Sicily versus the main land

I've been to Italy several times and once to Sicily. I LOVE Sicily.
Here is a site I used to do a lot of my planning in Sicily

Best of Sicily

The website link that Frances provided is the absolute best!!

Sicilians are not Italians, or so they say... ;-)

Sicily is not 'Roman' (except for the Villa Romana del Casale), the Baroque definitely trumps the Renaissance, the 'Venetian' architecture looks a bit more 'Arab' than 'Venetian', Etna is bigger than Vesuvius (and active), you see more Greek temples there than anywhere else in Italy (and in most parts of Greece), the great Sicilian wines and diverse cuisine will truly surprise you (without breaking the bank) and Sicily lays claim to the Inspector Montalbano, pasta con le sarde and "the Big Cannoli".

I find it far more pleasant to drive in Sicily and I have found the people friendlier. I have gotten my cheek pinched in Sicily, which never has happened to me elsewhere. I have had more 'kitchen adventures' in Sicily than anywhere else that I have traveled to. I have been sent home with homemade olive oil in a recycled plastic water bottle. I have been received back like family, even after the first repeat visit. I LOVE Sicily and I keep going back!

Arm yourself and Google images of the following: Taormina, Siracusa, Ragusa, Modica, Erice, Cefalu, Piazza Armerina and the Villa Romana del Casale, Mt. Etna, the Aeolian Islands, Stromboli, the salt pans of Trapani, Palermo... to name but a few. Have fun!

Oh... and it can be quite friendly on the pocketbook and better value than the mainland, IMO.

You have done a terrific job of seeing Italy! You will find Sicilia a world apart. The problem will be devoting enough time to seeing it. We spent a week in Western Sicilia and barely scratched the surface. WIll go back next spring for at least two weeks.

Do devote at least a couple of weeks to visit. In addition to all the sights mentioned by Diane, there are the Aeolian Islands and the potential for a night cruise to Stromboli. The food is the best in Italy, in my opinion, the wines terrific and sought after.

When will you travel? I don't think I would go there in the height of summer. Better April/early May or late Sept/Oct.

By the way, the north is pretty amazing too. The Dolomites are our favorite place to visit.

Diane has said most of what I would have, and much better. My 2 week visit wasn't nearly long enough to see it all. I went in late April and I have never seen so many wildflowers! I felt that I could have picked enough to fill the car with and no one would have noticed they were missing (no, I didn't pick any!), beautiful views of the sea from the roads, long stretches of sandy beaches, plus all the sights. And definitely the people are the most friendly.

I flew into Palermo, changing planes in Rome, then got a budget flight from Catania to Bologna and spent a week working down to Orvieto, last stop before my flight home from FCO. Or you could fly to Milan and spend a few days there and in the lakes.

18-21 days is a good amount of time for Sicilia - I go back every other year for three weeks.

Places I love: Palermo, Cefalu, Segesta, Erice, Lipari and the islands, Taormina, Mount Etna, Siracusa, Piazza Armerina, Morgantina, Villa Romana del Casale, Agrigento, Selinunte. Some of these can be convenient daytrips. More convenient with a car.

History, food and wine, scenery, but above all the people.

I agree with the others. We have traveled extensively throughout Italy, and visited Sicily for the first time last spring. We found it to have a completely different feeling, and absolutely loved it.

Sicily actually reminded us a lot of the Greek islands, with all of its Greek ruins plus the spectacular seaside scenery. We were there 18 nights, from mid-April to early May, and found the weather to be perfect. We had one cloudy day, which was the day we had scheduled a trip to Mt. Etna, of course! The food was fabulous and the people were so welcoming and helpful.

We stayed in Taormina, Ortigia, Agrigento, Favignana (which is one of the Egadi islands) and Trapani, and enjoyed them all. We flew into the Catania airport and out of the Palermo airport.

We intend to go back for another 3-4 weeks, to pick up some of the places we couldn't get to (such as Scopello, Palermo, Cefalu, Piazza Armerina, and the Aeolian islands). I hope you can convince him!

After a half dozen or so trips to Italy, I finally convinced te husband to go to Sicily. He's an old Navy man, and has always had bad feelings about going anywhere in the South.

We've now been to Sicily three times and we both LOVE it! We rented an apartment in Taormina through: Legendofsicily.com and based ourselves there to tour the East Coast. They also arranged some day-trips for us to Mt. Etna, a Winery, Syracuse and some other interesting places. We loved the apartment, the tours and the sites. The Greek ruins are amazing! From there we went to Cefalu and stayed in a hotel on the water that had the most amazing views and food ever: hotel le calette. We toured the small town of Cefalu on our own -- but honestly had a hard time leaving the hotel because we were a little exhausted from Rome and then Taormina. We took the train from Cefalu to Palermo and self-toured there as well. I cannot say enough about how beautiful Sicily is, how friendly the people are and how absolutely delicious the food is. I highly recommend it.

We are going again and spending another 10 days and this time arriving in Palermo and heading South to see the Valey of the Temples and all the sites on the West side and then drive North to Amerina. We will always stop in Taormina because it's just so lovely.

I'll echo the enthusiasm for Sicily expressed so far. Just wanted to add that you shouldn't short-change Palermo. While there, be sure to visit the cathedral at Monreale, one of the most beautiful in Europe.