Sicily/Southern Italy June 23 - July 28

Prepare for the heat of summer. It can be brutal and limit your activities. In Siracusa, stay in Ortigia. For small towns, include Ragusa, Scicli, and Modena. I would do an overnight in Piazza Armerina if you’re visiting the Villa Romana to view the mosaics.

Edit. Ooops! Modica, not Modena!

Trapani isn't especially large. I'm not sure about the whole scope of side-trips available there if you don't have a car. Certainly you'll want to see Erice, and there are salt flats south of Trapani, I believe. 5 days may be a little long. Palermo has lots of private chapels (oratorios) in addition to churches; as an architecture lover, you'll easily fill your time there, even aside from side-trips to Monreale and Cefalu. From Siracusa you can reach lots on smaller towns known for their Baroque architecture by public transportation: Ragusa, Noto, Modica, and Scicli are among them.

It's great that you're planning to see the interior. I'm not sure how easily you can move around among Enna, Piazza Armerina (for the Roman villa outside of town), Caltagirone, and so on, but with patience you can get to those places without a car. Enna may or may not be the most convenient base for that area; maybe you've already discovered that to be the case. You may need more than 2 days, though, because there probably will be transportation challenges.

One place I would have liked to go (because it was recommended to me by a Sicilian I chatted with in Monreale) was Acireale, a coastal town between Catania and Taormina. Photos look nice, but I just didn't have time for it.

When looking at Sicilian bus schedules, be sure you don't ignore the footnotes. That's where you'll find out which buses don't run on Sundays and holidays. There are also buses that only run during school periods; I confess I never quite figured those out.

The first edition of Rick's guide to Sicily came out not too long before the pandemic hit (and a few years after my own trip to Sicily). I'm sure it will be very helpful to you. There's obviously much more information in that book than we can provide on the forum.

I was in Sicily for two weeks with my Sister in April 2019 for almost two weeks (before Rick's Sicily book was published). We used public transportation throughout our trip, except for two separate days in which we arranged a private tour/transfer. Our itinerary was: Trapani 3 nights; Palermo 3 nights; Agrigento 2 nights; Ortigia 4 nights; Rome 2 nights, so we traveled west to east on the island. I would certainly book rooms ahead of time, especially if you have a budget, and/or would like to stay in certain parts of town, etc. I just really like to know where I am going to lay my head at night, and that it will be in a clean, easily located hotel, and I don't have to spend time researching hotels when I would rather be sightseeing. We chose hotels and B&B's at different times...
In case it's any help to you, here's the link to my trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-trip-report-april-2019-2-weeks-2-sisters-part-1-trapani-erice
Also: there have been multiple postings by two other forum contributors, Zoe and Priscilla, who have traveled alone in Sicily and written marvelous trip reports. Both of their postings helped me tremendously when planning our trip. Zoe has sadly left this earthly plain for other realm, but Priscilla gathered her delightful trip reports in one long chain. Here's the link:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/remembering-zoe. Have a great time planning - and in Sicily!

Hi alomaker, here’s the route you may want to follow by train except for Palermo to Trapani and Trapani to Agrigento. It's much quicker to take a bus between Palermo and Trapani. You'll need to take a train the first leg from Trapani to Agrigento and a bus the second leg.
Palermo to Trapani (1h 30m) bus
Trapani to Castelvetrano (1h 30m) - the bus station is a 4-minute walk from the train station - Castelvetrano to Agrigento (2h)
Agrigento to Enna (3h 30m)
Enna to Catania (1h 30m)
Catania to Siracusa (1h 30m)
Siracusa to Stilo (8h 30m) one connection required
Stilo to Rome (8h 45m) one connection required.

Day trip options by train from the places above are:
Palermo to Cefalu (1h)
Palermo to Monreale (45m) bus
Trapani to Erice (15m) cable-car
Trapani to Mozia (45m) bus
Trapani to Segesta (1h) bus
Agrigento to Valley of the Temples (1h) bus
Enna to Villa Romana del Casale (45m) by bus
Enna to Plazza Armerina (30m) bus
Siracusa to Noto (45m)
Siracusa to Modica (1h 45m)
Siracusa to Scicli (1h 45m)
Catania to Linguaglossa (1h) bus
Catania to Taormina (1h)
Catania to Randazzo (1h 30m) bus
Rome to Orvieto (1h 30m)
Rome to Civita (1h 45m) bus

I'd take a bus rather than the train from Palermo to Trapani. The train is much slower.

From Trapani to Erice I think the lift is more fun and would use it rather than taking a taxi all the way up, as long as the day isn't too windy. You might still opt for a taxi to get to the base of the lift if you don't want to fool with taking the city bus. The lift is a good distance from the center of town.

Wow, no kidding acraven, the bus from Palermo to Trapani is only 1h 15m. I wasn’t aware of the cable-car (funivia) between Trapani and Erice. I'm going to edit my post.

first of all, this is fantastic! I really appreciate all of you taking the time to write in with your advice. i have the blu guide sicily but will look at the rs book as well. still in the early stages of planning and will bother you all with more specific questions later.

@philip: yes the heat is a concern. having grown up in india and lived in los angeles/worked in the mojave desert i am aware of extreme heat! i plan to dress accordingly, carry plenty of water and take breaks. i may even carry an umbrella and risk looking stupid using it! I certainly want to visit piazza armerina and will research making it my 'base' in the area.

@acraven: thank you. your advice now as in the past is most valuable. i agree with you completely about the transportation challenges. i am happy to increase my time in each area/city just to account for travel time and bus/train schedules. i would rather see less but be able spend more time in the places i do go to. i will check out acireale. i have read about and will definitely try the cable-car to erice.

