Hello. We will be on a R. Steves Sicily trip and I'm wondering if anyone has any helpful hints on anything not covered or "can't miss." The tour starts in Palermo and ends in Catania (only one night in Catania).
We're pretty experienced Italy travelers - and R. Steve tour vets - and will also be staying three nights in Rome before our trip (booked a hotel near the Pantheon - yay!).
So: feel free to let me know your favorite Sicilian hints!
Palermo is chock full of very interesting churches and oratorios. Hours vary, so you can usually find something open on a day when you have free time. With a good guide book and a city map you can identify some geographically-convenient possibilities for the morning of Day 1 and the afternoon of Day 2. I also really enjoyed the tile museum. I've linked to TripAdvisor because the museum's web site is in Italian only. There was an English-speaking guide when I visited in June 2015. You must phone ahead to make a reservation.
If you'd prefer a picturesque costal town (quite touristy), there's rail service to Cefalu, which is east of Palermo. If you arrive a day early, Cefalu would be easy to visit on Day 1. Be sure, though, that it's not part of the tour; I remember that Rick had very positive things to say about it on the Sicily video.
On Days 3 and 4 I'd spend any free time just strolling around Trapani's historic district, since the tour takes you to Erice.
On Day 7 in Siracusa, I recommend the Archaeological Park and Greek Theatre--especially nice because the former has lots of greenery--and the archaeological museum. Ancient ruins are definitely not my thing, but I really liked the park. All of the above are far enough from Ortygia that you'd probably prefer to take a bus or taxi. If you've already overdosed on Greek ruins at Agrigento, you can instead spend additional time exploring Ortygia; it's rather large, and there are many picturesque streets to wander.
In my view, the main thing missing from the tour that can't be squeezed into any of your free half-days is a trip to one or more of the baroque towns in the southeast, including Ragusa, Noto, Modica and Scicli. With an extra day or two on Sicily it would be possible to reach some of them by public transportation. There are also some tours offered--not necessarily every day of the week--from Siracusa and Taormina; probably also from Catania, but I haven't checked that.
Edited to add: Sicily has fabulous food in general (quite different from standard Italian), but is especially notable for the world's best granite (dairy-free frozen ices). Don't be suckered in by a spot that just squirts syrup over shaved ice. You want to buy at a place that has a separate dispenser for every flavor it sells (which might be only one or two). The almond is unusual and very refreshing. A special combination sometimes found in Catania but perhaps native to Noto is almond with a small dab of coffee ice. I don't remember what that combo is called. Perhaps "xxxx catanese"?
A breakfast option you may encounter gelaterie and cafes is the brioche + granite combination. The two components were always served to me separately, but I've heard of ice cream sandwich-like offerings.
We took a really fun street food tour in Palermo and every bite was wonderful! And unique. Here's the link: http://www.streatpalermo.it/en/infotour-2/ I think they also run a similar food tour in Catania but we didn't take that one. It was great fun and included a very comprehensive city tour as well as all the sampling. We actually went into several interesting places not covered by the RS orientation-to-the-city walk first day of the tour. The hotel in Palermo for our tour (March, 2016) had an outstanding 360 degree view of the mountains, churches and Cathedral from their rooftop terrace, which doubled as the bar and breakfast room. This was such a fantastic tour, I took it twice (first time in 2013)! Luckily, the itinerary had changed a bit by the time I got around to the second one. We went during Holy Week and were in different villages for Palm Sunday and Easter. It was such a special and wonderful time to be there.
Edit to add-we took the food tour on the day before our RS tour started and the day after we arrived in Palermo. It's nearly an all day affair as it began later in the morning and ended early-late afternoon. Check your tour itinerary to see exactly what towns are covered on the tour. I know the Winter/Off Season tour (which is what I took both times) has a slightly different itinerary, than the "regular" tour.
Here is a website I used for Sicily. I was on an RS tour several years ago and found lots of extras on this site
Best of Sicily
If you have free time in Trapani, there's a gelateria called Chocolate on the Main Street (near where it ends at the cathedral). Stop there for gelato in a brioche. Seriously. I kept watching people eat these and finally, on my last day, we tried one. I had a very dark chocolate (65%?), my husband strawberry cheesecake. Amazing. You can probably find gelato en brioche elsewhere in Sicily but I can vouch for the freshness of the brioche & the quality of the gelato there.
