Sicily Itinerary

Ten days is painfully short for Sicily unless you decide to limit yourself to only part of the island. It appears that you'll have a very high ratio of time riding in your car to time with feet actually on Sicilian soil. What you're attempting to cover is quite similar to what I managed, and I had 18 days. You have the advantage of a car, but still...

I think you'll see little of Palermo with your schedule, since your first day is likely to be experienced in a sleep-deprived fog. Also, beware of driving in Palermo. The traffic is chaotic. A car will be handy for Monreale, so you might consider seeing it early on Day 3 after picking up the car first thing that morning. However, that means parking somewhere near Monreale with all your luggage in the car--not necessarily a great idea.

Seriously, I think you need to drop something, and from a geographical perspective the logical deletion is Scopello/Segesta/Erice. I liked Erice a lot, but you can't have everything. There are Greek ruins in both Taormina and Siracusa, so do you have to do Segesta?

I think Piazza Armerina may be a bit livelier than Enna, but I hit the latter during the siesta period. I did enjoy wandering around there, but I was one of the few people outdoors.

I'd choose Ragusa rather than Modica as my hotel stop because Ragusa has more to see.

I was satisfied to take the train around Mount Etna. It's also visible from Catania most of the time.

Please don't drop Segesta, as it's your only Greek temple, though I'd encourage you to fit in a half-day at Selinunte or Agrigento as well. At Segesta, take the bus up to the theatre. You can take the bus back down, but it's not far and you'll have some good views and photo ops if you walk.

I was in Palermo about 3-4 years ago, late April, and Monreale was pretty full. There's not much parking and the drive there through Palermo is really slow because of traffic. It's best to take the bus there and back rather than get frustrated with the driving, not to mention the hassles of trying to find parking. The Cloisters are lovely, don't skip them.

It's a rather long, winding road up to Etna. The only place to stop is the visitors' center where the tours to the top leave from. There are souvenir shops, toilets, and a restaurant or cafe, maybe more than one. There's really not much to see on the way up/down other than the view of the coast. I don't remember foothills, just the one big mountain.

Well, there you have it. No dropping of Segesta. You need to convince your husband that you need more time.

Thank you for the replies. Given that we have a toddler, it seems like perhaps we should shave off Mount Etna, and do one night in Taormina instead of two.

We were in Sicily for 10 day years ago. We spent our first night in Scopello which was the perfect place to relax from the flight. It is very beautiful. We skipped Palermo except for Monreale. You could then spend a night in Cefalu. If you then drive towards Piazza Armerina it wouldn’t be too long of a drive. We ended up staying in G. Naxos instead of Taormina because we found Taormina too crowded. Others have said Acreale, closer to Catania, is a great spot to stay. We also liked Noto lido. We stayed at a wonderful b&b with cabins near the ocean, Terra dei Limoni, and went into Noto which was beautiful. Just my two cents. Happy planning.

If you are flexible as to which Greek temples you see, you may want to do something like what a friend and I did in 2014. After a few nights in Palermo, we stayed at an agriturismo near Caltanisetta, in the center of the island. From here, both Agrigento and the Villa Casale near Piazza Armerina are less than a 90 minute drive, so can be seen as day trips. We then saw Ragusa (as well as Noto) as a day trip from Siracusa, before heading to Taormina for a few nights. In other words, we saw much of what you want to see (except the Segesta area) with only four bases.

If you want all the details of what we did and how, here's my trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina