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Sicily 16 days...April 1-17th

Ciao tutti, Thank you to everyone who has posted advice on this forum. I'm posting a trip report...albeit an abbreviated one! Im afraid if I start to write about anecdotes, they were so numerous, that I'll never get this done :)
We were a group of 5 travelers, 2 couples and 1 single. Its my 3rd trip to Sicily, my husband's 2nd, and for the others, it was their first time. We are in Mass/NH, so we flew Lufthansa from Boston>Frankfurt>Catania and on the return Catania>Munich>Boston. Got a good price on the flights and everything went according to schedule. We rented a car, as we usually do, through Auto Europe and got a good deal on a Fiat Tipo Wagon. It was enough for 5 adults and our bags in the back to be covered in the storage area... we all traveled with just carry on luggage. Our itinerary was to go clockwise around the island, and to visit places that I had not visited on previous trips, and ending in a small town where my friend's ancestors are from. So from Catania it was Modica5>Agrigento2>Segesta2>Taormina4>Bronte3. I should also mention that this was my 14th trip to Italy...I'm a tad obsessed with the place...and Sicily is my favorite. The people are extraordinary. Perhaps because its not overrun by tourists as it is in some of the mainland Italian sites? The land is beautiful . The food is fantastic. The weather is usually great....but not on this trip :( That was really the only downside and quite surprising. It was unusually chilly and rainy. In the 16 days we had maybe 1 or 2 days of sunshine. Most days were cloudy, some rainy, and a few quite cold. We still had a great time, though. I think if I had to give advice to someone who only had one opportunity to visit Sicily, I would suggest visiting in May to appreciate the sensuality of the island, with warm, but not hot weather. Here are the highlights...

Modica We stayed at a beautifully renovated apartment, Siparo Su Modica. 3 bedrooms each with its own bathroom, an enormous kitchen(we like to cook), and a large terrace with a stunning view of the old town. We stayed 5 nights...mainly because the first day of arrival you are exhausted and just need some time to decompress. We began our first full day with a guided tour of Ragusa/Modica with Barbara Sudano, a licensed tour guide from Modica. A nicer, kinder person you could not meet! Very warm hearted with a fun sense of humor. She'll craft an itinerary specifically to your interests. One of the places we visited was Gli Aromi, an herb farm in nearby Scicli. We had a tour by the owner Enrico, a real character...and lunch with seasonal vegetables and herbs. One of the highlights was the fried sage leaves...not like the tiny fried sage leaves you might find as a garnish in the US. Big leaves in a puffy tempura like batter. I bought some delicious honey and some dried wild fennel to bring home. Modica was a great base, easy to park, and easy to drive to the other Baroque towns in the area... Noto, Ragusa, Scicli. Also have to mention Rosy Bar, 2 km away from the old town. Its a bar/gelateria/pasticceria but is famous for its granita. I have to say that I've had granita before in Sicily, but this was really extraordinary. I would gladly return to Modica and use it as a "home base" on a future trip.

Agrigento I heeded the advice on this travel forum and stayed here 2 nights. It was perfect for a bit of relaxation and a visit to the temples. We were very fortunate that one of our sunny days was the day that we toured the Valley of the temples...the light was absolutely beautiful. The best part of Agrigento, though, was our stay at Villa La Lumia, a bed and breakfast . The family that runs this place,Piero&Dora& their son Luigi, put their heart and soul into it. They made and served a delicious breakfast every morning with fresh squeezed oj from the trees in their garden. And on Saturday night they cooked and served a delicious meal to the guests..Cont'd

Posted by
20 posts

Sicily 16 days Continued:
Agrigento
I would highly recommend this b&b...you can walk to the archeological museum easily, and walk to the temples if you are fit. But even if you never left the property, you'd still have a wonderful time in Agrigento! Also should mention a fabulous bar/pasticcieria on the main road just outside of town...Agora. We happened upon it by chance. Had a great lunch there and went back the second day for more sandwiches and pastries which were out of this world.

Segesta We stayed at an agriturismo, Antichi Granai. The location of this place is out of the way, but absolutely stunning. Of all the places we stayed on this trip, this is the one that I would like to return to...in May when the weather is better :) This would be an ideal place to come to rest, relax, read, paint. Its out of the way, so they serve dinner at night. And a great breakfast in the morning. The landscaping/views/pool are amazing, and I had hoped to do yoga here and spend the day in the hammock reading, but it'll have to wait for the next time!

Drive from Segesta to Taormina this was our longest drive- 4 hours- with a 2 hour stop in Cefalu for lunch and a stroll. Our GPS offered us 2 options both the same 4 hours. The auto strada A 20 via the coast or A 19 through the mountains via Enna. We opted for the coast because surely there would be beautiful views, right? It was great up until Cefalu. After Cefalu, the autostrada goes through a series of tunnels all the way to Taormina. Some of them are very long and hypnotic. And you come out into the bright sunshine for a brief moment before plunging into darkness again. We started counting...there are 80+ tunnels on this route, so not very scenic. If we could do it over again, we would take the other route.

