Sicily Itinerary help with young kids

I see you haven't gotten any responses so I'll weigh in.

I think 2 bases is great. You could even do a third but two is obviously easier.

You mention Taormina and Ortigia as the two places. That's fine, but for me, they are variations on the same theme. So you'll get a week of swank touristic and a week of less swank touristic. If that sounds perfect, go for it. I would get bored at both for a week but that's me. I do wonder how both of those places will be for affordability in June.

It's a 3 hour train ride to Palermo from Catania. We loved traveling by train with our cub but YMMV. Palermo has a lot to see and do, great food, compact core with many sights, a lot more hotel options. It's probably the favorite Sicilian city for most travelers for good reason. There are local beach and of course beach resorts/towns to the east and west. Cefalu is a popular RS stop so maybe search for that on the boards. Still, a trip to Palermo means you have to fly home with a connection or burn a half day getting back to Catania. Neither is ideal with cubs.

I wish I knew more about the various beaches and beach resorts along the east and southern coast. It's just not what we do when we travel these days. But you easily could do a few nights in Catania, a few nights in Ortigia and a few nights at a beach resort.. Sorry I can't help there.

So there's your thread bump ;)

I would have really liked to go to Palermo and Cefalu, because as you mentioned, it will give us more variety. We chose to stay in Taormina and Ortigia mainly because we would get bored of having the same base the whole trip, not because it’s necessary.

The only problem is we really want to avoid any layovers. We mainly chose Sicily because we saw direct flights were now available, and that gave us the push we needed. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go to the Palermo area if we’re flying back from Catania… it would make the logistics a lot more complicated. Is it really worth it? Or could we be satisfied just from staying near Catania?

Thanks for your insight!

Where are you traveling from?
There are direct flights to Palermo on United from Newark.

From Montreal in Canada!
The direct flights to Catania are just starting in June. There are none to Palermo.

It's too bad there is no nonstop flight to Palermo because that's exactly where I would go with a toddler and a baby.

When I first saw your post I thought I ought to be able to help you more than I actually can. We were in Sicily for a month last spring and we previously traveled with our 3-year-old and 5-month-old grandchildren to Italy and dealt with two carseats, a stroller, and a portable baby bed (and the flight and the airports and the kids' jetlag). But I don't know what Taormina or Ortigia are like in June --- Ortigia was pretty full of tourists and tour groups in March and I understand from this forum that Taormina is even more crowded. And every other less-touristed town we stayed in or day-tripped to is pretty hilly for a stroller. I hope you also have a front-pack or back-pack for your baby.

I'd like to suggest Ragusa Ibla instead of Taormina. We stayed there for 5 nights. It is on a hill, but it has a very big central piazza, really good restaurants and a great sandwich place, a big public park with a playground, and a fun little tourist train that your toddler would love: https://www.treninobarocco.com/en/tours/baroque-train-ragusa-ibla/
A 2-year-old might even appreciate the humor of the sculptures on the Baroque balconies.

Lots of good daytrips from Ragusa, like to Modica, Noto, and beaches. There are buses from Ragusa Ibla to Ragusa Superiore so that you don't have to take the 300+ steps from the older part of town to the newer (but still old!) part. I can't help you with the beaches, but they line the southeastern coast and there are ratings and reviews on Google maps.

To search this forum for posts about Ragusa, google on: Rick Steves forum Ragusa

Where did you stay in Palermo? Which areas do you recommend?

I’m still researching the different areas to figure out the hilly ones and to see which ones would be easier with a stroller. I will check out Ragusa Ibla. We were hoping to have a base with easy access to a beach, and to have an accommodation where we can walk to restaurants for dinner, all while being central to explore other areas with day trips.

It’s discouraging to see that the areas near Catania are less appropriate to visit with young kids in our case.

We stayed here in Palermo: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/636298183891127130?source_impression_id=p3_1777591439_P3jYtDlMNrFuWdY-

And my review:
March 2025.....
Apartment was remarkably problem-free and just so easy to stay in for 5 nights. Very quiet at night. We walked all over the center of Palermo and really liked “our” neighborhood the best! Delia is a wonderful host and provided us with exactly the kind of apartment and messaging we want when traveling.

It's bigger than you probably need?

I am on my second trip now in Sicily, both were/are about 3 weeks each.

Ortigia would work well as one base. There is plenty to do for a few days, touristy, but low key, easy for a kids and stroller. Plenty of apartment type accomodations on Booking.com.

For your other base, if beach appeals, then maybe the South coast, the area near Agrigento. There you have the temples, as well as lots of sandy beaches. We stayed at a place that was a bit out in the country, but an easy drive to the beaches and the temples. The place also had a swimming pool, (shared with one other unit) as do a number of other properties. The town of San Leone was close, with lots of restaurants, beach, beach clubs with chairs/umbrellas to rent and food service.

Enroute between bases, you might be able to visit the Baroque hill town of Ragusa (The old town Ragusa Ibla) or Modica or Noto. On the way back to Catania, the Villa Romana del Casale is well worth a stop. Without stops, the drive time between bases and/or Catania is only 2 hours max.

