Sicilily Itinerary Advice

We were in Venice on 4/25 one year and it was packed and hopping with Italians on their holiday day off. Places were open to dine, shop.
Your itinerary looks good but I give more time to Ortigia,Siracusa.

i would suggest you sloooooooow down. Segesta is worth a t least a half day, and then swing over to Erice for the night before going south. Sicily is to be savored, not rushed through. Also, give yourself more time in in the Palermo area, and Monreale again deserves more time. As far as Agrigento, after Segesta, we found it overrated. Selluneti(?) was more interesting and accesable and as far as our grandson was concerned, "much more fun." One final note is that a lot of Sicily outside of the cities' still practices "siesta" from 12 to 2, so if travelling, have provisions.

Segesta - be sure to go up to see the amphitheatre, you can take the shuttle. There are good views on the way down so you may want to walk.

I took the bus to Monreale from Palermo. Traffic was very slow much of the way and parking looked to be very difficult. Maybe if you get a really early start . . . Visit the cloisters too - well worth the time and separate entrance fee.

Selinunte is a very large area. Even with the "electric train" it takes a lot of time to get from bit to bit and they are all worthwhile.

You really need to re-evalutate your agenda. It is aggressive and some travel between distances. Just a few quick suggestions. Not is not a huge town you don't need an entire day. Siracusa has some nice ruins and Ortegia was very nice. Have a dinner in Ortegia. Not going to Taromina? Monreale was great. Palermo was very very crowded, I hated it. Erice was fabulous.

We were in Palermo on Liberation Day in 2018 (and the day before and after) and did not notice any appreciable difference in crowds on the holiday. Palermo is crowded every day! And we didn't notice any closings on that day. The only thing that might be affected is the airport bus, if you were planning to take that. You could easily check on that.

I agree that you may be moving too quickly. But I am not sure what you can trim. I would definitely not take a night from Agrigento. Of all the temple sites, Agrigento is the biggest and more impressive. Selinunte is also worthwhile. Since you are seeing all three temple sites in succession, I would probably skip Segesta ... it's just one unfinished temple in the middle of a field ... and give yourself a little more time to enjoy Selinunte and its lovely location by the sea.

We did the island clockwise last fall. Just for a sense of time for planning, it took us 3 leisurely hours to see the Valley of the Temples. After we visited Selinunte (temples are far apart) we had seen enough temples and decided to skip Segesta. One can see the Duomo in Monreale and the entire town in a few hours. Erice is nice to visit and can be seen in a couple hours if need be. Since you are driving, you could cut down on changing hotels by adding a night to Syracusa and cutting the night in Noto. Noto can be done as a day trip from Syracusa as it’s only about 30 minutes from Syracusa and only takes a couple hours to see. Other than the temples at Selinunte, there’s little else to see and not much to do. There are only a few hotels.

There are parking lots near the Duomo in Monreale, so look them up ahead of time and save one or two to your GPS’ saved places.

Agrigento was a highlight of Sicily for us, so incredible. Do not skip Segesta, only one temple and a theater but in a stunning and evocative landscape. The more time you can give Ortigia the better. Stay on Ortigia rather than in Siracusa.

The Villa Romana del Casale is also worth a visit. Here you will find what is arguably the world's most rich and colorful collection of Roman mosaics. You could stop here on your way from the Valley of the Temples to Ragusa.

Modica, not far from Ragusa, is really beautiful and a pity to miss out on, smaller and quieter than Ragusa, we preferred it, have a look at both before deciding......Ideally I agree with other comments that it would be better to concentrate on a smaller area and take your time - In Sicily you also need to leave time to sit and relax and savour cannoli or granite and in Ortigia you can catch the sunrise over the sea on one side and the sunset 300 metres away on the other.....it all takes time........