Taormina I have mixed feelings about this place. I had day tripped here on one of our previous trips, and didn't much care for it because of the crowds of tourists. But "everyone" says how much they love Taormina. I just don't like crowds of tourists...I want to be the only one! :) Anyway I didn't want to deny my friends the opportunity to see a place that everyone loves. So we booked 4 days here. It turned out to be a blessing because after the 80+ tunnels, nobody wanted to get in the car to go anywhere. We were in an air bnb.. Skyline Apartment, centrally located right in the pedestrian/historical district. Everyone could just take off on foot and explore on their own. Our favorite place turned out to be a cocktail bar on Corso Umberto...Ape Nera...the black bee. I am a cocktail lover and so very particular. They made an amazing Cosmo (my house drink...by which all are measured). Maybe its the fresh limes? And the drinks came with delicious snacks and canapes. We sat at a table outside and people watched. Perfect. We also enjoyed taking the local bus up to Castelmola for an AMAZING view...again, luckily one of the sunny days. To sum up, IMHO, this place is so very different from the rest of Sicily.

Bronte We stayed in Bronte the final 3 nights....this is the hometown of my friends relatives. Her paternal grandparents are from this town and emigrated to America. Many of her cousins still live here. This is a genuine town that is mostly for its own residents, unlike Taormina, but it is here that we saw some of the real Sicily. My friend had been trying, without any luck, to locate her cousins. We stayed at a little hotel in the old town, Cortile Aurora. Before our arrival, I reached out to the manager of the hotel to see if he could help us locate them. 5 minutes later, he let me know that his mother knew of them and would let them know of our arrival. To make a long story short, the next 3 days were a lesson in Sicilian hospitality that left us in awe.

To sum up, IMHO Sicily/Sicilians are the best. Thank you to all who have offered advice in this forum.

Posted by
173 posts

Thank you for the report and for the suggestion to ask a local about locals. My sister and I are going in September, and Sicily is the land of our grandparents.

Posted by
8572 posts

Thank you for an excellent trip report which makes me want to add the island of Sicily to my travel excursion list.

Posted by
3961 posts

Julia, what a wonderful report! Sicily is calling us back again! There is something very special to this unique area! Glad you mentioned Taormina. We loved the beauty. We were there 4 years ago and didn't feel that it was "overrun by tourists." Taormina had the best Arancini we had in Sicily! Thanks again for sharing.

Posted by
1305 posts

The Forum needs a "heart" icon! I loved your report.
I'm thinking seriously about doing Rick's Sicily tour next Spring, so my experiences will be different but I think still pretty terrific.
Thanks for posting this.

Posted by
5188 posts

Julia,

Thanks for sharing your trip report with us! It brought back memories of my visit, and now I want to go back and visit the places I didn’t get to!

Thanks for mentioning the tunnels. I’m so glad my route was counterclockwise starting in Palermo.

It’s so great to hear that your friends were able to find their cousins through the help of the hotel manager!

I love Sicily!

Posted by
7049 posts

I'm also in the minority when it comes to Taormina. One full day was enough for me. Too expensive, tourist-driven, and crowded (I've already been to Capri so I guess I'm "over it")- many more lower-key charming towns to see instead in Sicily. I could easily stay 4 nights in Ragusa and do a day trip to Modica from there.

Posted by
674 posts

Thanks Julia, I enjoyed your trip report.

Posted by
2380 posts

Great trip report! I love the part about the 80+ tunnels and not wanting to get back in the car. LOL! And then meeting up with your friend’s family. How amazing is that! We will be going to Sicily next year so this report was very helpful.

Posted by
2699 posts

Thanks so much for the report! Especially Ape Nera! We will be there in 3 weeks and will raise a glass to you!

Posted by
67 posts

Julia, I just returned from three weeks in Sicily yesterday and appreciated hearing about your experiences. I wanted to second what you said about the Sicilian people. I had a very positive experiences as well and particularly appreciated the waiters who seemed like the hardest working people and yet expressed warmth. I also experienced some of the unusually cool with periodic rain showers weather. Because I had three weeks, I could select my activities around the weather report so everything worked out okay. I loved visiting all the temples (Segesta, Selinunte, Valley of the Temples (maybe we were there on the same beautiful day!), the archeological park in Siracusa and the Greek theater in Taormina) and the cooler temperatures were good for walking around. May might be a better balance between more comfortable evening temperatures but still being able to really enjoy the archeological sites. The wildflowers were beautiful in April though and perhaps are not as numerous in May. I hiked in the Zingaro Nature Reserve and the profusion of wildflowers was amazing.

My other travel tip would be the advantages of getting an Italian SIM card. I arrived in Palermo and headed for the TIM store in Palermo and for 42 Euros got a SIM card with 4 GB of data. It was my first time getting a European SIM card and I am a convert. It was just awesome to have GPS; be able to text my family whenever I felt like it and not wait for WIFI access; call AirBnb and VRBO hosts and to get information about museums, etc. GPS does use up one's battery so I used it carefully when walking around cities. I would bring a charger next time.

Posted by
20 posts

Ah...thank you for reminding me! The one thing I thought I'd add to the report was how pleased I was with my new cell phone plan :)
After our last trip to Europe 2 years ago, I was on an ATT plan with an international passport. The intl passport wasnt exactly great plus my AT&T plan was very high anyway. So my husband (with a verizon plan) and I BOTH switched to the Tmobile Senior Plan (55+) Its $60 month for the both of us combined and that includes unlimited data here plus unlimited data in Europe (though its on 2Gnetwork) free texting in Europe and calls were only 20cents a minute. It worked like a charm...and I didn't have to set anything up, , sign up for anything, or find and switch out sim cards. I had downloaded google offline maps and had seamless gps the entire time.