Sicily's Erice and Cefalu Comments/Recommendations

Not an expert, but have stayed in Cefalú a couple of times for about 3 weeks in total.

I think it's a great town: Very pleasant atmosphere, some excellent restaurants, a good beach and a beautiful duomo.
If you have the energy, the climb up to the top of La Rocca is very rewarding with excellent views. There are plenty of agencies in the town, and daytrips to Agrigento, Erice, and Piazza Armerina seemed common. Because there is the sation, it is possible to easily get to Palermo. Agrigento is also possible (fastest train just over 2 hours change at Termini Imerese). Milazzo is 90 minutes should you want to do a daytrip to the Aeolian islands - I particularly liked Lipari)

I can't really help with Erice (not been there) , or hotels (we've rented apartments)

Of the two cities, I'd suggest Cefalu as a base. We spent four nights there and agree that it's a nice smaller city. We rented an apartment but not one that I'd recommend.

I think that Erice is interesting for a day trip but isolated for a longer stay if you want to use it as a base for visiting other parts of Sicily.

Our most favorite place in Sicily is Ortygia but it's a 3.5 hour bus trip from Palermo.

Rick Steves' guidebooks are on sale right now for $5.00 but many are now sold out. The guide for Sicily is still available if you don't already have it.

I love travel in Sicily! Happy Planning!

Ciao!

My husband and I spent two nights in Erice and enjoyed it. We were in Sicily for over three weeks and it was a great experience!

Our first Sicily trip was at Christmastime 2012, and after staying in Rome the week before, we flew to the Palermo airport (many miles west of the city of Palermo), and headed towards Erice. We did have a rental car, but if you can reach it by other means, it’s definitely a worthwhile visit.

The high-perched town, which was an extreme challenge to squeeze through with a car - tight corners, very narrow passageways that served as “streets,” and they were tiled, not paved with blacktop or concrete. Quaint might be an understatement!

The renowned pasticceria of Maria Grammatico was incredible, with Maria herself serving up the baked treats ( https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/story-maria-grammatico-and-her-famous-pasticceria-sicily ). There was another pasticceria just across the lane and a couple doors down, and I regret now that we didn’t try out her baked treats as well. She watched as we and the few other tourists all beat a path to the Grammatico shop, while hers was ignored.

The town was festive for the approaching Christmas, but as a small village, it wasn’t a big deal - more intimate than other towns we visited on that trip. Rick Steves also had not written any Sicily book yet; we used his Italy book for other parts of Italy, but for Sicily, we were using the Lonely Planet guide, and it raved about Erice. We didn’t stay long enough to visit the Venus Castle there, and we didn’t spend time in Trapani, the city that sits far below Erice, except to pass through it on our way to other parts of Sicily, like Agrigento, Caltagirone, and Modica, farther south and east.

One of the essential sights in Sicily, on the way between the Palermo airport and Erice, is ancient Segesta. It’s a Greek temple that’s in better condition than many of the temples in Greece itself, plus a theater on the hill above the temple. Before it became part of modern Italy, Sicily was “Greater Greece.” If your transportation can stop at Segesta before you reach Erice, or if you can see Segesta at some point on your trip, it will be worth it!

Valderice, the town east of Erice, has the most fabulous butcher shop, with the nicest people. Get your ham and salami there, if you happen by. On two trips to Sicily so far, we haven’t yet stayed in Cefalu. Maybe a future trip would include the north coast east of Palermo, with excursions to the islands north of Cefalu.

I visited Cefalu as a day trip by train from Palermo and really enjoyed it, as many others have highlighted its great features. It would make a great base. Also really enjoyed Erice but only as a day trip, its a bit isolated but definitely more enjoyable later in the day when its not as busy. When planning my trip with my 2 teens, initially I was apprehensive about driving but its really quite easy, although I would not want to drive in Palermo and so much easier to get around than using public transportation. We spent 8 days from Palermo to Agrigento and points west back to Palermo airport. Sicily is a wonderful destination.

