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Sicily at Easter time

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I must say that, being new to this site, I am so impressed that you can check with others who have been there before. My first independent travel was in 1977, although I first went to the Middle East when I was 16 in 1966. In the "old days" you got your plane ticket and that was pretty much all you could do and it was always booked through an agent. But the glories were such things as walking the Charles Bridge in Prague when there were ten people there and usually little old ladies from Poland, with orange hair.

But I digress. I am trying to learn what base cities would be best for touring Sicily at Easter time in 2019. We have two weeks and were considering starting near Trapani, as we would like to see the procession there for Good Friday. We will have a car and were thinking of B and B's in smaller towns and driving to the outskirts of larger cities and walking in . We would like to do this in other areas and stay perhaps 4 days at each base.

I have heard the driving is a problem near the cities, but then I have driven in Turkey quite a bit, including in Istanbul. Which is remarkable because I live in a small rural town in eastern Oregon, of 280 people.

Thanks to any help.

Tom

Posted by
11665 posts

Fly into Palermo, Palermo , pickup car, Trapani, Selinunte, Agrigento, Piazza Armerina for Villa Roma Casale, Baroque villages- Noto, Ragusa, Modica visit one or all three, Siracusa with Ortigia, Taormina(2 nights maximum). Dropoff car in Siracusa, bus,train, driver to Taormina, Fly out of Catania.

Posted by
16193 posts

Two weeks is perfect to see a lot of Sicily, which is Italy's Largest region, and probably the one that has the most to offer to the visitor.
My premise above is to the precursor to the obvious next statement: it is impossible to visit Sicily from one place only. The island is simply too big, about 2 and 1/2 times the Big Island in Hawaii, so you are right to choose at least 3 or 4 bases.
The first base should be Palermo, which has quite a bit to offer for you first 3 days there. You could even take a day trip to Cefalù by train or bus, while in Palermo. I don’t recommend you have a car while in Palermo. Pick up your rental on your way out of Palermo.
For the other 3 bases, since the Greeks used to call the island Trinacria from its shape (Trinacria=three point) my suggestion is to base yourself in the proximity of the three “points”. To the west I like to stay in the village of Scopello or next door, in the larger town of Castellammare del Golfo. From there you can reach Erice, Trapani, Segesta, Selinunte, in minutes as the area is served by fast freeways.
In the northeastern point, I suggest Taormina, under the now erupting Mt. Etna.
Finally in the southeast point, I suggest Syracuse or surroundings.
If you want to visit the interior (like the Villa Del Casale) I would add a couple of nights at Piazza Armerina as well.

Posted by
28434 posts

Many of the logical places to use as bases for visiting chunks of Sicily are too large for you to stay on the outskirts and walk in. You might be able to take a bus into town or a taxi. You'll need to check with each hotel about the availability of parking. Do not under any circumstances try to drive in Palermo.

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