What 3 or 4 Places To Stay In Order To See Most Of Top Sites In Sicily

Palermo (no car while in Palermo. Rent it as you leave town). You can see Cefalu from Palermo by train too.
Scopello or Castellammare (Western Sicily sights can easily be driven to from here)
Agrigento area
Piazza Armerina
Siracusa or surrounding area (Ragusa, Noto, Caltagirone are not far by car)
Taormina/Giardini

Sorry I can’t lower to under six.

My husband and I would prefer to visit Sicily the way you are wanting to --- Sicily is not cooperating.

But I have been inspired by Jean from Idaho to embrace some short stays (even one-night stays in hotels) and some wacky travel days in order to see what we want to see. We are not even balking at a long one-day drive that will end up totaling at least 4.5 hours in the car.

The problem, as I see it, is that Sicily just needs more than the 5 weeks we (and you) have for it. Its layout is somewhat like Iceland's ring road with much of what needs visiting on the perimeter of a very large island, but unlike Iceland, Sicily has many enticing places in the interior, too. We are also going in spring 2025 and deliberately including Easter --- there's a tiny town we want to visit on Easter Monday, but more importantly these weeks are the only ones that fit into our calendar. Luckily, we have no interest in beaches or shopping. Food and art (ancient, medieval, and early Renaissance), and I hope to see wildflowers. Husband is taking various cooking classes.

In 2001, we stayed near Enna for a week and also Scopello and Noto for a few nights, so we saw quite a bit then. Some places have to been seen again, like the Casale Romana in Piazza Armerina. Others we will just have to skip, like seeing the Agrigento temples again.

I am sure that our "top sites" are not yours --- we can't figure out a way to include Taormina, for example, and my husband has two inconveniently timed operas to go to, one in Palermo and the other in Catania. Also our top sites include a ceramics town we have to return to (S. Stefano di Camastra) and that Easter Monday town (S. Biagio Platani). Not wild about anything Baroque, but I figure that Sicilian Baroque is a whole different thing and we did enjoy seeing Baroque towns and churches in Sicily 24 years ago.

So, for what it's worth, here's our itinerary:

Palermo 6 nights (revisit to Monreale and maybe daytrip to Cefalu by train)

Erice 3 nights (daytrips to Trapani and the salt flats --- Erice is not a great base, though)

Randazzo 4 nights (daytrip to Bronte to eat pistachio stuff and to Etna wineries --- we went up Etna in 2001)

Ortigia 3 nights

Ragusa 4 nights (daytrips to Modica to eat chocolate, Scicli, and maybe other towns)

Catania 3 nights (opera for him and WWII museum for me)

Piazza Armerina 1 night

Agrigento (maybe just for 1 night to visit the museum)

Sciacca 5 nights (with day trip to S. Biagio Platani and maybe the Agrigento museum, Segesta, and/or Selinunte)

If you list your own interests, I bet more people will answer you more helpfully than I have done. If not, it always pays to listen to Roberto!

Roberto da Firenze and nancys8: Thank you both so much for taking time to assist me. You both presented me with ideas of what to see and the places to overnight in order to see them in a way that should be efficient and organized (as much as one can be, I suppose in such situations). It should help keep the daily drive times at more reasonable limits thus making it all more enjoyable and not turn into a chore.
We do not have the same energy levels we used to have, so just trying to be realistic about our stamina!
If there are any other suggestions (possible accommodations, restaurants, etc.) that you would like to recommend--don't hesitate to share. I do tons of research before all trips but because the only thing I like better than traveling myself is to hear others share some of their experiences--I certainly have learned a lot from reading this forum! Again, thank you both!

We stayed in
Siracusa(actually Ortigia), day trip to Noto, walked into Siracusa to Church of Santa Lucia, to see Caravaggio
Ragusa, day trips to neighboring cities, Modica, Scicli
Agrigento stopped at Villa Romano on the way to
Trapani (stopped at Segesta and Seliunte on the way to) (day trips to Erice, Marsala, Mazara)
Palermo(day trip to Monreale (stopped in Castelmmare on the way to
Cefalu
Randazzo
Catania

We were in Sicily for about 5 weeks. We always prioritize shorter day trips over fewer bases. We do not like long days of driving. We also like to experience some of the cities after dinner or in the morning.

We spent several nights at Terre di Limoni, an agriturismo near Noto. We were able to easily do day trips into Noto, Modica and Ragusa. The agriturismo was very relaxing with a great breakfast.
We just got back from a week in Palermo. We enjoyed walking around the central area. So wonderful to sit outside for meals and drinks, even in November.

jules m and Becky: Thanks so much to you both for sharing your itineraries with me. All of this is very helpful to me. I have been busy googling the various towns mentioned and looking at maps,etc. I am wondering if it would even be possible (or wise) to try to see most of the "must see" destinations from only 3 accommodations and if so, what would those 3 be? Obviously, we will fly into one and maybe out another--have not addressed that yet and several factors will probably come into play in choosing.
I have read that some people must fly into Naples and take an overnight ferry to Sicily. I also have read that some fly into Catania and some to Palermo. So, lots of decisions to make and time seems to be flying.
Anyway, I do thank you both for sharing.

