Sicily, where best to spend pre or post tour extra days, Catania side or Palermo side?

Definitely double back go Ortigia. This historic city has a lot of charme, great dining.

If we were doing it again, I'd make it a complete circle, and go back to Palermo to fly home. Stopping in somewhere like Cefalu.

Suki and stan, Thank you. I will concentrate more research on Ortigia, and on Cefalu. From my reading, Catania isn't as nice for extra days as is Palermo. For now, the trip will probably not be until 2026, maybe Feb. or March. My dreaming starts early. Lots of reading and dreaming to do!

We love Catania and have had two stays there in the past two years, during driving trips in Sicily. We stay in a terrific very small hotel across from the Duomo, walkable to almost anywhere in the center. Catania is NOT the gritty, dangerous city you may have read about. At least not the parts we visited.

But there is more to see in Palermo, more sights, a wider area to roam around...

Ortigia is massively touristed these days...I don't know how long your tour says there but given a choice, I would spend extra time in one of the two large cities rather than there. Yes, Ortigia is beautiful and there is much to see but the island itself is pretty small. The Main Street is now lined with chain shops--it's changed a lot since we were there 15 years ago. I am not knocking it at all, but I would not stay more than a couple of days..enough to walk around, visit the market in the morning, and see the archeological site.off the island, and whatever sights interest you. Your tour might cover all of those.

And do not neglect the modern city of Siracusa, across the bridge, where you will find restaurants with fewer tourists and the feel of a more "authentic" Sicilian small city.

Thank you, ekscrunchy, for your insights. I will keep them in mind as I flesh out my dream trip.

Where will your tour take you? And what are your interests? Beaches, ruins, foods, churches and local celebrations, rural, urban? There are lots of good Sicily accounts on Instagram and videos on youtube that might serve as inspiration, Take a look at the video titled “:Sicily Unpacked”. There are no wrong preferences here as all of your choices are special in their own way. Just don't try to overdo it and plan too many things. Give yourself time to enjoy each experience.

If you double back to Ortigia/Siracusa you have lots of optional Baroque towns nearby for daytrips but I don't know if you will have visited them on your tour. Look at Noto, Ispica, Modica, Ragusa and Scicli for ideas. Also nearby is a very picturesque small fishing town of Marzamemi.

If you stay in Catania or Taormina, you have Mt Etna to explore, the vineyards on its slopes, the Alcantara Gorge, the Aci towns, Savoca, even a daytrip to Messina or Milazzo. If you choose to base in Cefalu there are two hill towns with castles you might explore: Caccamo or Castelbuono.

I like Palermo and there is lots to see and do there on the western side of the island. Palermo has many things to do within the city itself. Then very nearby you can visit Monreale, the beachfront at Mondello or the Sanctuary cave of Santa Rosalia on Monte Pellegrino. Segesta and Erice can be done as daytrips from either Palermo or Trapani. Castellammare del Golfo on the coast has a castle and is a picturesque spot very close to scenic Scopello. or the Zingaro Nature Preserve. If you like beaches, San Vito lo Capo is supposedly one of the best in Sicily.

Avoid backtracking when possible. It is just more efficient. If you find a tour you like and want to join I imagine it will start in either Catania or Palermo and end in the other. Then decide on which end to add your extra days, although you may feel more comfortable exploring on your own at the end of the trip rather than at the beginning, since by then you will have a feel for the place and a better sense of familiarity with some of the cultural differences. Also, you need to decide how you will get from place to place when travelling on your own: bus, train, private driver, daytrip tour group.

Pat,
First, thank you for all the wonderful suggestions.

Second, all the tours I have researched seem to have 9 day tours (8 nights), and they are generally alike: Palermo, Trapani and/or Erice, Monreale, Marsala, Agrigento and (maybe) Casale, Ragusa, Modica, (maybe) Noto, Syracusa, Taormina and (maybe) Etna, Catania (for departure). Some options vary. Generally a counter clockwise bus ride.

We are willing to take a train or bus, if convenient time-wise, to visit or revisit places. We are not bound by a certain number of extra days.
Third, we are also considering a trip to Malta after Sicily, in case anyone has suggestions for ways there (plane or boat), and how long would be good (I am thinking four days). I have researched Malta on the forum and have an idea of our priorities there, but am open to anyone's list of must-sees.
Thank you all in advance.