Palermo has some nice things to do, but honestly is a bustling, gritty, dirty city. It does have it's charm though. Cefalu is certainly a decent beach town, compact, everything right there. By car, it is maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Catania, a bit further (3+) from Ortigia.

If you did Ortigia/Cefalu you would not need the car while there, except to day trip away from the town. If you went into Palermo from Cefalu, train would be your best option, you do not want to drive in Palermo, where driving is a contact sport.

Edit to add: Ortigia/Syracuse does not have beaches in town, just some small rocky coves below the seawalls. Taormina being on a hill/mountain side also does not, and the shore below is rocky. There are beaches though within an easy drive. Do check out parking and ZTLs before committing to any place.

@Paul thank you for the recommendations.

Since we want to limit travel time, we didn’t think of going as far as Agrigento. I thought of visiting Ragusa, Noto, Modica as day trips from Ortigia if we wanted to.

Do you have any suggestions for another base that could work and give us a different feel? Although I want to visit Taormina, I’m not sure if it’s better suited for a day trip or if staying there for a few days as our second base would be worth it.

Our trip is upcoming so I can’t speak from personal experience, but I found this information helpful in planning:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/off-the-beaten-path-in-sicily

Perhaps a hill town would be a nice compliment to the beach/costal feel in Ortigia.

@Traveler2015 where are you planning to stay?

We like to stay at lively areas so I wouldn’t want it to be super quiet, if we were to choose a smaller town. Do you have any suggestions based on your research? With a toddler, I think having a beach nearby is an easy safe activity if things get crazy!

Since you have a car, Ragusa (Ibla) would be a great choice for a week. It's lovely, compact, and pretty walkable depending upon where you stay. We liked this place https://sabbinirica.com. Our room would be plenty big for you and the cubs. Breakfast is downstairs in their coffee shop. Friendly and helpful innkeepers. Even if you don't choose that place, that general area of town is IMO a sweet spot; closish to the main square but not too far from parking and day trips.

@Chris that looks like a beautiful area. I will check out your recommendation for the accommodation. Would you choose Ragusa Ibla over Taormina? We mostly liked the access to the beach if we stayed in Taormina and Ortigia. This is the main reason we picked both, and we figured that there would be enough things to do in case our trip doesn’t go too well with the kids that we decide not to do as many day trips.

Hi!

We are staying in Ortigia, Cefalu, and Taormina. Yes, I know everyone will say they are all similar- that is intentional. We love to be near the beach/water. We are using Cefalu as a base to visit a number of the smaller mountain towns: Collesano, Isnello, etc. I have heard from others the hiking is great. We are also flying round trip in/out of Catania for the direct flights. We typically return places so this year we will do the eastern side and another time we will do the western side of Sicily. We will have a rental car - picking it up in Ortigia and returning it at CTA. I have a car picking us up when we arrive because we didn’t want to delay with driving after a transatlantic flight.

@Traveler2015 how many days are you allocating for each area? Are you traveling with kids?

It is a good idea to rent the car later to avoid driving after a long flight!

I was interested in going to Cefalu but to be realistic with young kids, I think sticking to the two bases is a better idea!

Hi! We are have 3 nights/2 days in Cefalu, 4 nights/3 days in Cefalu, and 3 nights/2 days in Taormina. We typically like to only do two bases, but thought we would add an additional stop on this trip. We also wanted to be closer to CTA before flying out. Nope, not traveling with kids - just two adults. We are doing two AirBNBs and then a hotel in Taormina. We enjoy staying in apartments where we can spread out a bit plus I was able to select places with parking.

With kiddos, two bases make sense. Based on what I have mapped, it seems we can make most of the drives in 2-3 hours. Since most of our days are open, our plan is to stop along the route if we find something interesting.

Edited to add:
For part of my trip planning, I did play around with Claude for recommendations. Have you considered entering your dates and requirements into an AI tool to see what it suggests? I would never plan a trip exclusively with AI, but you might receive some suggestions that interest you.

@CarlitosWay thank you so much for taking the time to share your insights! It was very helpful to read.

We ended up booking Hotel Villa Schuler in Taormina, because we didn’t find anything we really liked in Giardini Naxos and we wanted to be able to walk to center of action to limit using the car. Obviously we will have to deal with many steps, which we accepted. We will have two baby carriers, so if it’s too much of a hassle, we will use just one stroller or none for quick outings. The hotel is about 25 stairs away from Via Roma, which we thought isn’t too bad. Our room is another 19 steps up. We will definitely get a good workout everyday! The hotel also offers shuttles to various beach clubs in the area. I didn’t know that there are many steps to Isola Bella beach after the cable car. We will probably go there just once and possibly do no stroller or just one.

We kept Ortigia since everyone encouraged us to keep it as a good family friendly base. If we decide to visit Ragusa and Modica, I’ll keep the stairs in mind to take only one stroller or none. We may skip it depending on our energy / how it goes with the kids.

The countryside escape sounds amazing but I’m scared to take my 2 year old to a long cooking class, because toddlers are so unpredictable in terms or tantrums/behaviour. I would hate to not be able to fully enjoy the experience.