Sicily West Coast Itinerary Help

You could visit Selinunte and the salt pans on your way from Agrigento to Trapani. I haven't seen either but I hear that a couple of hours is good for Selinunte, and maybe an hour for the salt pans.

On your second day, visit Segesta and Erice. I have been to both of these, and again think a couple of hours is fine for each. You could even drive to Scopello and hike the Zingaro Nature Reserve if you're ambitious. I had pictured Zingaro as sort of a botanical garden place where you can wander & look at plants, etc. Nope, it's a hilly 4 mile climb (each way) on narrow paths filled with serious hikers. Beautiful views. Be sure to take water and wear good hiking shoes.

On your third day, I'd recommend the ferry trip to Favignana, for a break from the driving. You can rent bikes and ride around the island. There's a gorgeous cove called Cala Azurra with spectacular turquoise water. Not much of a beach but a beautiful place for photos. Ride back to the main town, relax in the little piazza and have some fish for lunch before ferrying back to Trapani.

What we did after leaving Agrigento was stop at Scala dei Turchi and Lido Rosello to look at the unique rock formations before going to Selinunte. We spent that night in Marsala at Hotel Carmine. The next day we went to the salt farms at Marsala (the better one in my view), then the ones at Trapani before continuing to Erice. Just prior to the salt farm in Marsala is an old WWII bunker if you’re a nterested in them. You’ll see them all over the island. The salt farms are off really small, narrow, remote roads that are not marked, so look them up ahead of time and plug their addresses into your GPS. From Marsala to Trapani is only about 30 miles. Our hotel was in Erice and we took the funivia into Trapani. After visiting the Valley of the Temples and Selnunte, we skipped Segesta. If you were going to visit the Duomo in Monreale, do that the same day as Segesta. From Erice to Palermo, it’s about an hour drive, traffic dependent.

I was somewhat underwhelmed by the Egadi Islands. Beaches. Not crowded. Pleasant enough, but it takes a good bit of time to get there. I would have preferred to use that time elsewhere, but I have zero interest in sitting or lying on a beach, or in swimming.

I believe there's a limit to the number of daily visitors to the islands. I bought my tickets a day in advance; I have no idea whether that was necessary; I'd guess that it is not required in May. You have to book your return ferry at the same time you book the outbound, and you cannot combine tickets from two different ferry companies. Keep that in mind when you look at the schedules.

I really enjoyed just wandering around Erice and was glad to have more than 2 hours there, but I'm a big walker with a need to see every single street in every historic district I pass through.

Thanks everyone, this advice is INSANELY helpful. With no RS guide (yet) this trip is proving to be a bit more challenging to plan! One question for all of you, particularly jaimeelsabio: I love your idea of visiting Monreale by car (in our case I'm thinking it might be good to do on the way to Palermo airport to drop off the car). How bad is driving and parking in Monreale? I've heard some people say it was horrendous and others say it wasn't bad. We'll probably be making the trek on a weekday, most likely in the mid-morning.

For us, rather than drive “in” Palermo, we stayed in Monreale and took the bus into Palermo. Our B&B had free parking and it was a 10 minutes walk from the Duomo. If you look at Google maps, you’ll notice there are about 4 public lots in Monreale. I’d plug their locations into GPS. Ensure you have a few €1 an €2 coins since those are what the parking machines in Siracusa took. Monreale is up on a hill and the roads are fairly narrow. If arriving to Monreale via the E90, it is more than a little congested by Palermo. While Monreale is 4 miles from Palermo, it’s one big traffic jam between the two on the SS186, so pack your patience, remain alert, but be aggressive. There are few roads by the Duomo itself, all are one way, and no parking. Again, we walked into town. If visiting during the main tourist season I can see where parking might be tight. On our late September trip, the public lot Monreale Parking Torres Centro Storico, Via Florio, 9, was mostly empty every time we walked by it.

Valley of the Temples, Selinute and Segesta are all worthwhile, but Segesta was my favorite.

When you are at the salt pans, take time to go out to the island of Mozia and see the museum. You can hike around the island in about an hour, as I recall. A very ancient and important site.

Trapani has some of the best food we've ever eaten! Couscous alla Pesce, Polpette di Pesce Spada (swordfish "meat"balls, also made with anchovies), and the unique pizza at Calvino is amazing and unlike anything we've ever tasted. Small, informal, not romantic but to-die-for!

I agree with poster Janet, Segesta is outstanding in everyway. Don’t miss it.
And cous cous with fish was among my favorite dishes in Sicily.