Judy,
I went to Malta for three nights and four days last May. It was gorgeous. I felt like I was in a living museum. It would be a great add on to Sicily. My guess is that there are flights from either Catania or Palermo but you would have to check that. If you were to finish your tour and added on days on the eastern side, you would also have a ferry option. The ferry goes from Pozzallo to Valletta. There are trains from Siracusa to Pozzallo that take a little over an hour to get there. The ferry company is Virtu Ferries. I just did a quick search and it looks like there are several trips a day. Each trip takes about an hour and 45 min. Cost is showing about 78USD a person for foot passengers. I don't know if that is a fixed price or if tickets are cheaper when bought in advance. I stayed in Valletta at the Embassy Valletta Hotel, much pricier than the typical places I usually stay at but we splurged given the location, and rooftop breakfast and views. The Cocathedral in Valletta is impressive. So is the nearby Grandmaster's Palace. Views out over the harbor are spectacular and also do a boat ride around the harbor. We hired a private driver who took us for the day all over the island to see main sites of interest. Here is the link Edmond Garage I had contacted several drivers and this one was very reasonable. We enjoyed our day. Mdina was the highlight for me. We also used this driver to take us to the airport the day we left. The center of Valletta is pedestrianized and closed to car traffic. so you need to keep that in mind when lugging suitcases. Very hilly. Great city for meandering the narrow streets and alleyways. Summers are very hot.

Pat, Thank you for your exceptional hints about Malta. I hope I can make this Sicily/Malta trip possible in spring 2026!

I spent a week in Ortigia in a wonderful Airbnb with a terrace looking at the water and it was wonderful.

Looking at tours of Sicily. Most reasonably priced ones are 9 days (8 nights) and we want to spend 4-6 days more. Pre or post is okay, but on Palermo end of Catania end?

So, is the RS Sicily 11 day (10 night) tour not reasonably priced for you? https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/sicily. Perhaps the added two days provides some of what you’re looking for.

We took the RS Sicily tour last year, as part of a larger 30 day southern Italy trip. We were glad to have taken an extra day in Palermo to start; less so for the extra day in Catania to finish. In hindsight, one or two days more in or near Palermo would have been good and the extra day in Catania could have been skipped. Other than a guided cycle tour in Croatia (2018), this RS tour of Sicily is the only guided tour we’ve ever taken.

Since I don’t know the itineraries of the tours you’re are looking at, it is hard to say whether you’re better off on the Palermo or Catania side for extra days. Depends on what the tours are missing and what else you may want to enjoy. You say you’re looking at 4-6 days to add.

The RS tour did not include Cefalu near Palermo, nor did it include Ragusa or other towns near there such as Modica in the southeast, on the Catania side.

Personally, I thought there was a lot more to see in Palermo than in Catania. And Cefalu might have been a great day trip, perhaps with one or two nights. One couple on the RS tour spent pre-tour time in Cefalu and loved it.

FWIW, our TR from last year is at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/southern-italy-30-days-three-ways-to-travel

While we found the RS tour was pricier per diem than our self-guided bike tour (Puglia) and our independent travel (mostly Campania), I thought that the numerous specialty guides might have explained that extra cost. See TR. Three of the specialty guides (for Palermo, Agrigento and Mt. Etna) were very knowledgeable and quite memorable.

Fred,
Yes the RS tour covers a bit more, but we will be 82 and 83 in 2026 and even now, the sometimes 2-8 mi. walking per day would be too much. Our knees are titanium, but our backs are not, and are problematic, even now. And we more easily get winded. I am afraid the steps and more strenuous walking on his tours rule them out. We can schlep our luggage along the bumpy sidewalks, but climbing hills and many steps.....we have passed that point, alas. We knew that someday it would come, and are glad to have been to 29 countries plus 34 states between us, so we don't feel deprived.

Fifty plus years ago we stayed in some pretty uncomfortable lodgings ($3.00 a night with the worst mattress EVER!), sometimes we slept in our VW Beetle, sometimes in a farmer's field in our $5.00 sleeping bags. We could walk all over towns and country roads. It was all good, and an adventure when we were 30 and 31, but time marches on, and Surprise! We have become older! Although I still feel more like 65 in my head and heart, the rest of me says to take it easier. Alas!

Thank you everyone for your hints and tips. I will take all of them into consideration. Grazie!