Sicily itinerary questions, Jan/Feb '27

I would absolutely spend three nights in Ortigia. It’s one of the larger towns (still small) on your agenda, so you’ll have opportunities to try some different restaurants etc. and there’s stuff to see there. I’m afraid it’s probably going to be quite chilly no matter where you are. Regardless, Ortigia was a highlight and should be given a few nights.

That still leaves 3 nights? With your plans to visit these festivals and/or Etna I’d think Catania should do nicely. It doesn’t get much love, but those who have actually stayed there seem to enjoy it. As for Noto, this makes sense as a visit from Ragusa or en route to Ortigia. Honestly, you might find yourself exploring the hill towns quite a bit and still have time on your hands. Sometimes these smaller towns can feel pretty dead, especially in off season. I might suggest moving a day to the front end of the trip from here as well. Depending on how/when your Palermo arrival is, and if you planned on seeing Monreale, you could fill 4 nights in Palermo easily.

I really like Catania. You don’t mention Taormina, and you don’t need to stay there, but it is lovely and a day visit is recommended. You can also do that on your Etna day perhaps. I would add at least one more day to Palermo. If you need to cut anything, I would take a day from Ragusa. It’s nice, but very quiet. Four nights there, even if you go somewhere else such as a visit to Modica, is a lot.

We were in Ortigia for a week end of Jan/early Feb. It’s a very special place. The weather was beautiful and we watched sunsets on the water every night. However the week before was Cyclone Harry which made the train kaput and we had to take the bus at the last minute instead (which worked fine.)

Thanks everyone! Really helpful perspective. I may cut Ragusa down to 2 nights, adding one more night in Palermo, and getting in 3 nights in Ortigia before the final part of the trip (sounds like Catania could be a good home base for us). Taormina seemed potentially skippable due to it being touristy/ritzy and somewhat out of the way from the rest of our itinerary, but if it's worth making the trip out we might be able to fit it as a day trip from Catania.

Re: weather, looking at highs and lows from this last February, I think we'll be very happy coming from a Pennsylvania winter!

We ended up with only two nights in Ragusa and I really regretted it. It certainly is enough to see Ragusa but if you want to see the other towns, it is really tight. We also became Montalbano fans and visited some of sites where the filming took place.

We stayed in Taormina not Catania and saw Mt Etna from there, although I would not prioritize seeing Mt Etna that your time of year. We were there in May and had a lot of rain that day.

Etna is certainly weather dependent. I visited in February also. Where we were, still well short of the summit, was covered with over five feet of snow. But it was hard packed snow you could walk on. Our guide provided snow shoes for a short hike which were very helpful. It was a beautiful sunny day that was fairly warm (forties Fahrenheit), but he said that was unusual for the time of year. You definitely need to have good winter clothing for this top to bottom, and sunglasses. But your message refers to Etna wineries, which I think are much further down, below the snow line any time of the year.

Ragusa is very scenic but not a lot to see there in terms of actual sites. You climb the hill and walk around the oldest part. Then you can climb the other hill and walk around the newer part. That’s about it. Of course there are similar neighboring towns as well. I haven’t seen the Inspector Montalbano series. It’s set in a fictional town but I understand they filmed it in various places in SE Sicily. I did try to read one of the novels but only lasted about ten pages. The problem I had with it was the translator’s attempt to render Sicilian dialect, as opposed to standard Italian translated into standard English. Montalbano himself was translated into standard English, but some other characters such as his housekeeper into dialect, presumably as is the original Italian in the book. The dialect was translated into some sort of weird gibberish English patois, that was quite unrecognizable as any kind of actual English dialect or accent, and that I found excruciatingly painful to try to read. I realize that the dialect makes Montalbano a difficult challenge for a translator, but this solution didn’t work for me.

Consider adding one night to Agrigento. The drive from Trapani to Agrigento has some possible stops (the salt piles with lunch) and it will take a lot of the day. By staying in Agrigento 2nights you have a full day to leisurely see the ruins. Also suggest taking a bus or taxi to the ruins as parking is awkward. We have stayed in Catania and Taormina. Always enjoyed the views, amphitheater and park in Taormina. Our BnB had a rooftop sitting area with a view of the sea and Mt. Aetna. It can be visited via a bus for the day. The bus will take you up to the town. Never found Catania to be all that interesting but it is the transportation hub and airport.

I think your itinerary is pretty good. Palermo could use another night; especially since it's your arrival city on a redeye.

I agree the Trapani-Agrigento drive takes longer than google says.

I really liked Ragusa and wish we would have spend another day beyond the 3 nights we did spend. Modica will take a whole day and there are other day trips but but honestly we just really liked the vibe and our lodging. I wouldn't go less than 3 nights but if you're ticking off "sights" then Ragusa is less important to you.

People love Ortigia. I'm glad I went. I enjoyed my visit. But I was more than happy to move on after about 48 hours. It's pretty and people were friendly but it was expensive and I just didn't love the touristic vibe. It's totally personal though so YMMV on both of these recommendations.

Here’s what we did March/April 2025:

Palermo — 5 nights (+ wished for a couple more nights — it’s a great city and packed with things to see)

Erice —3 nights (2 or even 1 would have been enough, day trip to salt flats + lunch near Trapani)

Randazzo — 3 nights (nice town & convenient for day trips to Bronte & Etna winery)

Ortigia — 3 nights (2 would have been fine)

Ragusa Ibla — 5 nights (day trips to Modica, etc.)

Catania — 3 nights (mainly there for opera & food & markets & WWII museum but we did like the city itself)

Piazza Armerina — 2 nights (just one night before seeing Villa Romana would have been fine)

Sciacca — 5 nights (for Easter events & for day trips that didn’t happen because I got flu)

For us, this trip had too many short stays, but that’s the way Sicily is — there’s just too much to see (and this was our 2nd trip to Sicily, too!)

When we were in Ortigia late Jan-early Feb there were hardly any tourists there (it was remarkable!) And things are undoubtedly less expensive then than other times of the year.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts & experiences! This is the itinerary I'm thinking now:

• Palermo - 4 nights.
• Trapani - 2 nights.
• Agrigento - 1 night. Sounds like we will want to be sure to get an early start from Trapani so we're not too rushed there.
• Ragusa - 3 nights. Really interesting to hear the back and forth on Ragusa. I am guessing we are also going to love the vibe here. Lack of typical sights/activities is likely not going to be an issue.
• Ortigia - 2 nights.
• Catania - 4 nights. Festivals, Etna wineries, fish market/food scene.