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Sicily/beaches/islands/teenagers

My husband and I are flying into Catania with our 2 fairly well-travelled teenage boys, 13 and 16. We first want some downtime at a beach town/resort/ interesting area. Our goal is to go north Taoromina, thru Messina, hit some islands, beaches, Palermo, and further west to the coast, about 10 days all together.
We just are not sure where to start for a few nights of rest after arriving in Catania...we will rent a car. Any suggestions on 2 other areas to base ourselves out of, would be great....again, arrive in Catania, north, and westward towards Palermo. Beaches, islands, and ruins would be the ticket and some city action in Palermo. Suggestions welcomed!

Posted by
74 posts

No need to stay in Catania upon arrival, head straight to Siracusa (Ortigia has two tiny beaches and is a wonderful introduction to Sicily-ruins, history food) or Taormina (only an hour or so north of Catania). On the mainland, on the way to Palermo is Cefula. This is one of the more well known beach towns after Taormina. If you have only 10 days, I would do the islands by day trips from Palermo and spend my nights in only 3 or 4 cities. Palermo, Cefula, Taormina and Siracuse.

Posted by
26840 posts

I'd skip the offshore islands on this trip because you just don't have enough time. I'm not sure what you mean about going "thru Messina", so I'll just point out that it is far from one of Sicily's highlights. I would spend my time elsewhere. To me, Siracusa and Palermo are the most interesting places in Sicily, but there's tons to see all over the island. You really need at least two weeks to begin to see Sicily, and that's without spending time relaxing on a beach, so don't try to cover the entire island. If beach time and getting all the way to the west coast and to Taormina (east coast) are essential, it may not be practical to include Siracusa.