Sicily

There are some excellent and current guidebooks on Sicily.

http://sicilyguide.com/cms/store/

Stay in Taormina or Syracuse and you could see Mount Etna, Noto, and if you’d like, you can take excursions from Taormina to the Isole Eolie or the Valley of the Temples.

The very highly recommend the Rough Guide of Sicily, perfect for independent travellers without a car.

Thank you both for your suggestions. I'm off to go read and research some more. Thanks again!

You may also want to try Giardini-Naxos - outside of Taormino. It's got good beaches and is just a short bus ride to Taormino and easy access to Mt Etna. I'd do 3 days there and 2 in Siracusa.

I have pictures of our trip and spredsheet post with linked to everywhere we stayed at our personal blog at: http://www.gadtravel.com/2008/07/palermo-naples.html

Might need to pick 2 or 3 towns to really get the full fell Sicily.

Here is a good web site I used to plan my trip to Sicily.

http://www.bestofsicily.com/

Rick has Sicily lodging recommendations on line - based on his TV show, "Sassy, Spicy Sicily". Recommendations include Grande Albergo Sole or Hotel Moderno in Palermo, Hotel Riva del Sole in Cefalu and Hotel Continental in Taormina...
Two different places for your 5 night stay would give you more of a feeling for the area.

I was just in Sicily a month ago. I stayed at Hotel Continental and enjoyed my stay. The view from their terrace is outstanding! I can also add that of all the places I went in Sicily, Taormina was my favorite.