I have been to Sicily twice. This past September I spent three weeks travelling around the island. It is beautiful with so much to see that it will be very hard to narrow down all your choices. I too, prefer smaller towns and usually like to stay in smaller B&Bs and support smaller businesses. I visited Cèfalu as a daytrip from Palermo on my first visit in 1913 and knew that I wanted to return and stay a little longer and see more of the town. So on my trip last year we stayed two nights in Cèfalu, at the very centrally located Hotel la Giara, not far from the cathedral. I was travelling with an older friend and all of the B&Bs in Cèfalu that I found had considerable steps, so this was the only time we stayed in a hotel in Sicily. Hotel included breakfast, had an elevator and a rooftop terrace. It was fine. Daytrips to smaller towns from Cèfalu could include Caccamo or Castelbuono or a trip to the Madonie area. I don't think you should discount a stay in Palermo, though, especially since you will rely on public transportation to get around. There is so much to see and do in Palermo. If you stay in Cèfalu you would have to daytrip into Palermo probably repeatedly just to see and enjoy all that Palermo has to offer. We were two older women in September and felt very safe in Palermo. We used Palermo as a base after our two nights in Cèfalu and stayed there six nights. We were busy everyday and divided our time between Palermo and daytrips and also a visit to my grandparents' ancestral town. We did a LOT of walking, used public transportation and also hired a private driver to do two daytrips to Erice, Marsala, Segesta, Mt Peregrino, Mondello and Monreale. I was very satisfied with our driver that I found online with good reviews. He was prompt, friendly and his prices were reasonable. He spoke basic English and was very personable. PM me if you want more info. In Palermo we stayed at a lovely B&B called Al Nobile Viandante, very reasonably priced and well located very near Teatro Massimo. In 2013 we stayed at Palazza Pantaleo B&B. Also a lovely place, not far from Teatro Politeama. Erice was very unique and certainly worth a visit but not sure that I would overnight there and would not use it as a base. A better base would be Trapani, puts you close to the beach towns, and Segesta.

You did not mention your total amount of time in Sicily. Will you limit this visit to the Palermo area? Are you flying in and out of Palermo? Since you mentioned liking smaller quaint towns, I want to recommend one of the highlights of my trip - town of Mazara del Vallo. I learned about it from the documentary titled Sicily Unpacked which is on youtube. We took the train to Mazara del Vallo from Palermo. I think it took about two hours with a quick easy change of trains on the way. I was so impressed with this town and its mixture of Christian, Tunisian and Jewish culture, architecture and foods. The historic center is not very big, easily walkable and very close to the train station. Here we stayed at B&B Cortlie Sant'Agostino. Owner was friendly and offered a light breakfast at the B&B and also gave tickets to a breakfast at a nearby bar. This historic town is a warren of narrow alleyways all decorated with beautiful tile murals depicting the history of the town. From Mazara del Vallo we did a daytrip to the stunningly beautiful ruins of Selinunte which are close by. I actually enjoyed our visit to Selinunte much more than Agrigento. Both are beautiful but Agrigento is swarmed with tourists. Selinunte is expansive, right on the cost and not crowded. We took a short train ride from Mazara del Vallo to Castelvetrano. Directly at the train station we caught a bus that took us to Selinunte. The bus stop for the ruins is about a five minute walk to the entrance. So it was all easy to do. We spent two nights in Mazara del Vallo. That gave us time to see the town and to do our daytrip to Selinunte.

I think Cefalu has more to offer for multiple days stays. While Erice was nice, it doesn’t take long to see. One day in Erice and one day in Trapani via the cable car, and you’ve pretty much seen everything you can without a car. Cefalu has the cathedral and beach areas as well as places you can take walks up by the rocca de Cefalu. We had a rental car when we visited, so chose a hotel with free parking. We stayed at Hotel Alberi del Paradiso, Via Dei Mulini 18/20, Cefalu. Cost was $197 per night. While not right downtown, it is a nice hotel and the breakfast buffet was very good. It was included in our room price. If you didn’t want to walk the mile downtown, the hotel has a free shuttle to drop you off and pick you up. On our way to Cefalu we did stop at the 12th century Caccamo castle. In Erice we stayed at the no frills hotel Villa San Giovanni, Viale Nunzio Nasi 12, Erice, TP, 91016. The room didn’t even have a television, but the view from the panoramic room was spectacular. Breakfast was adequate but nothing special. Parking was free and directly in front of the hotel. The room was only 48€ per night and a great value.