Southern Sicily Itinerary feedback - specific questions listed

I personally think taking another day trip from Ortigia is too much. There is more to see in Ortigia I think and I also was thinking it would be really tiring to be gone all day repeatedly for your dad. People do swim off of Ortigia although it is rocky not sandy.

We also liked the archeological museum in Siracusa. You might consider going there before the archeological park because there are taxis outside the archeological park but not the museum. We ended up walking back to Ortigia in the rain.

Modica is on the way to Ragusa and has easy parking outside of town. We did a chocolate factory tour which was fun. Scicli is not on the way and would probably be too much.

We spent about 3 hours at Agrigento. I am not sure what you would do all day. There is a museum outside the park which we did not have time to see and nearby beaches you might visit.

We had a great trip to Sicily last September. This is how we spent our days:

1. Arrive Catania drive to Taormina via Castelmola
2. Etna wineries loop, back to Taormina
3. To Ortigia
   
4. To Ragusa via Noto
   
5. Ragusa - Modica - Scicli - Ragusa
   
6. To Agrigento via Villa del Casale
   
7. Agrigento
   
8. To Cefalu’
9. To Palermo via Monreale
10. Palermo
11. Depart from Palermo

For us, one day/night was enough to explore Ortigia as we were not interested in Siracusa. The water views in Ortigia are lovely but the beach is narrow, rocky and rough. We enjoyed staying two nights in Ragusa. Modica was our favorite of the small towns we visited. As you plan to do, we drove early to Villa Casales then on to Agrigento which worked out great. There we spent the afternoon wandering in the — very hilly—old city and had an excellent meal. Next day we drove by the Turkish Steps on the way to a beautiful sandy beach. Late afternoon we went to the archeological museum at Valley of the Temples and afterward toured the site at sunset into the evening. It was magical! Monreale Cathedral was a worthwhile stop and we enjoyed Palermo. The only miss was Cefalu. We found it extremely crowded, touristy and, overall unwelcoming. Typically, we do not make return trips but we’d return to Sicily in a heartbeat. Have a wonderful trip!

FYI Mt Etna erupting currently, which impacts flights to/from Catania. May not be a problem in a month, but keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the replies! I'm a big fan of the RS forums b/c they are so helpful!

I think we'll modify the day in Agrigento to be a morning at the beach/Turkish steps, lunch in the middle, then the afternoon at the museum and the evening tour of Agrigento.

mml - do you remember where you had your excellent meal in Agrigento?

BethFL - I think you're right - we'll stick in Ortigia another day (day 6) (my husband the driver, will appreciate that), and will add the archeological museum to our list. We'll consider adding Modica on the day we go to Ragusa.

stan - I hadn't heard that Mt Etna was erupting. Is there anything to do, other than monitor if my flight is altered? (We are on Lufthansa SFO>Germany>CTN)

Thanks!

Yes, we went to Ristorante Ruga Reali on the recommendation of our B&B host and enjoyed our meal so much that we returned the next night (which we never do). We had the seafood fantasy appetizer, seafood risotto, sea bass w/ pistachios, tuna steak, orange fennel salad, grilled cheese—all very good—and excellent wine. Highly recommend.
PS - We also loved the antics of the momma cat and her three kittens in the outdoor dining area! 🐈

Other than getting from rhe airport to Ortygia on your arrival day, you appear not to be using the rental car until Day 4. I'd try to come up with an alternative way to get to Ortygia and save myself some of the rental-car fee, plus the cost of parking. One option would be an Interbus Autolinee bus. There are about 30 per day (I checked a weekday), and the trip is scheduled to take just 70 minutes. You could then grab a taxi to your hotel.

farish.haydel2 I dont know how you could monitor the situation as it can rapidly change. But you can always fly in/out of Palermo. Note its not an issue of danger, its the damage ash plumes can do to airplane engines.

Just wanted you to know that there is plenty to see and do in Ortygia and Siracusa if you do give up a daytrip to remain there. Ortygia is a delightful town to just wander the streets. Don't miss the market and the piazzas with their lovely churches and fountains, fortress ruins, puppet show, museums, archeological sites. I didn't take a boat ride but there are those too. When I was there three years ago there was a city sponsored small hop on hop off bus service that made rounds all around Ortygia and Siracusa. It was very cheap, 5 euros for 24 hours. It makes stops at all the significant tourist sites. We used that to get over to the sites in Siracusa since we stayed in Ortygia. That way you don't need your car in that area.

