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Sicily Itinerary Advice

Posted by on

Hey there!

First, thanks for your input. It's always great to hear the thoughts of other travelers.
Second, I already know that one week is not enough for Sicily, but it's what we have as part of a longer trip we'll be doing to Europe in the late Spring/early Summer.

We have one week in Sicily and we'll be renting a car. Have narrowed it down to the eastern part of the island (plus Agrigento), to make it reasonable and realistic. Palermo and many other lovely spots, sadly, will have to wait. We will fly into Catania, and drive out of town that same day.

Here's where we would like to go: Siracusa/Ortiga, Ragusa or nearby w/day tripping to Noto/Modica/Scicli, Agrigento, and some kind of Mt. Etna visit: vineyard trip, or lower level mountain hikes at Refugio Sapienza (or both if possible!). It would be nice to be able to stop at Villa Romana del Casale either on our way to, or coming back from Agrigento. I don't know how long that will take... it's not a huge priority, but would be nice.

Rough itinerary we were thinking of:
Siracusa/Ortiga (2 nights) and drive to:
Ragusa or one of the other towns and day trip to Ragusa (2 nights) and drive to:
Agrigento (1 night or 2 nights?) A little uncertain about this b/c the drive from Ragusa to Agrigento is longer and don't know if we'll have time to tour the temple area that same day or need to hold off until the next, which would also mean leaving late afternoon to head to Etna area. Might be too much. Maybe we stay somewhere on the road between Agrigento and Etna? In a place that doesn't get much tourist action, which really has appeal for us. In any case, the last/final stop would be in the Etna wine area, maybe:
Randazzo (1 or 2 nights) or somewhere else nearby, if someone has a suggestion, and spend the remainder of time either enjoying the wine country, which I hear is beautiful and/or doing some light hiking at Sapienza before heading back to:
Catania, where we will fly out.

How does this sound? The other thing we were thinking of is to start at Etna and then go to Agrigento, etc. kind of backwards, but we're open. (We'll be coming from Spain so jet lag should not be an issue by that point). What do you think? Any specific suggestions? Or advice? Things we should drop, or add? I know we're missing many things: Taormina, etc., but you have to make sacrifices to have a trip that allows you to actually enjoy where you are. We'll be driving plenty as is.

Anyway, thank you so much, and we'll look forward to your responses.

Posted by
11736 posts

Only 2 nights in Ortigia is heartbreaking. At least one more day is needed.

Posted by
1082 posts

Is it an early flight to Catania? If it is, it’s conceivable that you could drive straight to Piazza Armerina and see Villa Romana late that afternoon. Stay the night there, see Agrigento the next day, and drive back to Siracusa for night two. That’s probably more aggressive than I would usually suggest, but it is a possible itinerary. Lots of driving, but then that would be largely out of the way.

The less aggressive version is: drive to Piazza Armerina, see Villa Romana the next morning. Head to Agrigento and see the temples that afternoon. Stay the night there. Then, you can take the autostrada back to Siracusa, or a longer slower drive along the coast to Ragusa. Either way, I think you’re best served getting that part out of the way first, straight from the airport as you’re still “on the move.” I know Villa Romana is not a top priority for you, but it’s amazing and makes a logical stop on the drive.

If you spend the first two nights this way, I would just stay the rest of the trip in Ortigia. It’s got all the magic you want and some to spare. Even with five nights I’d probably go this route. It’s easy enough to day trip to the hill towns or perhaps Etna from there. And you’ll always be able to play that by ear. I’ll note that the Noto Flower Festival is May 17-21, if that aligns with your time at all that’s a plus.

At Valley of the Temples, I would suggest skipping the museum in favor of Siracusa’s excellent Paulo di Orsi museum. I didn’t find the collection there very interesting. It’s also the most insane place to access/park at. The entrance is almost impossible to locate and if you miss it, is hard to turn around again. If you’re short on time or patience, feel free to give it a miss.

Posted by
2907 posts

You can easily drive from Ragusa and see Argrigento the same day. We drove from Ragusa to Villa Casale, toured it, ate a quick lunch from a stand, drove to Argrigento, checked into our hotel, and saw Argrigento the same day. We were at Villa Casale about three hours, including having lunch. We went to Argrigento about 5 pm which was magical. It wasn't crowded and the sun came out (we had lots of rain). We didn't even try to see the museum.

What time is your flight? You need to make sure it is reasonable to stay in Randazzo the night before you flight. If you can do that, then two nights in Randazzo.

If you have only two nights in Siracusa, stay in Ortigia and spend all your time there. There are many other great things to see but you just can't see it in that time.

We stayed two nights in Ragusa. We got there in afternoon after leaving Siracusa. The next day we spent most of the day visiting near by towns. So we basically had a day and a half in the area as we left the following morning for Villa Casale. . I would have loved another night but we did well with what we had.

Posted by
4 posts

Thank you so much for all your replies! That really does help. We hadn't thought of staying more than 2 nights in Ortigia, but it sounds like that might be a good adjustment. And looking closer at the driving distances/times also seems like a worthy task. We might stop in Enna on one of our drives. Doesn't really get talked about but have heard it's a beautiful spot. Thoughts?

One more question about the north slope of Etna and wine country: I know Randazzo is the biggest town, but are there other places you would consider staying? And are all the wineries by appointment only? That will take a little adjusting compared to how it's done in the States for us. Any hints or advice? Thank all! We appreciate the thoughts.

Posted by
458 posts

We visited the Etna wine country from Taormina. Advance reservations were necessary. Highly recommend Emilio Sciacca Etna Wine — a small, relatively new, organic winery. The wines, accompanying snacks, view of Etna and people were all wonderful. The large-scale Gambino Winery was recommended to us by locals but we were disappointed there. Outside, there is a nice view of Taormina but inside the large tasting/dining room was crowded, noisy and nondescript. Wines and food were fine but it was an uninspired, impersonal experience.

For us, one day/night in Ortigia was adequate as we were not interested in Siracusa. From there, our itinerary mirrored that of @BethFL which worked out well. Totally agree that Valley of the Temples late afternoon into evening is magical!!!

Have a great trip.

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