Western Sicily

I think it is great that you are not trying to "do" the entire island, but that's a lot of time in a very small corner of Sicily. You might find it nice to spend 3 nights in Cefalu so you can see a bit more of the island without going too far. Personally I'd cut Marinella as you can easily reach Selinunte from Palermo or Scopello. We liked Trapani, the little island of Mozia just south of there, and Lo Zingaro (near Scopello) if you are hikers. Selinunte is terrific BTW. Be sure to go all the way up to the settlement/ancient town, not just the temple.

From Scopello you can drive to all of those places in 20-40 min max. You have time to move further East if you want. Marinella it's in the same area, you can eliminate it. You could do: Palermo: 3 nights
Scopello: 4 nights (visit Selinunte, Erice, Segesta, San vito lo Capo, Zingaro Reserve from Scopello). then move to Eastern Sicily (Siracusa, Taormina for ex.) for the last 4 nights. You can visit the Valley of the temples (AG) in a few hours while you transfer from Scopello to the east. From Scopello you can be in the Agrigento area in just over 2 hours. Then from Agrigento in about 2-2.5 hours you can be somewhere in the Eastern side. From Catania back to Palermo it's 2 hrs on the freeway.

Just wanted to add that if you don't want to go as far as the Ionian coast (East coast), there are other places you can visit also in the interior, closer to Agrigento. Piazza Armerina for example is a must. But if you really want to take it easy and slow and stay just in the west, you should stay the entire stay in Scopello. There is no reason to change hotels just to go to Marinella, wich is just 1/2 hour from Scopello. In the west you could also add Favignana, Mozia, Trapani e Marsala, if you stay there a long time. San Vito Lo Capo was voted the best beach in Italy for several years in a row.

Segesta, easy to reach from Palermo, has an amazing Greek temple in the mountains. There are ruins of a city with amphitheatre nearby as well.

Thanks to all for the advice. We have dropped Marinella from the itinerary and will stay longer in Scopello and Palermo, plus looking for an agriturismo inland for a couple of nights. Though eastern Sicily would be amazing, this is more of a much-needed slow-paced trip rather than a 'see everything' trip. Next time we'll cover more territory. Mozia sounds very interesting, and we'll definitely spend time at Lo Zingaro while we're in Scopello -- plus a trip to the islands off Trapani is definitely in the plan. Palermo will be leisurely so we can really explore. If you have favorite off-the-beaten-path restaurants in Palermo, please let me know! Grazie.

We liked Il Pipino Rosso near Quattro Canti at Salita S.Antonio 7. We ate dinner there 3 times in May and each time the food was delicious. They are a fairly new restaurant and have mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com. Our hotel recommended the restaurant and we were very well served.

Thanks, Carol - we'll check it out.