I have not been to Scicli but it is on my wish list. Looks like a beautiful small town, which is what I prefer over big cities. It is certainly not on the standard American tourist route. Donnafugata Castle is not terribly far from Scicli (about 31 Kilometers) and about half that distance from Ragusa and that has also caught my attention for a potential future visit.

On renting a car.

We rented in Siracusa right near the train station from Avis who we booked through autoeurope. It was seamless and easy. We returned our car to Palermo airport so sure you could return yours to Catania.

We took a bus from Catania airport to Taormina which was easy. I would consider the bus to Siracusa. I personally would rather do that than contend with renting, driving, and then parking the car jet lagged. And car rentals are really expensive right now so would save some money too.

Thanks to everyone. We've tweaked our itinerary taking your suggestions:

1. Instead of full day at Agrigento, spend the morning at the
   beach/Turkish steps, and then the museum and sites in the later
   afternoon/early evening.
2. Renting our Car in Siracusa on Day4,
   returning it Day 9.

One remaining Question: It seems that many would be driving with luggage and stopping at Villa Romana del Casale. I normally would never leave luggage unattended. What do people do with luggage while at Villa Romana del Casale?

We left our luggage in the car at Villa Romana del Casale last September and had no problem.

Enjoy your trip!

Just got back from our trip this week, and a few comments for anyone who sees this in the future:
1. It was no problem leaving luggage in our car at Villa Romana del Casale. You need a ticket to park in the parking lot, and it isn't accessible otherwise. We didn't leave valuables in the car (we carried our passports and laptops), but it seemed like it would be safe if you had to leave items in the car.
2. If you can time your visit to Agrigento in the early evening for sunset, it's quite beautiful. Bonus if it happens to be near a full moon! We did a tour with Get Your Guide, and our guide was fantastic - I'd hire Liz for other tours separately if I were to plan a trip again. (www.lizgarciamillan.it).
3. The tip to rent the car in Siracusa and not from Catania was perfect. The bus to Ortigia from CTN (Interbus) was very straight forward. It was nice not to be driving after such a long flight.
4. We loved having a home base in Ortigia! If you like to swim, there's accessible swimming on all sides of the island. Our favorite was on the east side, near Forte Vigliena in the morning. It was lovely. (Consider water shoes? - it's pretty rocky - though entering on the east side had a ladder which made it easy to get in/out. A mask/snorkel would have been fun - there are fish to see, though we didn't have the right gear.)
5. We did a cooking class on Day 6 in Ortigia. We arranged it though Trip Advisor, and it was with Ettore Anastasio (https://www.instagram.com/ettoreanastasio_chef/). He was great!
6. I'd skip the puppet show in Ortigia, unless you speak Italian, want some time inside, or really enjoy puppet shows.
7. The Museo Storico dello Sbarco is in a weird part of town, but was a very interesting museum stop. We short changed Catania in our allotted time. I think I could have enjoyed a few days there. We did a tour of the monastery (Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolò l'Arena) which was quite interesting.

I am glad you enjoyed your trip so much!

It is interesting that you were so ambivalent about the puppet show. We saw a show in Palermo rather than Ortigia. For us, it was a highlight. We do not understand a word of Italian and can't say I have ever been to a show before but thought it was great fun. We did not find it hard to follow as it was a classic good against evil plot.

Spent 3 weeks last year in that corner of Sicily.

Recommend going to the museum in Siracusa/Ortigia before the ruins.

Puppet show was great.

Loved Argrigento. Spent about 3 hours at the site. Rested a little at our hotel. Then went to the museum there.

DAY TRIPS from Ortigia:
I would only pick ONE city to go to each day or else you'll be exhausted. Better to relax at your one choice/day and then go back to Ortigia and walk around or just sit at a table by the water. We did that and met so many fun locals.
Noto was a great day trip. Chocolate! Beautiful buildings and churches!
Ragusa recommended, too.
and Villa Romana del Casale can be done on the way back from Agrigento to Catania (that's what we did).