Sicily Itinerary Help

Ensure you have a GPS since the rural roads are not that well marked. I also had google maps downloaded to my phone for offline use. I’m going to assume you’re turning in the car outside of Palermo to avoid driving in it, and that Cefalu will be a day trip from Palermo. It may be hard to see both Villa Romana de Casale and the Valley of the Temples in the same day. We spent a couple hours at Villa Romana and it took 3 hours to see the Valley of the Temples. Then of course there is the drive. After leaving Selinunte, the salt pans/farm at Marsala is interesting (not well marked, but worth a stop). Salt was being harvested when I was there in September so there were piles of it everywhere. However, if you’re leaving Agrigento that morning, you won’t have time for the salt farm. When we did it, we stayed one night in Marsala, then moved on to Trapani and Erice. After seeing the Valley of the Temples and Selinunte, we were templed out and skipped Segesta. Also, there is a nice rock formation a few miles from Agrigento at Scala de Turchi by Realmonte. It’s more a photo op and quick stop. You can also see the formations close up at Lido Rossello.

We stayed in Erice and took the cable car into Trapani. Trapani probably has more to do, but Erice has the view. If you wanted to know the hotels we stayed at, send me a PM. We also stayed in Monreale rather than Palermo to avoid driving in Palermo, since we flew in to, and out of, Catania we needed the car the entire trip. We didn’t make it to Modica or Ragusa, but saw Siracusa and Noto on the same day.

Looks like a good itinerary.

We enjoyed staying on Ortygia while in Syracua. We did not have a car, so I don’t know if driving or parking is an issue on Ortygia. The old town of Ragusa was charming, although once again a car would not be handy there. I recommend saying in Trapani and doing a day trip to Erice. Erice is magical, but Trapani has more lodging and dining options.

Good tips Jaime! Yes, seeing the salt pans is very much on the itinerary and no we're not planning on driving in Palermo! Dropping the car off at the airport and taking the train out to Cefalu. How are the state roads in Sicily once you're off the autostrade? I assume similar to what you'd find in the rest of Italy - hopefully not too much worse???

You don't have enough time in Siracusa. You'll have only about 1-1/2 days there, during which you propose to visit Siracusa, Noto, Modica and Ragusa. Noto is tiny. I'd stay in Siracusa (Ortygia) or, if you really want a smaller place, Ragusa. In addition to the historic Ortygia peninsula, Siracusa has an archaeological park and museum.

Since you like churches, consult multiple guidebooks to create a prioritized list for Palermo. It has many interesting churches and chapels (oratorios). Particulary for the oratorios, the days and hours vary, so you need to be strategic in your planning. I found Saturday was iffy for visiting churches, being a popular day for weddings.

Acraven, that was my suspicion on Siracusa; time felt a little tight to me too. Thanks for the advice on Palermo too!

At least one more night on Ortigia where we recently spent a week. Magical spot.

One more question: Looking for a place to spend an afternoon/evening and overnight thats relatively close (ie +/- within an hour's drive) to Villa Romana del Casale thats interesting, scenic and has some things to see. I'm thinking Enna, Ragusa, or Piazza Armarina. Obviously the latter is the closest but is there an afternoon's worth of things to see there? If any of you have been to all three, which do you prefer?

we're not interested in going up on Mt Etna

Based on recent news reports, it will come to you!

Ragusa. I doubt that anyone will disagree, though I have to admit that my exposure to Piazza Armerina was minimal--a very quick spin around town by the taxi driver who took me to the Villa Romana.

Driving the roads outside the cities is easy. The roads are in good condition and I found them very scenic (2 weeks in April-May). GPS is helpful. I didn't have it and made a couple of errors that meant a lot of back-tracking in the middle. I in the opposite direction. After several nights in Castelammare del Golfo (sp?) I drove to Agrigento, and spent most of the day there, including a visit to the excellent archaeology museum, then overnighted in Piazza Armerina. The centro storico is lovely and worth spending 2-3 hours at least (that's all the time I had and I really wished I'd had more). I found the drive from there to the Villa Romana a little tense, on a narrow winding road. It wasn't difficult but I was worried the whole time about how to manage some of the tight spots if I met oncoming cars. From there I drove to Ortigia, which was my favorite place. It was worth the heavy traffic in Catania to visit the excellent WWII museum. I felt the day I went to Mt. Etna was a real waste. The coast was sunny with a few clouds, Etna was completely cloudy as I drove up (and very cold). Because it was so cloudy, there were no views and the trip up to the cone was very expensive, so I skipped it and drove through fog all the way back to the sunny seashore. I skipped the Baroque towns (can't do everything) and because of a really untimely knee injury I skipped Taormina.

I don't think Erice would be a good base. It is very high up a steep hill. The fastest way is to park in Trapani and take the funivia up which is fine for a day trip. There's a parking lot at the funivia which isn't terribly big so you may have to find street parking instead and have to walk 1-2 blocks or more uphill. The day I went, the funivia was closed because of high winds, so I had to drive the two-lane road full of hairpin turns. There's limited parking in Erice.

I'm not a beach person either and the water will be pretty cold, but the views are gorgeous. After Palermo and Cefalu, I picked up the car and drove to Castelammare del Golfo where I was based for several days. It was a good location for me and there are several other small towns and agriturismos nearby that might suit you. It's a short distance from Segesta and the Zingara Nature Reserve. I day-tripped along the coast - Erice, Trapani, Marsala, Mazara del Vallo a couple of days and day-tripped to Selinunte as well. Selinunte was my favorite of the ancient Greek sites.

Here are a few photos from my trip.

We also enjoyed our visit to seaside Selinunte. There are rides available in a golf cart at extra fee to cover this vast site.
The surrounding area is just OK.