Hello fellow Travelers,
My friend and I will be visiting Italy in June for about 17 days and we are hoping to visit several cities, but my friend also wants to try to go to Sicily. My question is, is it feasible to try to see a little of Sicily in a couple of days? If so, any recommendations on what to see? I am try to create an itinerary and we want to visit Venice, Rome, and the Naples/Sorrento area. Thanks to all who respond!!!
Katsinca
It is feasible but not reasonable. You barely have enough time for your base itinerary. Not only do you have enough time for Sicily but the travel time would be large.
I’ve had 2 trips to Sicily, but each one was more than just 2 days. Flying from Rome is quick and easy. You could conceivably fly from Rome to Palermo or Catania (or two other airports), even rent a car for a couple of days, and see a little of Sicily, then fly to Naples to continue your time on the mainland. Look for direct flights, not any with connections
What is your proposed itinerary without Sicily and how many days do you plan to spend in each city? Is it your first visit? If so, 17 days would nicely cover the big three -- Venice, Florence (Naples in your case) and Rome, but in my opinion not much more. To go to Sicily, you might be required to give up a few days from the original itinerary. If, however, you find Sicily tantalizing, and many people do, a few days in Palermo would be nice. It's easy to get from Rome to Palermo, for example, but getting to and through Fiumincino, taking the flight, and getting into town in Palermo will eat up a substantial chunk of a full day. Ditto on the way back. A few days would only really give you a chance to see Palermo, and perhaps Monreale, but not much more. You'd be missing out on so much in the western part of the island that is easily day-trippable from Palermo.. Once you start reading a bit about what western Sicily is like. you may find that a trip there would be more frustrating than enjoyable.
It really depends how much you are trying to pack into the other days. Figure that flying or train to Palermo or Catania will occupy most of a day there, then another back. The very minimum time you would need to allow is three nights, four better, and that would get you one city, so easily, Sicily would take 1/4 to 1/3 of your trip.
Could you do it? Yes, but it likely means just scratching the surface of some of the other places, which is fine with some, not so much others.
My itinerary might be something like: Head right to Venice, spend 3 nights there. Take the train to Naples (little under 6 hours), do 4 nights in Sorrento, see Pompeii, a bit of Naples, maybe a bus ride to the Amalfi coast.
Plane or train to Catania, then on to Syracuse/Ortigia, spend 4 nights, fly back to Rome for the balance of your trip. (Palermo would be your other option, with maybe a beach day and a night in Cefalu, depending on personal preference)
Most on here will tell you you don't have time, that 17 days is not enough for even Rome, but it is your trip, if this works, then go for it. Just go in with the realization that in someplace like the Naples area, you are not going to spend a day in Naples, one on Capri, hit both Pompeii and Herculaneum, and lots of time on the Amalfi coast. Same with Venice, same with Sicily, and even Rome. You will have time to hit 2-3 top sites, and that's about it...but that is fine.
If you go with it, come back, ask about each city, you will get lots of help, just ignore the naysayers.
Sicily needs a minimum of two weeks.
People are correct in pointing out the flights from Rome to Sicily are very quick and easy. So this would be doable. But Sicily is large and has so many wonderful things to see. My family did the Rick Steves Sicily tour a little over a year ago and it was just astounding. (It does not hurt that many of the hotels put cannoli on the breakfast buffet.) So my thought would be that you could do a few days in Sicily, I don't think the transportation to and from would be terribly problematic, but consider a separate trip for Sicily because it is just a fascinating beautiful place.
Hello fellow travelers,
Thank you all so much for the valuable information! My friend really does want to see at least a little bit of Sicily since this might be your only trip there. The itinerary that we tentatively have for now is Venice for 3 nights, Then fly to Sicily for 3 or 4 nights, Then fly to Rome for 5nights, And then to the Naples area to do day trips for 5 nights. We know that we will not be able to see everything there is to possibly say but we are trying to plan on hitting the big touristy spots. We want to ride in a gondola, we want to go see the Vatican museums and Sistene chapel. Trevi fountain. The colloseum/ forum and I want to see Pompeii. Maybe drive alomg the Almafi coast. Thank you all again for any information that you have given we will definitely take it all in account when finalizing our itinerary.
Katsinca
If you were to have four nights in Sicily, I would fly to Palermo and stay in Palermo OR fly to Catania and stay in Siracusa (specifically Ortigia ). We visited both and enjoyed both but they are very different. So it depends what you are looking for in your short visit to Sicily.
edited to add: I would reverse Rome and Naples so you fly to Naples which would save you time going one way from Rome to Naples. After visiting Naples, you return to Rome for your Rome time and your flight home. There are direct flights from both Catania and Palermo to Naples.
You could fly home from Naples (I have done it) but flights are likely more expensive. We weren't visiting Rome in that trip and decided the savings were not worth it.
This way you would fly into Venice and out of Rome.
Hi Katsinca, I just briefly looked at your past posts list to see if this is a first trip. I see you’ve been planning this one since 2022, and that may be why additional expanding horizons of Italy/Sicily are intriguing your friend. Sort of the “While we’re there, let’s just add a “little farther” destination itinerary scope creep. : )
I definitely wouldn’t add Sicily to this trip. Mainly because I feel (and this is my two cents after seven trips to Italy) that you will currently be passing right by so many fantastic places that you could be at in an hour or two max instead of taking half a day of waiting & transportation to go reach Sicily and wasting another half day to get back to the mainland. I will add a trip report which was my daughter’s first time to Italy and covers the locations you’re planning, plus some nice day trips and one non-touristy location along the route.
”Maybe drive along the Amalfi coast.”
Having a car for the Amalfi Coast is not typically advised. ….unless you have nerves of steel and Herculean patience! ; ). Take a ferry. Or the popular bus.
All of your other planned locations are convenient by train, and the train is less expensive and easy to ride.
In June, you DO NOT want to drive the Amalfi Coast. Opt for ferries or buses. Unless your flight home leaves from Naples, fly Sicily to Naples and keep Rome last. Also plan on taking the train from Naples to visit the Greek and Roman ruins in Paestum.
Hello again fellow travelers,
Again thank you for the information we will definitely be taking all of it into account and I am serious to thinking about changing our travel dates to go to Naples then Rome instead of Rome the Naples it sounds like that might be a better plan. Thank you again for all the info we will definitely be considering a lot of it in our planning.
Katsinca
You’d be wise to keep Sicily off this itinerary. You’ve already heard all the good reasons, but I’ll add this: 1) you’re already passing up countless other great destinations on the mainland, that are easier and cheaper to get to. 2) There is a perception that Sicily is somehow radically different than mainland Italy. As a tourist, I did not feel this at all. If anything, Naples felt more like that than anywhere else I’ve been. Like, Naples is what everyone THINKS Palermo is.
I would save Sicily for your next visit. I was there for three weeks and only got to see one corner of the island. There is so much to do and see that it’s worth a few weeks on its own.
Hello everyone,
Thank you everyone for all the advice it was greatly appreciated! My friend and I have decided to skip Sicily and just focus on 3 cities and doing everything around those 3. The only thing we're looking for now is a really good boat trip to Capri for the day. We would like to boat around the island but also do some exploring on the island.
Thank you again,
Katsinca
