Sicily for a month?

For Sicily, you might consider splitting your stay between one location on the west coast, maybe Palermo or Trapani, and another on the east coast, maybe Siracusa or Catania. Depending on which locations you choose, Agrigento might be a good stop on your way from one to the other, as opposed to making a long day trip.

Lucky you!
It is such a large island, I would also be tempted to split it up east and west unless your research turns up the perfect place.
I would add some specifications as you solicit suggestions--looking for town, city, village? coast or inland? rental car or no?

Yes, two places east and west --- don't do what we did in 2001 which was to rent a terrific villa in the very center of the island for a week. It seemed like a good idea.......... As I remember it, there were only two small roads leading away from the villa and we had to travel on them for a long time every day to get to anywhere we wanted to go. So, kind of equally inconvenient for everywhere! We made the same mistake in Campania once, choosing a "central" home base without noticing that it was on one road at the top of a hill that was almost a mountain.

Envious! I spent about 2 1/2 weeks driving around Sicily a few years ago and loved it. Towns are more spread apart and roads more slow going than you might imagine. I would choose more unpacking and less backtracking. A lot of the island is rural, and between some towns there's not necessarily that much to see.

I think you can accomplish so much more with a car, except around Palermo! We started our trip in Syracusa and picked up our car after a few days there. While in Syracusa we did one bus trip to Norcia, and that was probably my least liked day of the whole trip. The travel time seemed interminable because of all the stops. The driving in small towns can be challenging because of the narrow streets and bridges, but the people are friendly and not crazy drivers (except in Palermo!) I think it might be ideal to choose about 4 base towns and do several car rentals as needed.

It's probably going to be very hot by June. Any chance of doing Sicily a little earlier? (I loved April there, but no beach time.)

I love Sicily and could easily spend a month there. However:

• It could be unpleasantly hot in June, and I don't mean just for a few days. The record high for that month is 112F. That is atypical, but still. Definitely take a look at the actual daily temperatures over the last few years on wunderground.com. Choose History > Monthly.

• I don't think even two locations in Sicily is adequate if you hope to get to all the key destinations, even excluding the Aeolian Islands. I don't like changing hotels, either, but i'd be looking for a place to stay in each of these areas, to avoid excessive driving back and forth:

Siracusa (to visit Ragusa/Noto/Modica/Scicli)
Catania/Taormina (to visit Mt. Etna)
Palermo (don't drive in the city!)
Trapani/Erice
Inland (Piazza Armerina/Enna/Caltagirone)
Aeolian Islands

I'm not sure that list is ideal for someone interested in the Greek sites of Agrigento, Selinunte and Segesta; I skipped them all.

You might also want to spend some time in Malta.

Here is a good link for lots of info on Sicily

Best of Sicily

You all are awesome! Thanks so much! We didn't realize how hot it could be in Sicily in June - so really appreciate the heads up. We'll be in Greece in May - so could maybe swap those but then we'd be in Greece in June and I think it will be hot there as well. I do think, based on your suggestions, that we'll likely pick a couple of places - maybe 3 - for the month and rent a car. Were trying to avoid car rentals as well but this sound like the place to have a car. At least for part of it. Thanks again!!

A car will be very helpful though not needed while you're doing the city sights in Palermo. And there's a public bus out to Monreale. There's rail service along the north and east coasts but only one useful train line of significant length through the interior (basically Palermo to Catania). There's a bit of service heading west from Siracusa, but I ended up needing buses for most of my travel in that area. Inter-city buses, which fill in the many gaps, usually don't run on Sundays and holidays.

Spend some time on ViaMichelin.com to see how much driving you're going to be doing with the number of bases you're planning. It's one thing to do it for a week or ten days, but for a month-long first trip to Sicily (forgive me for being blunt), I think only 2 or 3 bases is a bad idea.

One significant advantage of having a car is that you won't be suffering in the heat as you stand outdoors waiting on a bus. Be sure your car is air-conditioned; perhaps they all are?

