Three Week Itinerary - Fire Away!

I think it's a great trip. Maybe stop off at the Roman Villa del Casale on the way to Ragusa. Maybe you're underestimating the time you'll need for Valley of the Temples.

You could add 2 nights and I'd like it even more... +1 Palermo +1 Agrigento.

Our first trip to Sicily was in December 2012, before Rick Steves ever had a guidebook for Sicily, so we relied on Lonely Planet. Rick had produced a TV episode with his prior production company, which pointed us in the direction of Segesta and also an agriturismo (Il Vecchio Frantoio), where we spent Christmas Eve and Day.

Bonus for food: in Erice, be sure to visit La Pasticceria di Maria Grammatico. Lonely Planet went on and on about her sweets way back in 2012, and Rick has subsequently recommended her shop, and has even been invited to her home for a meal on his more recent TV episode. There was another shop just down the street from Maria’s, and I felt bad for not at least going there, too, and giving it some business, but Maria’s famous, and for good reason!

If you’re a devotee of Chocolate (and who isn’t?), be sure to visit Modica from Ragusa. The chocolate there is closer to an original Mexican recipe, and not the milk chocolate that was developed later in Europe. They’re serious about their chocolate, and it’s worth the visit. Modica also has a wonderful upper and lower town, and would be good for a more extended time than just a quickie chocolate stop.

As you’ll have a car, are you planning on including the Villa Romana del Casale, at Piazza Armarina? It’s an ancient roman villa, with incredible mosaics.

Have you taken into account that Easter Sunday is on March 28? Being in Italy over Easter holiday usually means many more tourists than usual. Easter weekend can definitely impact which sights and restaurants are open and you may need advance reservations.

What are your main interests? I focused on archaeology. A couple of snags I ran into (3 weeks from April 22) - The day I went to Erice was very windy, so the cable car was shut down and I had to drive up and back, which meant a couple hours less in Erice and some tricky driving on a long narrow switchback road. The day I went to Etna was cloudless, until I was half-way up the mountain and dark clouds covered the sky, the peak was too foggy to make it worthwhile to do the tour up, and by the time I left, the road down was fogged in too.

Echoing what Chani said, Easter Sunday is March 28, means (most) kids across Europe are out of school from Good Friday for a week. If you have the option of avoiding that week, especially cities (and churches, hahaha) will be much quieter. And I really liked that you waited until Day 5 to pick up a car so you could enjoy Palermo and area first without the hassle

Four nights in Palermo is not much, especially if you’re arriving from US on day 1 so that will be pretty much of a write off, and you’re planning Monreale (half day) and Cefalu (full day). Monreale is a must see. I haven’t been to Cefalu. There is a lot to do in Palermo. I suggest one more night there, taking it from Syracuse or Trapani. Strongly agree with including both Villa Romana and Agrigento, but I don’t think you need another night there. You can see the archaeological site thoroughly with either a morning or afternoon visit of a few hours. Otherwise it looks good to me.