Sicily

Hi Beth!

We spent 2 weeks in Sicily in October 2022. In Catania we enjoyed going to the fish market - and fell in love with canary melon, walking down Via Crociferi - a street with several Baroque churches, and Cattedrale di Sant' Agata which is in the center square. We also visited the Museum of the Allied Landings in Sicily. The owner of our Catania B&B had never heard of this museum! But my husband has a keen interest in WWII history and really loved this museum. We started our trip in Palermo and took a food tour with Streaty Tours - it was fantastic!! The same company offers a food tour in Catania. I can also recommend dining at Vuciata, a restaurant in the market. They served us the best pasta dish of our trip.

Are you staying in Ortiga (the oldest part of Siracusa)? We spent 2 nights there having a vacation from our vacation. Ortiga also has a market, a Duomo in the center square and several smaller churches you can wander into. Eat at the Ortiga Fish Bar and then watch the waves crashing into the rocks nearby. We also had fantastic meals at La Foglia and Le Vin De L' Assassin. Be sure to order the orange and fennel salad at one of these places....delicious!

Taormina was our least favorite stop on this trip. The Greek-Roman Theater is interesting but wasn't a WOW for us. We thought about taking a full-day trip to Mt. Etna but then decided against it. This was our first trip back to Europe post-Covid and the thought of riding in a van with 6-7 strangers for several hours three day before returning home seemed a little iffy so we added a day to one of our other stops and only spent one night in Taormina.

Have a great trip!

The main attraction in Taormina is to shop.

Are you locked in on these locations?

I think you should do Etna if you’re up to an adventure. How often will you be near an active volcano? Noto is nice. Villa Romana del Casale deserves some consideration. A little harder to get to, but pretty spectacular. Ortigia is a good place for Baroque architecture and puppets, a Sicilian pastime. Also, make sure to eat a lot of gelato, granita, arancini.

In Siracusa I stayed in Ortigia. You will enjoy just strolling around the narrow streets. It is all very pretty. I attended a traditional Sicilian puppet show at Teatro dei Puppi at Via della Giudecca. It was a lot of fun. Also enjoyed the outdoor market. I was last there in 2019 and there was a 5€ local hop on hop off commuter bus that easily takes you to the archaeological park and other key sites in Siracusa/ Ortgia. The ticket was valid for 24 hours.

In Catania make sure you go to the Piazza del Duomo in front of cathedral in the evenings. It is full of people and very lively and often has groups singing or dancing. There are hundreds of people out for the evening stroll down Via Etnea. Also check to see if your travel dates correspond to any of Catania's traditional religious celebrations which are quite popular and elaborate.

In Taormina, of course you will visit the splendid Teatro Antico. There are often great concerts held in the Greek Theater. Check to see if any are scheduled for the dates of your visit. There are also wonderful panoramic views from the peaceful communal gardens and they offer some needed shade and greenery to help cool off in the hot summer months.

We stayed in Taormina for 4 nights after a bike tour in eastern Sicily, it was recommended by the Sicilian owned/based bike company owner. We really enjoyed our stay. We had a nice apartment off the main road. We walked to the teatre and up to the castle, was still closed for renovations, but the walk up was fun and the view worth it.

Since we were in the main town, we also walked down to the beaches and across to the island.

When we got home we watched The White Lotus and was thrilled to see it was based in Taormina, and we could see the places we walked- recognized the streets and the shops.

Took one day for a bus tour to Mt Etna, I would never skip that. Great guide on the top explaining so much about the volcano.

Taormina is smaller than the other locations, touristy, but not horrible. We had 2 nights in Ortiga too, private guide (as part of our bike tour) for the ruins and the town, but we found Ortiga to be a bit boring of a town compared to Taormina.

We recently went to Sicily in early May 2023. Not particularly crazy about Taormina. It seems to be much more of a summer resort. Big thumbs up to Ortigia. We rented an apartment on the water and it was spectacular. You can visit the catacombs in Syracuse from there which is interesting. There's also an archaeological park, but the museum associated with the park was more interesting to us. However, it's at least a 10 minute walk from the archaeological park.

For Syracuse, Ortigia is where most people go. There are no must see sights in Catania but the area by Basilica Cattedrale di Sant'Agata is where the church, Plaza, and main market are located. There’s also a WW-II museum that’s supposedly good, but I haven’t been to it. Taormina is relaxing when no cruise ships are in port. When they are, it’s overrun with people and very hectic. The ancient theatre is the main attraction. There’s also a cable car to carry passengers to/from town to the beach.

Thank you, everyone, for all of the info. It sure helps to hear about others’ experiences!