On our trip we stayed, in order, outside of Catania, Agrigento, Marsala, Erice, Monreale, Cefalù, and Taormina. We did have a rental car.

jaimeelsabio, I appreciate you joining in on this conversation. So, am I to understand that you stayed in 7 different accommodations/towns and in the order that you listed them? I would prefer not to be changing accommodations quite than many times, but it might be that to see all that one should/wants to see, then it might be necessary. A couple of other questions: may I ask where you flew into and out of and how many days were you in Sicily? and other than Palermo, are any of the other areas you mentioned that would be best without a car? Thank you.

We also stayed at Castellammare del Golfo along the coast about 50 km west of Palermo. It is a beautiful relaxing town. From there we visited the Greek temple Segesta and the hot springs at Terme Segestane. We spent two nights in Trapani, visiting Erice from there.

We stayed 3 nights Taormina, 4 night Siracusa, 2 night Ragusa, 1 night Argrigento, 2 nights near Erice, 4 nights Palermo.

That is six places.

You can see Agrigento as long day trip from Palermo. It is not really a place to base yourself in.

We would have liked to spend another night in Ragusa. We really liked the Baroque towns.

We had 14 days in country flying into and out of Catania. Upon arrival we stayed near Catania because our flight arrived later in the day. From there we visited Catania, Ortigia and Noto. From Monreale we took the bus into Palermo. Other than maybe Marsala you probably could get by using busses and trains to get everywhere. We prefer rental cars for the flexibility they provide.

We stayed at a Agriturismo quite near Agrigento. It was one of the highlights of our trip and so convenient to the Valley of the Temples

If you have a car years ago I stayed at this agriturismo below. It’s very convenient to visit Siracusa (20 min) Noto, Avola, as well as Ragusa and Modica. Caltagirone is a little farther, but within 1.5 hours. They have a wonderful beach too, although it may not be beach weather until the latter part of May. The food was fantastic too.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/qzB7uoNEz25iC5uu6?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Becky, BethFL, jaimeelsabio, jules m, and Roberto da Firenze, you all have been so generous in your
sharing of helpful info. Thanks again. I now am having trouble finding decent (timing, price,etc.) flights and am trying various combinations in hopes of nailing a flight so that I can get to Sicily and put some of these
suggestions to work! Haven't given up yet. By the way, Roberto da Firenze, I could see that the lovely
place to which you sent me link, one would certainly not go hungry! Lots of pics of tables laden with
food!

SharLee, where are you departing from? We flew Delta in and out of Catania with connecting in Rome, ITA codeshare. At the time we didn't have an option for Palermo, and we circled the island, anyway.

jules m, we will be flying out of Detroit. I have been spending the past few hours on the internet trying different possibilities. I did come up with a flight from DTW to Frankfort, Munich and then Catania. I always try to do only one stop if possible. Also, I do not like really short layovers but these two layovers are 1 hour and the other 45 minutes! That makes me nervous. But, it gets me to Catania. I have also considered the possibility of flying to Naples and catching a flight on a smaller plane over to Sicily, or
the ferry or the train on ferry. I really prefer finding something direct to Catania. I love going places but
I am not that keen on the "getting there".

We flew San Francisco to London. Enjoyed a quick three day visit and then jumped on Easy Jet very early in the morning to Palermo

Karen, I have pondered flying into some neighboring country and then booking a flight on one of the smaller regional planes that fly into either Palermo or Catania. You were able to enjoy London for a bit and then on to Sicily for your final destination--sounds great. As mentioned earlier, I am trying different combinations trying to find best times and prices and convenience overall. I appreciate the input!

On Delta, you can fly direct from Amsterdam to Catania.

jules m, I think I did see that option. It might be the one we might end up taking. We have had several layovers at Amsterdam for previous trips and it seems they have all been chaotic. The airport is not my favorite and the last time we were there there was a good bit of construction going on within the airport which only added to the chaos. However, if that is what we need to do to get to Sicily, then it will be what we will do. It might be better now if the construction is finished. Thanks for the suggestion.

Recommend for bases:

Taormina
Ortigia
Argrigento
Palermo

FYI - We flew nonstop from NC to Rome, then a quick flight to Catania.

mmi, we have considered the flight to Rome and catching a flight from there to Palermo or Catania.
Did you stay overnight in Rome and catch the flight the next day or did you continue on to Sicily the same day? I have learned recently of the Jubilee to be held throughout italy in 2025 and wondered if it would be wise to fly from Rome. Anyway, at this point still, all optons are on the table. Thank you for your sharing, mmi.

Sharlee, Most people like Schipol. We've not had problems there. People don't like CDG, we haven't had problems there, either, but I always prefer Schipol over CDG, when possible, because the French tend to have more labor strikes. When we flew to Sicily, we flew Delta, Minneapolis to Rome to Catania (on an ITA codeshare). I think we had about 90 minutes to connect and had no issues. I expected the Rome airport to be chaotic, because Italy, but it has been very easy to navigate.

jules m, all that is good to know. Sounds like you had perfect connections! Maybe Rome should still be on the table. I'll keep checking. Thanks.