Sicily Day Trips and Food Recs

In Palermo, Monreale is kind of a day trip in that it takes some extra planning. Check the hours/days it’s open. Cefalu is the other easy day trip. It’s well connected by train. You didn’t mention when you’re going, but Cefalu has great beaches. You could justify an overnight there, and pick up your rental car from there too.

You’re not in Ortigia too long, a day trip may prove unnecessary. Noto is probably the closest, easiest hill town to reach (take the bus, the train is crummy) and has terrific architecture.

Highly recommend you stop at Villa Romana en route to Ortigia if you had not planned that already.

Other beautiful Baroque towns you ca visit from Ortygia by train or bus: Ragusa, Modica and Scicli.

6 days in Palermo is too much. We were there Sun thru Wednesday and that was plenty. Our RS Sicily tour started in Palermo on Tuesday. Pretour we did the Addiopizzo Travel No Mafia tour and the STREATY Palemo food tour and I recommend both of them. We stayed at Baglio della Luna in Agrigento which I would highly recommend. Great view of the Temples from the garden, very good food and quite nice simple room.

Updated itinerary:

Palermo: 5 nts
Agrigento: 1 nt (VoT)
Taormina: 1 nt (Etna)
Ortigia: 5 nts
Rome: 3 nts

There are too many people raving about Cefalu to ignore, so we will do a day trip from Palermo. I’ll need to research Noto, Modica, etc to see what makes sense for when we’re in Ortigia.

Forgot to add, one traveler is a sassy 11yo girl, so if you have any suggestions on things she might enjoy I’d love to hear them!

Definitely get Rick’s Sicily guidebook, it has great suggestions.
We visited Cefalu but were underwhelmed. It’s a nice town but it was too chilly for the beach. The church there is very similar to the one in Monreale.
I don’t know what your 11yo would like but we went to a puppet show and the puppet museum. I love quirky museums like this, you really get a feel for the local culture.
You could take one night from Ortigia for Taormina which has amazing Roman ruins. Also, I find 1 nights stays almost a waste unless it is just to get from point A-B efficiently.
In Palermo try the Panelle sandwich. They only make them there, no where else in Sicily. My Italian in-laws couldn’t eat enough of them.
We ended up visiting Sicily with in-laws who were researching family. 2 travelers dropped out after Covid and we filled in those spots. We really enjoyed Sicily more than we thought we would.

There are puppet shows in both Ortigia and Palermo. We went to the one in Palermo-down a small side street right across from the Cathedral. Bought tickets that day. We enjoyed it a lot. With an 11 year old, you might try to go to both. The style is supposed to be different. We had no children with us and still thought it was really fun.

Depending on your child, a different thing to do is visit the Capuchin Crypt in Palermo. It is all these mummified bodies. We didn't actually make it there as we had a late start the day we were going to go and it is closed for several hours in the afternoon. So look at the hours if it is something you think you would want to do.

I think the food markets in Palermo would probably be a hit.

Now that you’ve listed these as nights… As much as I loved both Palermo and Ortigia, five nights is probably one night too many for both. A single night in Taormina is suboptimal, shifting one or two nights to Taormina would be a good move.

I totally understand wanting to keep the rental car driving to a minimum, but extending it out a couple days might also be the simple answer. Instead of day trips via public transportation (which can be clunky) from Ortigia, why not stay in a hill town for a night or two? Or, just keep the car in Siracusa a couple days for day tripping?

Hello. That sounds like an amazing trip. From Palermo, I recommend going on a day trip to Ustica Island (1.5 hours away by ferry). Alternatives include Castelbuono & Cefalù. From Ortigia, check out Noto and the Vendicari Nature Reserve. For gelato, check out Cappadonia in Palermo

Palermo - I would reduce it by one. Day trips to Monreale and Cefalu. In Cefalu hike up the mountain for great views.

Ortigia - day trips to Ragusa and Noto.

Taormina/ Etna - if you’re staying in Taormina just for Etna, see if you can can go to Etna from Ortigia. I went to Etna from Catania and my guess is there are tours from Ortigia.

I'd take away a day from Siracusa and spend a night in Ragusa Ibla. Its pretty magical at night.
If you visit Ragusa on a day trip, you could hire a private driver to take you there.

We basically go to Italy to eat, as odd a that sounds.
I've been to Sicily a number of times, so I will give you a couple of restaurant names; you always should make reservations, at any restaurant that takes them.

Ortigia: DON CAMILLO. This might be the most upscale restaurant in Siracusa, but it's wonderful. I do not like tasting menus but you can order a la carte here. It's listed in the Michelin guide but does not have a star. My favorite is the spaghetti with sea urchin. Excellent value and wonderful, kind staff.

https://www.througheternity.com/en/blog/rome-travel-guide/trionfale-market-rome.html

Siracusa: LATTERIA DI MAMMA IABICA
https://www.facebook.com/mammaiabicalatteria/?locale=it_IT

Taormina: ROSMARINO. We ate here a couple of times last year; Ask for the daily specials.

https://www.rosmarinotaormina.com/home-english/

I have a few good ones in Ragusa (in Ibla) that I can post if you decide to go there.

Also, for sweets in Noto (including gelato) do not miss CAFFE COSTANZO...it's a landmark and legendary.; and so is this place nearby; go to both!!! Caffe Sicilia is featured on the Netlike series CHEF'S TABLE.

https://www.caffeitalia.se/journal/caffè-sicilia-a-noto