@jmauldinuu: great advice! i will certainly check out your trip report as well as the one by the legendary zoe!

@marypat: thank you so much for the detailed breakdown of the time needed to travel. stillo to rome is an eye-opener though the church there is almost a must-see for me.

as they say in these parts, thanks y'all!

Hello,
A great Air BnB in Siracusa /Ortigia is:
https://abnb.me/eqShQ6QRvgb
A wonderful Restaurant:
Trattoria La Tavernetta da Piero on Via Cavour 96100
A good Coffee Shop:
Nonn Ange on Corso Umberto I, 50
Things to Do/See in Siracusa/Ortigia:
Tempio di Apollo- Orecchio di Dionisio (Ear of Dionysius) Roman Amphitheater, Castello Maniace, Cathedral of Syracuse, there are lots of shops and restaurants near the Duomo.

A great BnB in Catania:
https://abnb.me/79AV1tvSvgb
A Great Restaurant:
Giardino di Bacco 95128 Catania Via Etnea 704
Walk Via Etnea, lots of shops and restaurants.
Take a train ride around the town for 5 euros pp- pick up is on the main Piazza del Duomo near the Elephant statue.
Things to see: Castello Ursino, Palazzo Biscari, Basilica Cattedrale Sant’Agata, Parco Archeologico Greco Romano di Catania.

Mt. Etna is a great day trip.
Taormina is a great day trip.

@demi, thank you for your suggestions!

i am wondering about how best to visit salinunte. not an easy place to go via public transportation. rome2rio indicates there are busses from both palermo and trapani via castelvetrano. is it feasible? i am even thinking i would spend a night in castelveltrano and then carry on to agrigento. what do you all think? any suggestions, tips?

thanks!

I found buses did show up pretty much on schedule in 2015. You must be sure you're looking at the right schedule and interpreting it correctly. One bus that I wasn't expecting came along; that was handy for me, but it suggests my research was faulty. To the maximum degree possible I try to avoid needing to take the last bus of the day. My one bus disaster (in Spain, not in Italy) came when I planned on taking the only Sunday bus from a small Catalunyan town to Girona. The bus never showed up, and I was left to scramble for a local hotel and pay for two rooms that night.

When you're taking buses from smaller towns, there is unlikely to be a bus station as such. You'll be waiting out on the sidewalk, one hopes beside an identifiable sign. On some occasions there may be a schedule posted in the vicinity. You can only hope it is a current one. You should always start out by trying to find some information on line so you have two information sources to compare. If you can get to a local tourist office, those folks are always willing to help. Often they can give you a printout of the schedule. Again, you have to hope it is the current one. I haven't had a lot of luck (this applies to more countries than just Italy) getting in-person bus information in places other than the town from which the bus is departing.

In general, I think it's good to keep pressing ahead on your itinerary rather than doubling back at the end of a day-trip. However, this may lead to a need for luggage storage, which can be an issue. If the town is large enough to have a hotel with a staffed front desk, you can try my technique of walking in with a 2-euro coin or a 5-euro bill in your hand and asking the desk attendant if he/she can store your luggage while you sightsee. Be very careful to verify that someone will be on site and available to retrieve your luggage when you're ready to move on.

@acraven: good advice! I am paranoid about missing the last bus, especially from a small town back to my 'base'! as far as luggage i will be carrying a small carry-on but still an item to be lugged around in addition to my shoulder bag.

hello all,

as my travel day approaches, i am wondering if you have suggestions regarding 'international plans' for mobile phones. what i mean is how do you use your american phone while in europe? do you buy an international plan from your provider before leaving? verizon has a very expensive, $100 one-month plan with very little call, text, data allowance. i would prefer to buy a pre-paid sim card but which one to choose? also, do i buy before leaving or when i land? advice highly appreciated!

thanks

hey y'all!

can't believe it! day one in sicily! just a quick update about my experience traveling and covid rules. all went smoothly albeit a little confusingly. at gso the agent made the comment, 'this is the first one i have done'. she didn't even ask for my vaccination result until i mentioned it. in atl they looked at my eudplf. this was a desk just before you reach your gate. no test required anymore. the plane was quite full. seemed like pre-covid numbers. they announced that a covid test will be required at fco but moments later corrected themselves and said that's not required anymore either! passengers cheered. at fco immigration looked at my vaccination card but not the eudplf. odd and unexpected thing was on the domestic flight to palermo they asked for a 'self-declaration' form. they had blanks to be filled out but i had the one i had ready for my return to the usa and handed in that without thinking. they didn't scrutinize it. later on the flight, i thought that i may have made a mistake because my american address was on it. anyway here i am. will try to give trip reports as my journey progresses!

Congratulations, alomaker! You're on your trip now. Hope you have a great time.

When we were there we had a car and Selinunte was easy to get to. From the main road it is a walk to the entrance and the temples are spread out. After Agrigento you may not feel the need to visit it at all since the temples are similar. If you wanted to visit the salt farms at either Marsala (the better one in my opinion) or Trapani, you’ll need to take a taxi as both are in fairly remote locations.

Make sure you visit Segesta and it’s evocative setting and temple.
We spent a week on Ortigia. Good casual dining is found at Locanda Il Collegio. Don’t miss the cannoli take out window just off of the Duomo Piazza in Ortigia!

I am a little late to the party, but I will also recommend Locanda Del Collegio for the best cuisine we had in Ortigia! We were to revisit Sicily in Sept. 2020, but unfortunately all was cancelled. We had planned to follow Zoe/Priscilla's itinerary that was referenced above.
Enjoy the rest of your trip!

thank you all for your suggestion! just starting my adventure. already suffering from a touch of the 'stendhal syndrome' but in sicily, haha!