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Sicily in September

I have been reading all the posts on Sicily and would like a few suggestions about our trip. We are two couples, ages 63-70. This will be our third trip to Italy but first to Sicily.

Sept. 23- Fly out of O'Hare
Sept. 24-arrive Rome in the morning. Fly Rome to Reggio Calabria ( Lamezia Terme vs Reggio Calabria airport? Anyone flown into either one?) rent car
Sept. 24 &25- Gerace area ( husband’s grandparents originally from there)
Sept. 26- Drive to Erice (I know it is a long day-probably 6 hours travel minimum)
Sept. 26-29- Stay in Erice with day trips to Segesta, Zingaro, Trapani salt pans- open to any suggestions.
Sept. 30-Head to Agrigento vs. Piazza Armerina- open to ideas, not sure which I prefer. Also, if we go to Piazza, stay one night or two?
Oct. 1 or 2- head to Syracusa for 3-4 nights. Day trip to Etna, visit Ortygia, possibly Baroque towns
Oct. 5- Fly out of Catania to Venice

Trying to minimize moves but still see a lot of the country. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Posted by
11052 posts

Erice as a base for day trips, up that steep, winding road and down for day trips? No. Better to stay in seaside Trapani as a base and do days trip to Erice, Segesta, etc.
Definitly visit Agrigento( stay overnight near the temples, not in the city above) then drive to Siracusa, stopping for a few hours in Piazza Armerina at Villa Romana Casale on the way. The Valley of the Temples is a MUST SEE!
For Siracusa, stay on Ortigia Island, visit the Greek Theater in Siracusa, also a Baroque town as a day trip if you can tear yourselves away from Ortigia. We were there a week and dound it hard to leave.
Mt.Etna is a better day trip from Taormina or Catania.
Fly out of Catania(CTA.)
Or reverse this whole trip, drive first to Ortigia heading west ( much shorter drive from Calabria) and take your return flight out of Palermo. I d not see any time for Palermo. Is there a reason to skip it? The Cathedral outside of the city, Monreale is one of the world’s most beautiful churches.

Posted by
3150 posts

After arriving on Sicily I would reverse the order of your trip, visiting the east coast and then traveling to the west, leaving from Palermo. In Siracusa stay on the island of Ortigia from which you could spend some time visiting Catania and Etna. I would then make the trip from Siracusa to Scicli and Modica with an overnight in Ragusa. From there to either Piazza Armerina or Agrigento for another night before driving to Erice. You might want to end your trip with two nights in Palermo visiting Monreale on the way. That way you’ll shorten your driving time by not having to double back.

On Ortigia visit the Caseificio Borderi for the best sandwiches in Italy and a heck of a show in their creation. A unique, inexpensive dining experience!

Posted by
1090 posts

I’m curious why you’re flying into Calabria, as opposed to Palermo? That would definitely be my first piece of advice: fly into Palermo. Second would be what others have said about Erice. It’s a great day trip, but not somewhere to day trip from. Trapani is Greta for that. For your Syracusa leg, I would recommend staying in Ortygia.

Posted by
15041 posts

Scopello instead of Erice, for base.
Catania airport is the biggest in the area and frankly not much further from Gerace than Lamezia Terme.

Posted by
23 posts

@Philip, we are flying out of Catania as it has nonstop flights to Venice which I prefer.

@April, we are flying in to Calabria to visit Gerace, where my husband’s grandparents came from.

@Suki, we decided to skip Palermo. There is so much to see in Sicily that something had to go. Hopefully we will return.

Will Erice be THAT bad to stay there? I know it is a winding drive but it would be so nice to have the view and be in such a great old town.

Posted by
2118 posts

Yes, I think Erice would be a bad choice for a base. It’s a nice day trip but we were ready to leave after a couple of hours. Should you be there during cloudy or rainy weather, you will have no views.

Posted by
1103 posts

I also agree that Trapani would be a better place to stay compared to Erice, and that it would be nicer to stay on Ortygia instead of the town of Siracusa.

Posted by
6384 posts

Syracusa is about 45-50 minutes drive from Catania airport just so you have an idea. Stayed in Erice for 3 nights in September and after driving up the hill, we decided not to move the car and only took a day trip to Trapani. As already stated, Trapani would be a better base if you want to take day trips. In my opinion, the Marsala salt pans were much nice than the Trapani ones. Both can easily be seen in a morning since they’re not that far apart. Both are in somewhat remote locations but not terribly hard to find. The Roman villa at Piazza Armerina is worth a couple hours at most. I would stay in that town at all. We stopped and saw the Roman villa driving between the Catania area to Agrigento. I’d spend the night in Agrigento and see the Valley of the Temples (which only took 3 leisurely hours).

As an alternative to driving all the way to Erice, stay in Monreale to see the Duomo, then stop and see Segesta on the way to Erice. That would save having to double back to see Segesta that is about a 45 minutes drive from Erice.