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Sicily itinerary

Would love suggestions for 3 weeks in July with a car. We are very interested in the food and wine, as well as historical sites.

Posted by
347 posts

Have you purchased and read a guide book or two yet? That is your best place to start your journey. You can also do a word search in the Forum on "Sicily" and see the questions and answers others have posted over the years.

After you do your initial research you will likely have more specific questions that others will be able to address.

Good luck! Sicily is a wonderful!!!

Posted by
6382 posts

You should be able to conduct preliminary research on your own based on your likes. For me, it’s good that you’ll have a rental car as you’ll have more flexibility. We had 15 days back in 2018 and could have used more time. We flew in and out of Catania. Places we visited included Catania, Ortigia, Noto, Villa Romana Casale, Agrigento, Scala dei Turchi, Selinunte, Marsala, salt farms at Marsala and Trapani, Erice, Trapani, Monreale, Palermo, Caccamo, Cefalù, and Taormina. We didn’t have time for Ragusa or Modica. We skipped Segesta since we had already seen enough temples at Agrigento and Selinunte.

Posted by
2922 posts

As far as guidebooks go, I would start with Rick Steves Sicily first edition. You can download an electronic version from his app. In Jan I would also purchase Lonely Planet’s Sicily 9th edition since it won’t be available until then.
Rick Steves recommendations can be found here: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/sicily and then click the + to the right of At a Glance.

Posted by
11052 posts

We flew into Palermo, out of Catania, a wonderful two plus weeks in Sicily. Our favorite place was Ortigia, the historic island of Siracusa. Fabulous food, wine and culture everywhere we went.
Our itinerary was Palermo, Marinella de Selinunte, Agrigento, Villa Romana at Piazza Armerina, Noto, Ortigia, Taormina, Catania.

Posted by
4534 posts

In 2018, after 3 nights visiting family in Caltagirone, I spent 11 nights in the east of Sicily, with the intention of visiting the west/central areas on a trip this year.

Flew into Catania, picked up rental car
2N Ragusa
- from Ragusa, beach lovers could easily drop down to one of the beach towns such as Marina di Ragusa
Drive from Ragusa to Ortigia
- en route, spent several hours each in Noto and Modica visiting churches and chocolatiers
3N Ortigia/Siracusa
4N near (not in) Taormina: spent 1 day each in Taormina, Mt Etna, day trip up to Castelmola
2N Catania
Flew out of Catania

If I were going in July, and if I were a beach person (I'm not) I would add a night in Ragusa and spend the extra day at the beach. We didn't really need 4N near Taormina, but the villa we stayed in (Villa Chiarenza) was so relaxing that I'm glad we did.

Still planning to go back to visit the west and central areas of Sicily!

Posted by
321 posts

i did a 28 day trip through sicily in june july entirely by public transport. sicily is italy but not quite. the influence of a couple of thousand years of disparate groups of people is palpable. you see and feel it, from the food and the architecture to the faces of sicilians. my favorites:
palermo: i am particularly fascinated by norman architecture and palermo and its surrounding has some of the finest examples. monreale and cefalu are within easy reach and amazing.
segesta: less extensive than agrigento but the landscape is more picturesque.

erice: a must-see with its serpentine cobblestoned streets. instantly takes you back hundreds of years.
mazara del vallo: a wonderful surprise especially the district called the kasbah with its whimsical wall decorations.
ortigia: lovely with plenty to see. siracusa proper is less interesting but the ears of dionysius cave and caravaggio's 'the burial of saint lucy' (if you are into art) are worth seeing.
southeastern baroque towns: noto is my favorite but ragusa, scicli and modica are all beautiful, especially if you enjoy not just baroque, but sicilian baroque!
aoelian islands: been to stromboli many times in the past. it's beautiful. the narrow streets, the sparkling white asymmetrical houses with colorful doors and windows, and of course the active volcano! stay overnight if you can. eat at punta lena and order the pasta alla strombolana. you won't be disappointed! also vulcano. quick day trip from milazzo. not difficult to climb to the rim of the crater. amazing views.
catania: great base for etna. acireale and randazzo are wonderful day trip destinations. especially randazzo with its unique black lave stone churches.
piazza armanina: villa romana del casale. the mosaics are breathtaking. the city center is gorgeous too.
Messina: Two more caravaggio's paintings at the museo regionale.
i love art and architecture so sicily was a dream destination for me. what i didn't expect was the experience of meeting the people of the island. i have to say they are some of the warmest and kindest i have met on my travels. they went out of the way to point me in the right direction when i could barely articulate my question. from my airbnb hosts in enna who insisted i have lunch with them every day to the teenagers in acireale who walked me to the bus stop, sicilians disproved over and over again every stereotype they are subjected to. anyway, hope this helps a little. enjoy your trip!

Posted by
2922 posts

I would fly into Palermo or Catania and out the other. The two top places you don’t want to miss are Palermo and Siracusa. The in between places are Cefalù, Agrigento, Villa Romana del Casale, Ragusa, Mount Etna and Catania.