent Sicily trip. Here's the thread: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina

As you can see, some of your ideas for your the trip are the same as ours (particularly the latter half), and others differ. And if you're looking for 4 star hotels, I'm afraid my accommodations will not help (on the other hand, if you want small places with an intense personal touch at a great price, you're set).

A few specific tips I can give:

For the car, we found that Kemwel had a MUCH better rate than Auto Europe (its sister company) or Gemut. Our car ended up being from Hertz.

We picked up from the Hertz in "downtown" Palermo, which we were a bit afraid of. But it really wasn't bad at all getting out of town (only a few turns to the highway and we didn't need to go through the oldest part of town, where the driving would have been far more difficult). The airport is quite far out of town, so it's time-consuming and/or expensive to reach. However, at least for you it will be in the correct direction for you next destination (for us it would have been a big detour).

I think two nights and one day in Agrigento will be fine. We saw it as a day trip from the farmhouse near Caltanisetta and it took a few hours, but you'll need more time since there are six temples and you said this was a special interest. You will definitely want to see something we missed - the temples lit up at night (hence the reason you will need those nights).

We hit the Villa Romana outside Piazza Armerina at the height of the tour buses, and it was miserable. Luckily before we left, we were able to go back through it and see it again after the worst of the crowds had left, and this was much more enjoyable. It's quite expensive, so be sure to allow enough time to see it properly.

We saw Noto partly in the rain; it was still very pretty and nice. We saw Ragusa Ibla (the old part of Ragusa) on the same day, and it was also very nice. If these don't interest you, you could cut down your time in Siracusa. BUT...

Siracusa has a lot of Greek sights, of which I only saw the Papyrus Museum. (Note that just a month ago, this museum moved from its old location near the other Greek sights on the mainland, to a new location on Ortigia; my cab driver didn't know this - very frustrating). Since you have a strong interest, you will want to budget enough time in Siracusa for the Greek sights, plus any other things that interest you there, so you may need an extra day after all.

There's never enough time for Taormina. It was magic - by FAR my favorite place of the ones I saw in Sicily (along with, surprisingly to me, Palermo). Beware the tour group crowds at the Greco-Roman theater, but there's a reason they're there (so you may want to visit later in the day when the cruise ship hoards are back on their ships).

For your Catania to Rome flights, the earlier you book, the better the rate. My friend got a €50 ticket, but I had to make do with a €75 ticket, the very next day. And this was 6 months before the trip! Alitalia has over 10 flights a day on this route; that far ahead, the other carriers weren't cheaper, and Alitalia allows one free checked bag. Book on http://www.alitalia.com/en_en/ (much cheaper than their US site, but still in English).

Your itinerary sounds very doable to me. I've been to Sicily three times, and unfortunately never got to the West. I'm just sorry you're not seeing Cefalu, but don't know where you'd work it in! We used Cefalu as a two day "beach break" to just relax between exhausting touring from the East side before Palermo. We stayed in Hotel le Calette and the views from there were absolutely jaw droppingly beautiful, and I've been around. Taormina is also incredibly beautiful, and I'm sure if you're in a four star hotel you'll also get great views. If you want a great tour guide for Mt. Etna and a fantastic wine tour, I'd recommend legendofsicily.com We had a blast with these people. We didn't have our own car, they drove, but the guide was educated, had a quick wit, and maybe they offer this service for people with cars. Tomorrow for sure I'm writing a trip report. I've put it off way too long!

There is a hotel inside the vast archeological zone in Agrigento, I wish I had my notes, but I found it on booking.com.

Sounds like a dream trip for classical temples. Be sure to go to Segesta for the unfinished Greek temple and the theatre and ruins of the ancient town.

I was in Sicily for 2 weeks April-May this year. After 2 days in Palermo I took a late afternoon train to Cefalu for 2 nights and 1 full day. I left my suitcase at my Palermo, took an overnight bag (backpack). I really enjoyed Cefalu and the evenings were much nicer than in Palermo, tho it was the priciest (and not nearly the best) accommodation of my trip. I don't rush through places or push myself too hard any more. 2 full days in Palermo and 1 in Cefalu were all I needed.

