Sicily Trip

Have you checked out RS Sicily Tour itinerary to see where it goes? We took that tour in June and visited some nice out of the way places.

My choices aren't terribly off the radar as far as Sicily goes, but seem to check your other boxes:

-Siracusa. Great archaeological sight in town, Ortygia island neighborhood is beautiful for walking around and very historic. If you want charming evening walks with churches and a view of the sea...Ortygia is your kind of place. Also has easy day trips to the baroque towns of Noto and Ragusa (others as well). Also you can take a longer day trip, but doable, to Mt. Etna.

-Palermo is fascinating and beautiful with great layers of history. It's a big city and so can get a bit crowded, but it is worth it. I would not miss it, even if just for 2 nights (we did 4 and could have enjoyed many more!)

-Somewhere on the west where you can go to Erice and Segesta and also have a lovely town. We stayed outside Scopello which was great, but it's a very small town, not a place to walk around for more than a very short bit. But its right on the sea, is charming, has a nature reserve with hiking and beaches nearby, and also has great day trip options.

With that little time, your two bases are almost "set" by virtue of where you're flying into and out of. I would highly recommend Siracusa (not far from Catania) as one base and another near Palermo (or in Palermo, but you'd need to ditch the car at that point). The third base requires more thought and research since the whole island is full of interesting sites in every corner. Have you done much research on Sicily already to know what immediately peaks your interest? I would say that inland areas like Enna and Nebrodi Mountains are underrated. Anything with beautiful sea views will not be undiscovered. The Aolian Islands are bound to have lovely views but I'm not sure you have enough time to rope them in (and the car would be worthless there). I thought Ragusa (in the Southeast Hyblaean Mountain region) was incredibly atmospheric and special.

This is a decent website to start (ignore all the advertising):
http://www.bestofsicily.com/sights.htm

We just arrived home from the 11 day Rick Steves tour of Sicily (the October 2, 2018 tour). This was our first organized Rick Steves tour. We usually grab a Rick Steves book, make a plan, and head off on our own. Several friends had suggested an organized tour, but we were a little stubborn about doing our own thing. We finally gave in and booked the tour. Having just come home, I can tell you that the organized Rick Steves tour is a bargain. Not only do you get a wonderfully warm, entertaining and knowledgeable “overall” guide to accompany you everywhere, but they also have local guides along the way who specialize in that particular city you are visiting. We were even given a presentation by a tenured Vulcanologist about the history and current state of Mt. Etna. We saw and learned and asked deeper questions about the history of the country that would have been impossible to understand had we been on our own. The main roads are like highway driving here in the states, but the off highway roads are not so straightforward, so we were thrilled not to have our own car and have to figure out where to put it and how to navigate the town maps. It was a pleasure to hop on and off the bus and leave the tough work to the driver while we sat listening to the history or geological facts....or just visiting and laughing together. At first, it felt awkward to be part of a group of strangers. By day 3, I felt like I was traveling with a group of like-minded friends, and by the last day, we were all crying to say goodbye to our best friends. That said, if you are intent on going it alone, I would follow the Rick Steves itinerary closely as this will give you the highlights. Study in advance where to park your car, and have a very good GPS. The only thing we added to the tour was 2 days in Cefalu. We were in the old town of Cefalu for 2 days before the tour began, so it was a nice way to be introduced to the differences between Italy and Sicily. There will be crowds in the tourist area, but those are the areas that havethe ancient ruins and hold the keys to the complex culture. Yes, to us...Sicily was very different than Italy. A historically more diverse conglomeration of cultures beautifully blended to create an experience very different than any other part of the mainland of Italy. As this Goethe quote says, “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to not have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wow ..thank you for your very detailed description of your trip.
Like you we are reluctant to do a tour
My husband likes the challenge of driving though I’ve been told it’s as as straightforward as we would like .
Steep hills ,Ricky roads & yes parking. Is a problem
I’m going to review his itinerary.
Everyone seems very satisfied with his recommendations and the quality of the tours.
Thanks again,
Carol

Just returned from there and had a rental car. We paid extra for the full coverage just in case, but didn’t even get the car scratched. We started and ended in Catania. Siracusa would be a nice base and is about 1.5 hours from Catania’s airport. The road to it is fine. However, once you get off the main roads, the rural roads are poorly marked, are in only fair condition, and many of the speed limits on them is 30mph. Because of the way the speed limit signs are posted, it’s often hard to tell what the limit is or when it changes from 50kph to 70kph or vice versa. I played it safe and drove slower rather than risk getting a ticket. GPS is a must, or Google maps for offline use. We depended on it and had no trouble. Prior to departure, I saved our hotels as favorites as well as public parking lots in towns like Siracusa and Noto. I also used Google street view to see what the conditions were like and where I would need to turn. On our trip we stayed at nice B&Bs in both Agrigento and Monreale. If going to either Erice or Taormina, the roads are steep with plenty of switchbacks, but not a problem if you drive slow.

Don't overlook Agnes's comment about not using a car in Palermo. The traffic is rather undisciplined; there are not as many traffic signals as you'd find in most places of similar size.

I believe the current Sicily tour doesn't include Ragusa, which is a shame if you get as close as Siracusa. In general, I would warn you that an independent traveler cannot be as efficient as a tour, so please do not try to cover as much territory in 9 days as Rick's tours do. That would be a recipe for frustration. You're going to be figuring things out for yourself as you go (which is part of the fun), and that takes time.

I appreciate the input on Ragusa and the details on driving through Sicily .