Sicily in March

Our earliest trip to Europe was arriving in Sicily on March 20 for a three-week stay. We had every type of weather imaginable, from cold and rainy to hot and sunny. I'm sure it's different every year. But the cold and rainy part was not pleasant. I didn't have a parka with me and needed one to be comfortable eating in a cold restaurant.

We went in March for a week one year, for our anniversary in the 10th. We had two nice days and froze the rest of the time. Then again, we have been in Venice in mid-March wearing short sleeves by afternoon. I would skew to late March or early April for Sicily.

Expect LOTS of rain. At least that was our experience. Now we travel to EU early to late Fall. And December for the Xmas Markets.

We went in February, and it was 60º jacket weather (the locals were in down coats) - perfectly manageable. Cooler at night as you might expect, and cold up on Mt Etna. But it was all green and beautiful. So my thought was early April would be ideal.

For travel in shoulder season I find it helpful to look at more than monthly averages, because they hide extremes, and it's the extremes that can be unpleasant. I think there's also a very human tendency to focus on the average high temperature and think it will be warm enough, ignoring the fact that it will be much cooler at 8 AM or 8 PM.

I like to review the actual, historical, day-by-day temperature data on the website timeanddate.com. It check out at least the most recent 3 years; 5 years would be better, because there's a lot of year-to-year variation.

Palermo March 2021: https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/italy/palermo/historic?month=3&year=2021

I’ve been in December (magical pre-Christmastime), and early November. Neither was sufferingly hot, as I understand Summer to be. March would also be outside of the high summer tourist season, and would avoid the scorching summer heat. Unless you’re planning on hitting a beach, and if possible limited hours and days that sights are open (research that) poses a problem for you, then beat the tourist rush and go in March.

For what it’s worth, while we were staying at a B&B in Sorrento, Italy, the owner said that April was the best month to visit Sorrento.

I was on a RS Sicily tour mid-March 2018 and we had really nice temps. and only one drizzly evening. I guess we got lucky.

My 2-week trip was April-May. The plethora and variety of wildflowers, especially in the western side, was gorgeous. I had a little rain in the first week, never needed a jacket.

If you are interested in Sicilian culture, Easter Sunday is huge in Sicily with some mind-bending events. It's April 17, 2022, and you'd need to reserve well in advance and be prepared for a total holiday on Easter Monday. Read about the Processione dei Misteri di Trapani as just one example.

Back in 2005 I spent three days in Sicily (Taormina, Cefalu and Palermo) at the end of March and the weather was in the high 60s and sunny.

Weather in March may be unsettled and hard to predict. Generally however it should not be cold (50s to 60s during the day), albeit rain is definitely a possibility.
One thing to consider is that Europe switches to Daylight Savings time on the last Sunday of March, therefore if you go after that day, into April, you are likely to find warmer weather and definitely longer daylight in the late afternoon/early evening.

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences and suggestions! I believe we will plan an April trip.

Thank you