June will be very hot in Sicily. I spent a week in Palermo and did day trips from there. Then I spent another week in Taormina which was absolutely fabulous. Small, can be touristy, very high up with magnificent views, and I did day trips with a local tourist bus company to Mt Etna, Syracuse, Agrigento with a stop at Piazza Ameria to see the mosaics (over rated), and a day trip to the Islands of Vulcan’s and beautiful Lipari. Palermo was a surprise. Much better than I expected and very pretty at night. Did lots of trips by local bus to places like Cefalu (by train), and fabulous Monreale. If you have a car or more time, which you do, you could get from there to Erice and Selinunte. Agrigento would be closer from Palermo than from Taormina. My only concern is that in June you may not find affordable accommodation in Taormina, so maybe Syracuse as I don’t think Catania is anywhere near as pretty. But do go to visit Taormina as it is spectacular.

If you don’t want to drive, you could always overnight somewhere other than your base. Eg go to Trapani by train, see the town in the morning, out to Erice in the afternoon, overnight in Trapani and out to Selinunte or Segesta the next day before heading back to your base in the evening. Could be less stressful than driving and in the end probably no more expensive than car hire for the two days.

Comments above make a big deal about the amount of time it takes to get places. I guess it depends on what you are used to. I am Australian and for me 3-4 hours to get somewhere is no big deal unless you are the one doing the driving in heavy traffic.

I envy you having a whole month to spend in Sicily which I hope you will enjoy more than Tuscany. (You might want to consider Tuscany in June and Sicily in October as Tuscany would have less travel time between places and lots more local buses between towns. Then again, it is high season in June and much more expensive to rent at that time. But booking well in advance will help. Airbnb in Europe, if you avoid the very cheapest offerings, can be very good value and often give a good discount on a monthly rental.)

I'd swap Sicily and Greece ... do Sicily in May and Greece in June. Do mainland Greece first (if you plan any time there) and then go to the islands where beaches are everywhere and you can travel via ferry with cool breezes.

I've spent quite a bit of time in Sicily (and Greece), and my question to you is, what do you most want from your visit to Sicily? Do you want to see most/all of the big sights in Sicily ... ruins, churches, cities? Or do you want to see a few sights but mostly soak in the atmosphere?

If I were traveling for 10 months, I would want a lot of down time, to prevent burnout.

• I'd land in Palermo and spend 3-4 days there, without a car. Daytrip to Monreale or Erice or whatever looks interesting to you.

• Then train to the island of Lipari for 5-6 days, and day trip to Stromboli and other Aeolian islands.

• Then train to Taormina for a couple of nights, with perhaps an excursion to Mt. Etna.

• Then train to Ortigia for 2 weeks and just enjoy wandering. From Ortigia you can rent a car for occasional day trips -- maybe even make an overnight trip to Agrigento. Train or bus up to Catania, and fly to Athens.

Charlene - this is very helpful! Thanks so much. We did swap and will be in Sicily in May and Greece in June. Our daughter, son-in law and 5 year old grandson are going to join us in Sicily for a week. Recommendations for the best place to be with a 5 year old? We'd probably like to stay in one place that week - maybe do a day trip or two. Thanks much!

Friends recently returned from Sicily where they rented villas/cottages with pools on each coast. One was near Trapani/ Marsala and the other between Taormina and Catania. The complaint was that there was still too much driving. Maybe three locations? Add a rental in one of the Baroque towns or Siracusa.

For a week with a 5-year-old, I'd probably choose Ortigia. It's a very small island, attached by bridge to Siracusa. There are very few cars -- the roads are narrow and many of them are accessible only by walking. So it's safe for a five-year-old to explore.

1) visit the fort (Castello Maniace)

2) visit the piazza del Duomo ... adults can take turns going inside the cathedral while the others sit outside on the piazza with an espresso ... on a nice day, a balloon seller may make an appearance

3) wander through the outdoor market

4) eat pizza at Marios (they also deliver)

5) take a boat ride around the island

6) make a trip into Syracuse to visit the Archeological Park -- climb the steps in the amphitheater and walk into the ear of Dionysus to see if you can hear anything

7) eat gelato

Just thinking about it makes me want to go back!