Sicily Itinerary and Recommendations for Transportion Please

There is a large parking lot on the north end of Ortigia. We rented a car in Ortigia and found a parking space to rent for the week just over the bridge in Siracusa.
You could take a bus or hire a driver to take you to Taormina from Siracusa. Hire a driver from Taormina to Catania airport.

Consider renting a car when you leave Cefalu. I haven’t done so but looked into returning car there. You don’t want to drive in Palermo. You can take a bus to Montreale and then a train to Cefalu. That is a lot for one day, considering you want to go to Agrigento the same day. Maybe go to Montreale earlier and just go to Cefalu before going to Agrigento.

Also consider returning car in Siracusa. That is where we rented from. There are rental agencies by train station and it is easy to drive there. You can take train and then local bus or taxi to Taormina. There also is a bus from Taormina that goes directly to the airport that we took.

Your schedule is packed tight and you want to cover a lot of territory. It certainly is doable but not sure it is advisable. Three nights in Palermo gives you two days of Palermo siteseeing which you can easily use for the city itself. Are you arriving in Palermo from the US or elsewhere? Palermo is very walkable so no need for a car there. Bus and train travel in Sicily is cheap and frequent. Your day 4 is overloaded in my opinion. Monreale will take a couple of hours to see the cathedral, the cloisters and the piazza and to get there and back. You can take the bus to Monreale but with traffic the trip alone can take an hour one way. You can also go by taxi or arrange for a driver. Then you plan to go to Cefalu which will take another hour to get to from Palermo itself and you need a couple of hours to wander around. Then you want to go on to Agrigento, all in the same day. For me it would be too much. Move your Monreale visit to a different day. Maybe join a small group tour that goes there and provides transportation. Consider basing yourself in Palermo those days and visit both Monreale and Cefalu as daytrips, returning to Palermo. From Palermo you can also easily use train or bus to Agrigento. I also feel like Day 5 is too busy. The temples at Agrigento are spread out over an expansive area. You want to visit the temples, then drive to Ragusa and I assume see Ragusa but in reality you will not have much time there to explore. You could get a rental car in Agrigento and drive directly to Siracusa or Ragusa or hire a private driver for just that leg of the trip to take you from Agrigento to Siracusa or Ragusa. How important is seeing Ragusa to you? You really won't need a car in Ortigia/ Siracusa. Then from Siracusa you can take a bus or train to Catania or Taormina and back to Catania airport. I have used a combination of private drivers and public busses and trains on three previous trips to Sicily and I leave this coming week for another three week trip around Sicily doing the same. I have never rented a car in Sicily but that is my preference. Things in Sicily can be hectic and fast paced and loud and remember that it will all be in another language too. The highways seem modern though but city traffic in Palermo and Catania would be too much for me to tackle. We also did rent a car in Ireland but not in Sicily. Trains in Sicily were usually just a few cars and on time for the most part. Not all were air conditioned, the cars were often old, and not all of the smaller stations were manned but we had no problem with them. I never bought tickets in advance for the trains, just got them at the station, from a machine. Remember to validate the ticket in the little machines on the platform. The busses have been comfortable, airconditioned and fine. Luggage goes below in the hold. The bus station at Taormina was quite hectic and crowded and it is a slight uphill walk from the station to Porta Messina to enter the city. Bus tickets are often sold at nearby tobacco shops. if you need the names of private drivers I can give you those I have used or others here on the forum will also be able to make recommendations. I know that rental cars give you more freedom to explore and is faster but given your tight schedule I think you will be fine with public transportation and maybe a driver for a section or two. Enjoy your trip.

Public transport through the interior is sparse, so the car makes sense for all that. But i think you’d be well served by taking the local train to Cefalu (which is a nice train with regular service) then dropping the car in Ortigia. Taormina would be a nightmare to have a car for, and as the premier tourist locale on the east coast, Taormina has a lot of bus connections. At the Catania airport, it felt like I watched bus after bus head to Taormina while I waited for one to Siracusa.

Thank you for the feedback. As I said, I am an overplanner, so I appreciate your input.

Based on this I'm thinking of scaling back. I could stay an extra night in Palermo and fold Monreale into one of my days. Then on day 5, travel to Agrigento early and do a tour of Agrigento in the afternoon and spend the night there.

Which is causing me to rethink the remaining days.

Right now my revised itinerary would be:

Day 1-4: Arrive Palermo from US, stay 4 nights, daytrips
Day 5: Travel to Valley of the Temples, overnight in Argigento
Day 6- 7: Siracusa/Ortigia, overnight - problem is I would want to leave early for the Mt. Etna trip so thinking maybe I should only stay one night here and be in Taormina the night before the trip.
Day 8-9: Mt Etna Trekking Trip, 2 nights in Taormina
Day 10: Depart Catania

Is it worth it to go to Siracusa/Ortigia? Or does it make more sense to go from agrigento to Taormina and stay 3 nights?

Hi uberti, It is all a question of your interests and priorities and matching those to your most efficient or possibly cheaper mode of transportation. Many of us will tell you that Ortigia/ Siracusa is very beautiful and well worth the visit. Same is true for Agrigento. I do think it is a good idea to plan on staying the night there if you go. How committed are you to seeing the temples at Agrigento? Would a daytrip to Segesta from Palermo where there is a pretty Greek temple and Roman ampitheater combined with a visit to the beautiful theater in Taormina and possibly the archaelogical park ruins in Siracusa be enough ruins for this first visit to Sicily? If so then skip Agrigento altogether and divide your remaining days between Taormina/ Etna area and Ortigia. I know not many folks will agree with skipping Agrigento but just throwing that out there as food for thought. Sounds like Taormina and Etna are a priority for you so protect those days and maybe give up something else. You have 9 nights. Do you have a morning or afternoon flight out of Catania? Do you need to spend your last night in Catania to be closer to the airport for an early flight out? Could you do 4 nights in Palermo and do Agrigento as a daytrip from there ( either by bus, train, private driver or rental car)? A private driver for that daytrip would be much easier on you. Then you could train, bus or drive to Taormina, do your three nights in Taormina to give you a day of siteseeing in Taormina and a day for Etna, then finish up with 2 nights in Ortigia. If your flight out of Catania is in the afternoon you can easily get from Ortigia to Catania on that last day. There is a bus direct from Siracusa to Catania airport. I have taken it before. So many wonderful choices, just hard to efficiently work out the logistics.

Just wanted Say that, although I am not the original poster, I am deeply impressed by the depth of knowledge that each response has offered. I am considering a trip to Sicily and this information is very very helpful. Thanks to all for taking the time you are helping not only the original poster, but others as well