I still haven't decided on transportation for my May 2023 visit to Sicily. But I do know I want to see at least one of the Baroque towns.
So I am wondering for those of you who did not rent a car, what town or towns did you see?
For those who rented a car, what town or towns did you see?
And what did you think you did just right and what would have you done differently?
For those who rented a car, what town or towns did you see?
I visited the eastern side of Sicily only - leaving the central and west for another trip.
Last trip to Sicily we started in Palermo, then drove a rental car to Selinunte, Agrigento, Villa Romana, Noto, Ortigia and Taormina. We were so glad we spent a week in Ortigia.
I can’t imagine touring Sicily by public transportation.
i traveled for about a month through sicily in june/july of 2021, entirely by public transportation. don't believe it when people say it can't be done, though i am sure it is easier by car.
I started in palermo and went to cefalu by train and monreale by bus. did a day trip to agrigento by bus and train. took a bus to trapani. from there went to segesta by bus and mazara del vallo by train. erice is stunning and within easy reach by trapani city bus and cablecar. the only site i figured i couldn't make it to in a day from trapani was salinunte. the other sites in northwest sicily that i couldn't visit due to lack of convenient public transportation were polizzi generosa & cefala diana. i traveled to enna from trapani by bus. it involved a change in palermo. from enna i went to piazza armerina to visit the villa romana del casale. i visited the city center of piazza armanina and it was one of the most beautiful baroque sites i visited on this trip. onward from enna via bus to siracusa with a change at catania airport. i spent 5 days in siracusa with day trips to ragusa, modica, sicli, and noto; one trip/day. my favorite is noto followed by ragusa and the other two. i took the train each time - all these towns are on the same line from siracusa. bus again from siracusa to catania. days trips to caltagirone and acireale (by bus) and randazzo (by train). next, to messina by train and then a day trip to vulcano via milazzo. my point is that public transportation is a cheap, and viable option in sicily. the only thing i would do differently would be to spend less time in trapani and perhaps not go to caltagirone (neither lived up to my expectations). hope this helps.
On our trip we drove Ortigia, Noto, Villa Romana Casale, Agrigento, Selinunte, Marsala, Erice, Monreale, Caccamo, Cefalù, and Taormina. We took buses into Palermo and Catania.
I based in Ortygia and visited Noto, Ragusa, Monica and Scicli by either bus or train. Not a problem, but I would caution that there are few, if any, buses on the road on Sundays. I suspect train service is reduced then as well.
I remember seeing an advertisement for a Montalbano tour that was going to pertinent locations (presumably including Scicli). I didn't take it. It was priced like a full-day tour (I believe around 95 euros in 2015), but the duration was only half a day.
Thanks for all the responses. Several of you (Suki, acraven, alomaker) based in Ortygia. Do you think that was better than dividing time staying in Ortyigia and one of the Baroque villages? I had thought maybe 3 night Ortyigia and 2 Rugusa or Modica. But I have also thought maybe easier to not move around and stay instead 4-5 nights in Ortygia.
And did you find the towns distinct enough to warrant visiting all of them?
I used Siracusa as the base and used the bus to get to Noto (1 hour drive approx) and 2 hours by train to Ragusa. Both were easy to get to and didn't require a car. I also went to Taormina (not a baroque town in the sense of the others in the southeast) by bus easily. I would recommend the bus over a train to Taormina because the bus actually goes to the top of the hill where Taormina is perched, while the train station is at sea level and you still have to get to the top. Noto is also better served by bus than train, unless you want extra walking to get to the main drag.
If I had a rental car, I would have combined Modica, Scicli and Ragusa and I would have had a second base in Ragusa. Using one base was Ok, but limiting. However, of those towns, Siracusa had the most to see and so it made for a very good base for a short trip.
Ragusa is an easy base with a car because there is a huge free parking lot at the base of town which you can navigate to. Our hotel proprietors picked us up with our luggage and took us up to the hotel, which was within the ZTL - limited driving zone.
---Do you think that was better than dividing time staying in Ortyigia and one of the Baroque villages?---
i feel that moving around too often eats up time; packing and unpacking (even if you are traveling light), checking in & out, etc. i chose to base in siracusa/ortiga because of the transportation options it offered (the rail connection to the baroque towns) plus i think for me the food and lodging options were better in siracusa.
---And did you find the towns distinct enough to warrant visiting all of them?---
this is harder to answer because the uniqueness of each of these towns didn't cross my mind. i had the time so i decided to visit as many as my schedule allowed. photography is my hobby and each of these towns had more than enough 'photo ops' to make me happy! i have a link in my profile if you want to look at some of those.
I thought they were plenty different.
If you decide to stick with public transportation, check thOnes. And train links between the small towns carefully. In some cases you might need to return to Ortygia to get from Town A to Town B--but perhaps not. I know that on at least one day I visited two of the towns (possibly mixing train and bus links), but I don't remember which two. I'm traveling and don't have access to my trip notes.
Thank you so much for the additional reflections. They really are helpful.
Alomaker-your photos are stunning. I really appreciated the fact that you have them labeled.
Acraven-what is theOne?
We normally take public transportation but decided to rent a car to see the Baroque towns and are REALLY glad we did. It was so easy (and safe) to drive around that area.
We rented the car in Taormina where we had spent some time. Drove to Ortygia, then Noto, Modica, Ragussa, Agrigento and villa Romana, then easily dropped the car off at the airport in Catania.
As everyone says in this forum, don't try to do too much or you'll miss everything. We had 3 weeks and only did a small part of the island but didn't rush and got a real feel for Sicily.
Sorry, Beth. Between my typing, my phone's bad predictive text, and my tendency to rush, I end up with a lot of strange non-words in my posts. I think I was trying to write that it will be important to check both train and bus links between the small towns. Linking them will probably not be as easy as making individual day trips from Ortygia. Most of the towns are small enough that you don't need a full day in one of them. Ragusa might be an exception.
Claiforniacuore--Curious as to how you spread out your three weeks among the places you stayed. I wasn't thinking that three weeks was necessary for only part of the island. We have less time and I must admit I am struggling to figure out where to go and for how long with 15 nights.
acraven--that makes sense! Thanks for responding.
We went to school in Taormina for 2 weeks so explored that area including Etna.
Then 2 nights in ORTIGIA.
Then 2 in Ragusa.
One in Agrigento
One at the place with mosaics.
Beth,
When I visited Sicily, I only used public transportation.
I decided to visit Noto from Ortigia via public bus.
Here’s part of my trip report that includes my
day trip to Noto.
When planning my trip I’d considered visiting Ragusa or Modica but decided against it as the public transport would have taken longer than my time limit for a day trip.
Wishing you a wonderful trip!
That makes sense now! Thanks for responding.
