Please sign in to post.

Sicily

Posted by (Des Plaines, IL, US) on

We are seniors but experienced independent travelers.

We will be arriving by ferry plan on spending 14 nights in Sicily. We would like to see "the best of Mt. Etna" but are not sure how to do this. Do we go to Taormina and take the cable to Mt. Etna? We understand that Taormina itself is very busy/touristy and should plan on spending only a day there. Or do we go to Randazzo and spend the night and visit Mt. Etna? Is it best to take a tour of the mountain?

Should we stop at Catania or go directly to Siracusa? Then Ragusa. We would like to visit Armerina but is that "too far out of the way"?

Is Trapani/Erice too far west? We want to see the Agrigento so I guess we are going that direction.

We would like to spend several nights in Palermo but do not want to drive our car into the city? Should we park our car outside and take our luggage into the city? Of course we are interested in the safety of our car. We will then proceed on to Cefalu and back to the ferry.

Thank you.

Richard and Mary Shaw

Posted by
6780 posts

We spent 3 nights in Randazzo and enjoyed it very much. You could structure your trip to use both public transportation and a car. For example, we flew into Catania, took a bus to Siracusa/Ortygia (day trip to Noto), after a few days there picked up a car for Ragusa, Armerina, Agrigento, Segusta and Seliunte and then returned the car upon arrival to Trapani. From there used public transportation/driver for one day, to visit Palermo, Cefalu.

Posted by
704 posts

We had a car starting in Palermo (picked up the car at the airport after visiting Palermo and Cefalu) around the whole island - the opposite way that you are going. We left it in Catania to catch a plane to Rome. I do believe there are several tours out of Catania for the day up to Mount Etna. We drove up close but it was rainy and foggy that day. It has erupted recently so I would not pay in advance to a tour company unless they will refund your money.
We did Tamorina and did find it touristy but not large crowds(early May). It was a difficult drive up to the city and we did have to have directional help from a taxi driver. IMHO I would skip it. We did not do Catania but loved Ortigia/Siracusa. Ragusa and Trapani we liked as well.
I suggest you park outside of Palermo and take a taxi in. We were there for 4 days and loved it. We took the train from there to Cefalu for the day but since you are meeting the ferry again you could plan to stay there overnight and take the train to the ferry.
If I may make a suggestion I would book the Hotel Ambasciatori. It is a short walk to/from the train station. You then could return the car to the airport and take the train into Palermo. If you have Rick Steves Book there is a map to show you the hotel in relation to the Station.
I am not sure where you are meeting the Ferry but if it is in Messina you could make sure if there is a train from Cefalu to Messina.
I hope this helps in your planning.
Enjoy your trip

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.