I took an early train back to Palermo to pick up the rental car (I used Auto Europe and, like Harold, got a Hertz rental). The two issues I noted about driving in Palermo (and Catania) are that it's very slow going and pedestrians cross the streets anywhere, anytime. On the other hand, drivers were pretty patient and not aggressive. The highways were easy to drive, though I never did figure out the speed limits. I was careful to never leave any items visible in the car when it was parked and had no trouble.

I spent 3 nights near the Zingaro reserve as a base to see the sights (2.5 days). My first stop was Segesta (2-3 hours, take the bus to see the theatre). I screwed up my knee on the rather steep hike to the temple, so I skipped the Zingaro reserve and didn't see as much of Erice as I'd have liked. It was very windy so the cable car was closed and I had to drive up, which took about 1/2 hour of S-curves. On Sunday I drove through Trapani but couldn't find parking and most everything was closed anyway including all the area wineries. I ended up going to Mazaro del Vallo for a couple of hours. . . the freedom that comes with a car. I spent about 4 hours at Selinunte (day trip from my base). There are shuttle cars to take you to the 3 main sites. I went all the way to Malophorus (skippable unless you are really interested in archaeology - look at photos).

I drove about 2 hours to Agrigento, then more than 2 hours driving to Piazza Armerina. Since you will have fewer daylight hours, I think your plan to stay the night in Agrigento is better in October. Due to my (insert curses here) knee, I only went to the two nearest (but best preserved) temples, easily done in an hour or so. The museum is a must-see. . . lots of beautiful urns.

In Piazza Armerina, the historic center is the place to be, but it is not easy to find. Be sure you have very good directions to your hotel and a parking place. I only spent a couple of hours there and wished I'd had time to explore more. The drive through Piazza Armerina to the Villa Romana was difficult (very narrow 2-way streets) but there was little traffic. There were a lot of tour buses at the Villa, including several school groups, but it didn't feel crowded. There are "no photo" signs all over but everyone was taking lots of pictures, including the supervised school kids. If you want to buy a guide book (recommended), skip the (rip-off) stalls by the parking lot and go to the shop near the park entrance.

Then it was back through Piazza Armerina and on to Syracuse for 5 full days. Road signage confused me (no GPS, no good road map) since sometimes the town on the sign isn't the one you think you want. It wasn't hard to backtrack, though.

In Syracuse, stay in Ortigia. I loved it. I skipped Baroque Noto and Ragusa completely. The archaeology museum in Syracuse was one of my favorites. The coin section was only open until 1.30 p.m. and is not to be missed, this from someone who usually walks past coins in every museum. One day I drove to Catania to the excellent WWII museum. I had planned a day trip to Taormina but the knee!! . . . I also did a day trip to Etna from Ortigia. You could probably see the sights in Syracuse in 2 full days. I suggest you plan your hotel nights so you have the option of driving to Taormina in the morning or evening, depending on whether you want to spend that 3rd day in Syracuse. A fun thing to do in Syracuse is see a traditional puppet show.

Lastly, the rental car offices at the Catania airport don't open until 8 a.m. so be sure your flight is late enough in the morning. It only took me a few minutes to return the car at Hertz, then a short, level walk across a couple of streets to the terminal.

We did a similar itinerary over 4 weeks time last spring. We also used Trapani as a base at the beginning of our trip. From there we also visited Segesta and the Mozia Salt Pans, which you could see the same day you visit Marsala. We didn't have time for Lo Zingaro or any islands. One full day each for Agrigento and Piazza Armerina, as you have, would be enough. In addition to Syracusa we also stayed in Ragusa Ibla for 3 nights. We loved both of them and if you have a night to spare you might consider visiting Ragusa. Agree that Cefalu is great but with the amount of time you have it's not workable. Your plan of spending 2 to 4 nights in each town is great. As we all know, you need that much time to get the feel of each town and, especially in Sicily, each town has its own personality.