Sicily in June vs September

You also might consider the "off season" or "winter tours" or whatever they call them now. I went twice on a RS tour-once in late February and again over the Easter week, which fell the last week in March that year. Weather was great, crowds almost non-existent, prices lower and we had a fabulous time-on both tours! Lest you think I'm nuts for repeating a tour, I'll qualify that by saying the itineraries were slightly different those two years and going over the Easter celebration was a wonderful and very unique experience. We were in Sicily between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

I thought Sicily was pretty much always somewhat dry and brown. Haven’t been there since 79, but returning later this year.

We finished the South of Italy tour a week ago. Our guide and bus driver commented that it was still so green with lots of flowers blooming by the edge of the road but will be brown within a week or two. Given Sicily is south of where we were I expect it will not be green in June.

I did the Best of Sicily tour this past March and it was green and the almond trees were in bloom. I thought it was a perfect time to be there.

Thanks! It sounds like if I'd like to see it green, it would be better to go in April. Well, I like warmer weather, so I guess I'll enjoy the dry & brown too. Do you think there are more travelers in June or September. Or maybe it's never as crowded as "mainland" Italy?

We were in Sicily for the last week of May, 2012. We travelled throughout the island for 10 days and didn’t notice much browness. We passed green orchards, vineyards and saw flowers everywhere in our travels. It was warm and sunny but not unbearably hot. We saw very few people swimming in the ocean in the beach resort towns and the swimming pools were just being filled and were not heated as the “official” summer season had not started. I wouldn’t hesitate to travel again to Sicily in late May - early June should I be so fortunate. We are also looking at an RS Sicily tour in the future. Enjoy yours!

I was in Sicily in June 2015 and only Taormina and Erice had a heavy concentration of tourists. From that standpoint I think June will be fine for you.

My visit was 2 weeks in April-May. At the end of April the plethora of wildflowers in the western part of the island was breath-taking. On my first day along the coast, the scenery was perfect, green hills on one side, blue sea on the other, then I saw a brown hill ahead which puzzled me until I got close and saw it was a green green hill completed carpeted in red wildflowers. While there were lots of wildflowers all over, they did become noticeably sparser as I traveled eastward. A friend wrote me that she was on Lipari last week and loved all the wildflowers there.

"I thought Sicily was pretty much always somewhat dry and brown."

It certainly wasn't in April-May of 2014! I happened to be there the same time as Chani, and saw the amazing wildflowers and greenery. The gardens in Taormina were beautiful too. So yes, if you want greenery, spring is the time to go.

So, I really have to travel either in early June or early September. Heat wise, it’ll be warm. But is there an advantage to either of those months over the other? Maybe more festivals in June? Any thoughts appreciated!

Don't know about festivals, but the days will be much longer in June. For me that's a huge plus, but for many people it doesn't matter at all.