Two or three home bases for a month in Sicily.

That's tough. Sicily is a big, long island. For sure, Palermo and Siracusa/Ortygia. But, then you still have some amazing cities that are long day trips--Agrigento, Regusa, Trapani, Modica, Marsala. Cefalu is an easy day trip from Palermo, but we liked it and stayed 2 nights. I feel Noto is a don't miss, but that's doable from Siracusa. Catania is a great city that I think is underrated. It has a wonderful WWII museum, Baroque cathedrals, interesting fish market. And then there is the Mt. Etna area, Randazzo is a super interesting town and wine area. There is a lot of buildings made from Lava stones, also remnants of lava from volcanic eruptions.

We used a combination of train/bus/rental car. We stayed in Catania, Ortygia, Regusa, Agrigento, Trapani, Palermo, Cefalu, Randazzo, and were there a bit over a month.

Catania and Trapani, for sure, in addition to Palermo.

I usually tell people to slow down but I might do the opposite here. I think you could mix in a few 4-night stays and get a nice sampling of Sicily. As mentioned above, some of your potential day trips are really long days spent in the mini-bus getting to and fro.

I don't really know what memories you want to make or what kinds of things you want to see and do. Do you like the hike? Do you like to chill on the beach? Do you have any bucket list things?

I’m very active and enjoy doing it all… I am looking for local flavor… the Cultura and understand the suggestion of four-day stays in smaller towns instead of being based in three different cities and going out on long day trips make sense. Renting a car might work out better as well. I have driven thru Tuscany, which was relatively easy but a little concerned about Palermo and Catania!? I am a foodie and looking forward to trying all the different regional specialties. My bucket list is way too long right now and will need to Edit and plan for accommodations even though it’s for Oct/Nov. Still working through it!

We made it a point to not drive in any of the larger cities. We picked up a car as we were leaving Siracusa and explored southern Sicily and returned the car in Trapani. The rest of the trip, Palermo, Cefalu, Taormina, Randazzo and Catania we did with public transportation.

We did a 15 day Sicily tour last Spring and had (3) regional bases beginning in Palermo, then Agrigento and finally Taormina which put us in close proximity to other towns that we visited (Trapani, Sciacca, Siracusa, Catania and Messina). We had a rental car but used local drivers in several cases to reach outlying destinations. This plan and home bases worked out great for our group of 5 by giving us many, many options including 3 wine estate visits, beaches, golf, WW2 sites, incredible ruins and amazing food destinations). With 30 days you will be able to do pretty much anything you want from these regional bases. Good luck!

I like that idea! You arrived in Catania and headed to Syracuse by train, bus or private driver? Thanks again!

Taormina is very expensive in comparison to the rest of Sicily. It also is a more difficult place to have a car, and is about a two hour drive to Ortygia where many spend at least three full days. Noto and Ragusa, are don't miss, IMO, and not close to Agrigento, Taormina or Palermo.