Travel in Sicily in February or March

Hi Linda, I just left Sicily a few days ago, arriving March 13 and leaving March 30. It was my third trip to Sicily - my second trip there in the spring and a few years ago I did a trip in the fall. We had great weather, temps ranging in the fifties and sixties and all but two sunny days on this last trip. Thise two days we had showers and drizzle. Both of my spring trips have had very pleasant weather. My trip in mid September was still very, very hot. On this March trip I used a sweater and a lightweight Eddie Bauer rain jacket. I did not bring a coat and did not need one. I did wear long sleeve tops, long pants and socks everyday with comfortable sneakers. Do bring some kind of rain gear with you, ( a lightweight rain jacket or poncho). I also ended up buying a cheap $5 umbrella over there to use on those two rainy days. Two years ago i visited Malta in the first week of May and it was already pretty hot. So if you plan a spring trip first to Malta and then to Sicily hopefully your weather will be pleasant.
Before you decide where to enter Sicily, decide on what are your “must sees.”. Do you want to visit both sides of Sicily? Do you want to concentrate on the western side? You said you are thinking of basing yourself in Palermo, so then do not consider the ferry. If you want to travel by ferry from Malta then visit one or more of the Baroque towns that are in that area like Scicli, Ragusa, Modica, Ispica or Noto and head over to Ortigia ( Siracusa). Fly into Palermo if you are going to base in Palermo or if the western side is your priority. There are many things to see and do in the city itself and also lots of possible daytrips from there. It is easy and budget friendly to travel in Sicily by bus and train. Another option is to hire a driver for a daytrip - that makes it easier to cover more ground, On this past trip we (3 of us- older adults) hired a driver for a daytrip from Palermo to Erice, Castellammare del Golfo and Scopello. He also took us by Mondello on our return to Palermo. We also used that driver for a transfer from Borgetto ( our grandparents' ancestral town) to Gibellina and Cretto di Burri, then on to Agrigento with a stop at Scala dei Turchi. We used a different driver also to pick us up in Agrigento and transfer us to Ortigia with a two to three hour stop at Villa Romana del Casale and a late lunch stop in Caltagirone.
We took busses from Palermo to Monreale, ( very easy to do) and took the train from Siracusa to Catania and a daytrip from Catania to Taormina by bus. We used the local bus from Ortigia to Siracusa. I did not buy any train or bus tickets in advance. Bus tickets can be bought at local tabacchi shops. It was all relatively easy. I did make arrangements for the drivers well in advance. I liked Malta very much and Sicily continues to amaze and fascinate me. I want to reassure you that you have good transportation options in Sicily. All of our busses and trains were on time and clean. Local bus tickets need to be validated in the machine on the bus and on one of our bus rides, there was an inspector on board who did indeed check all the tickets. Train tickets sold by route and not for a specific train also need to be validated on the platform before getting on the train.

Enjoy your trip.

linda.q welcome. We were in Sicily in February a few years ago. It was not warm (the Med is not tropical). Temps were in low fifties during the day, and 30-40s at night. Locals were wearing down coats hats and gloves. Some places were very windy and there was snow on the peaks. But it was very green, and not crowded. That's just one experience, so I don't know what's normal, but I'd go for March.

Thanks so much for this detailed advice, Pat and Stan. It’s great to have perspective from experienced travellers. There are obviously so many interesting options in Sicily! We are Canadian so a Prairie winter can hit — 30 (Centigrade!) or lower- so even cool nights and mornings in the Med are a break . We’ve learned to bring layers of clothing just in case.
You have given me lots of ideas…… much appreciated.

Hello Linda:
I was just in Sicily this past week and we had great weather in the 50s and 60s. It will be colder in the February/March timeframe and we wished we had brought more sweaters than T-shirts. We flew to Catania (we started in Naples) and did a mix of sites in Catania (Monastery tour, Palazzo Biscari tour, etc.) and used the area as a base for day tours to the Villa Romana del Casale, Caltagirone, the Benanti Winery premium tasting experience/lunch, and Taormina. We hired car service and to also take us to Palermo with a stop at the Valley of the Temples.
With respect to staying in Catania, I can’t say enough good things about the Liberty Hotel— the service was 5-star. We did not have time to see the WW II museum. The people were lovely.
Palermo is more opulent and has many beautiful sites within walking distance if you stay in the city centre. We did not have time to see Syracuse, but many tourists stay in Ortigia. We are flying out of Palermo via Munich back to the States.

Lamkarcoach
Thanks so much for your insight and information . It sounds like there’s enough to do in Sicily to warrant two trips! Appreciate the tip re the hotel in Catania… we may end up flying into there depending on flight availability from Malta.

We've enjoyed Catania very much on a couple of trips in the past three years.
it's a lovely city and if you decide to go, I can give you a few tips about restaurants.

We did consider the Liberty Hotel and it looks lovely. But we ended up staying, two years in a row, at PALAZZO MARLETTA, adjacent to Piazza del Duomo. I cannot say enough about this hotel--the rooms, the staff, and the breakfasts which might be some of the best hotel breakfasts I've ever experienced in Italy.

Here is an example of the hotel, as far as staff:

In May 2023, I bought a wallet (and matching handbag) at a leather store on Via de Etnea, the main shopping street. Beautiful, supple (violet-colored!!) leather. But after six months of use, the fabric lining ripped.

So last year, 2024, I brought the wallet back to the shop and showed them the tear in the wallet lining. Fine, they would repair ti, but they could not pay for postage to mail it back to me in the US. Fair enough.

I told this to the front desk guy at PALAZZO MARLETTA. He told me "no problem. Give the shop the hotel phone number and tell them to ask for me. I will pick up the wallet when it's ready, and we will mail it back to you"

And that is exactly what they did! I did not even pay for the return postage.

Thank you, ekscrunchy.
If Catania ends up on our itinerary, I will certainly look into your recommendations 👍