Sicily Sites Advance Ticket Purchase

We were there in October and didn't book any tickets in advance, no problems. Perhaps you need to during busier times of the year.

My friends and I traveled in Sicily in the first half of May, 2018. We didn't book anything in advance in Siracusa or Taormina. They didn't pre-book anything in Palermo or Agrigento. We didn't encounter any ticket lines.

There were crowds of students when we arrived at 11am on a weekday at the ruins in Siracusa, gathered near the ticket office, café and souvenir stands. But they weren't in the ticket lines, which we walked right up to.

We walked right into the Greek Theater in Taormina, early afternoon on a weekend. I recall it was free that day, but they were still giving out tickets and there was no line.

I was in Sicily from June 16 until July 5, 2015. I bought no tickets in advance. I didn't go to Agrigento, Segesta or Selinunte, however. The only significant crowds I saw were on the main street in Taormina, which was nearly a mosh pit. I have never read a suggestion anywhere about buying sightseeing tickets in advance.

Are you thinking about the Egadi Islands? I don't recommend them, really; they have nice, uncrowded beaches but were not as interesting as the mainland to me. But I did go, and I bought my ferry tickets a day ahead of time. I had read in some guidebook that it as a good idea to do so. I think only a limited number of people can go to the islands each day. I had to choose the time of my return at the same time I bought the outbound ticket, and both trips had to be on the same company's boats. There are at least two companies with boats to the Egadis.

Thanks everyone for your input. Now starting to have concerns of Corona virus showing up in Sicily as well causing sites to be closed, which is a small inconvenience considering the bigger ramifications if cities are quarantined.

I was in Sicily for two weeks in April, 2019, and 9 days in January, 2020. In April, sister and I visited many of the main sites, including Agrigento, Villa Romana, Monreale, Selinunte, Greek ruins in Siracusa, and the main sites in Palermo, including the Palentine Chapel and the Archeological Museum (and revisited some of these sites in January 2020). Did not go to Taormina. I did not book any entry tickets ahead of time, and had no more than a five minute wait anywhere to buy tickets (that was Agrigento in April). From my experience I would figure it's not necessary to buy tickets ahead of time at any of these sites (yet!). Villa Romana did get busy with some tour buses by mid-day so I suggest getting at least there earlier in the day.

Ditto for us. We visited in Sept-Oct 2018 and didn’t purchase any advance tickets. Monreale and the Cathedral in Cefalu were free. In Palermo we purchased tickets to Santa Caterina d'Alessandria in Palermo and by showing that ticket, we got 1€ discount at Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio. The only place there was a line was at the theater in Taormina, but it was short.

I can't speak for April but in October 2018 my husband & I spent 3 weeks driving the island counterclockwise (flying in & out of Palermo) visiting all the above-mentioned sites & more. Also headed inland to Piazza Armerina (Romana del Casale) & Caltagirone. We did not prepurchase any tickets & had no lines. If you plan to take the funicular from Trapani to Erice you may want to check the hours of operation as it does vary (longest hrs in summer months) and doesn't operate on windy days. We had a car so drove to Erice. Had fabulous weather & loved it all! Buon viaggio!!