We will be flying into Palermo Sicily and returning 12 days later from Catania.
Any suggestions as to what to see, what towns to stay in, hotels, restaurants etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Our plan is to rent a car after a day or two in the Palermo area and then travel the coast.
First trip to Sicily very excited. Also we would love to visit the town of Sciacca.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Have a look at viamichelin.com to see how far apart your sights are, then plan how much time to spend in each city.
While in Palermo, you can daytrip to Cefalu and Monreale by train and bus, respectively. With a car, you can visit Segesta easily. Erice is on top of a butte above Trapani, lots of hairpin turns, or take the bus.
Agrigento is an all-day stop if you include the museum; Sciacca is not far away (about an hour by car), you may want to make that your base. Other places Iecommend are Siracusa, Taormina, and Piazza Armerina with a half-day trip to Villa Romana del Casale and Morgantina.
You will have to narrow this list according to what you like.
Posted by
Washington DC
28477 posts
Siracusa has a very evocative old quarter, Ortygia, and it's a good base for the Baroque towns in SE Sicily, such as Ragusa, Modica and Noto. Be sure to see some inland locations, not just the coast.
Taormina has one of the most gorgeous settings imaginable but can be swamped by day-trippers. It's worth checking the cruise-ship schedules for Messina and (??) Giardini Naxos to see if one day looks appreciably lighter than others.
Palermo is full of beautiful churches and other religious buildings, but Monreale is not to be missed. It's accessible by public bus, but if the timing is right, I'd plan to drive there after picking up the rental car, because the bus service isn't terribly frequent. Saturday seems to be a popular day for weddings and is therefore a bit dicey for tightly scheduled church visits in Palermo. No problem with access to oratorios; they don't seem to be used for weddings. There is some variation in the opening hours of Palermo's religious sites, so you can put together a reasonable schedule of visits no matter what days of the week you are there.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7180 posts
On my tour of Sicily our guide was from Sciacca and we made a detour there for a lunch stop on our way from Agrigento. I loved it there. It's a seaport town with a nice waterfront to stroll and it's a big ceramics town with lots of shops and artists' studios, got one of my favorite souvenirs there. I notice your user name, is your family from Sciacca? If so, you should definitely visit there.