Sicily - Favignana, Erice or Trapani

I didn't make the trip over to Favignana but we spent 3 nights in Trapani with day trips to Erice and the Salt Pans.

If it were me, I'd go to Erice. It's just a really unique and interesting hill town. Trapani is nice. It's a busier town that has a nice walkable core but for me it wasn't really special in the way Erice was. But Erice is a tourist town and Trapani is a living town with tourists so just a very different vibes.

The Salt Pans/Museum south of Trapani is a fun 90 minute detour.

We enjoyed Marsala. There are no wow sites, but it was nice for the one night we stayed there. Three days seems like a long time there. The salt farm was pretty with the sun reflecting off the mounds of salt. We liked it more than the Trapani salt farm. In Marsala we stayed at Hotel Carmine and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We spent a few hours in Trapani, taking the cable car down from Erice where we were staying for three nights. It too has no wow sites, but was nice enough to walk around. Erice is wall to wall day trippers until about 4pm when the town shuts down, except for restaurants. The town can been seen in a few hours. While there is a castle ruin there, I feel it wasn’t worth even the nominal charge to go into it.

We didn’t go to Favignana, so I cannot comment on it.

We have stayed in Trapani, visited Erice on a day trip, and visited Favignana on a day trip. I would recommend Favignana. We rented bikes and rode around the entire (small) (flat) island, stopping for gorgeous views and at the tuna factory (if it’s still open). Lovely lunch in the little piazza.

It so interesting to read the comments from all. We stayed in Erice for 2 nights and did a day trip on the finicular to Trapani. We loved Erice and would highly recommend at least 2 nights. Charming, quaint and I have to disagree it was not mostly day trippers. The restaurants were wonderful and the people delightful. Tripani was much larger and more commercialized. We also did a day trip to the salt pans which was only 3 hours total. Very interesting.

Also just remember you are in Italy and it is wonderful. We are returning in September and will be concentrating on the east coast of the island. have a safe and great trip.
Lorie

We stayed in Erice for 3 nights and enjoyed it, even though my husband thought one night would have been enough. Yes, the daytrippers come and go, and you would be one of them, but it is one of those places that is touristed for good reasons.

Your bigger issue would be how to get there. Train and bus looks like it would take 1.5 hours at best each way. Look into that carefully --- it's certainly doable, but maybe not how you want to spend your time.

I'm going to suggest an alternate town that is only half an hour away by train, Mazara del Vallo. It was on our list of places to go in Sicily last spring, but we ran out of time. The architecture looks really interesting --- look at google images and see what you think.

Thanks for the replies everyone. After reading them all I’ve decided to visit both Erice and Trapani and forego Favigana. Normally, I would not be giving up relaxing beach days but since I’ll also be spending a few days in Cefalu and Taormina, I think I’ll get in enough beach time on this trip. Wishing you all a wonderful day and happy travels!