Sicily

[Elizabeth T]

Hello Slow Europe Travelers. I am new to the forum. My sister and I plan to travel to Sicily in a few months and would greatly appreciate any must see places.
We plan on beginning our journey near Catania.
thank you

 

[Eleanor]

You will love Sciliy. I visited in 2017 flying in and out of Catania. We were based in two centres - Agrigento for the Valley of the Temples, Palermo and Monreale. We then moved to Taormina (visiting Villa Romana del Casale on the way). Taormina has the Greek Theatre as well as some wonderful old churches and gardens. We also did a day at Ortygia which I loved. Unfortunately we didn't have time to see Syracuse. We did visit Mount Etna but that was the one day in the holiday when it wass raining with low cloud...

My trip report is here and I have also wrtitten more detailed travel articles for Taormina and Ortygia which you may find useful.

There is also this thread from January and this one from February which you might also find helpful.

 

[Tina]

There are so many beautiful places to see.....How long will you be there? Are you renting a car or using public transport? What plans have you got so far? What are your interests?

 

[Elizabeth T]

thank you so much. I will certainly look into the places you mentioned.

There are so many beautiful places to see.....How long will you be there? Are you renting a car or using public transport? What plans have you got so far? What are your interests?

We will fly into southern Italy probably Bari and make our way around the heel; visit Lecche, and Matera and take the ferry to Sicily. From there we plan on heading over to Catania and take the train to Riposto, where my father was born. From there on our plans are sketchy but we do want to mingle with the locals. We do hope to visit Italy for a period of about one month.

 

[Tina]

Ortigia (Siracusa) is beautiful and could make a good base also to visit Noto. Ragusa Modica and Scicli are also special places. If you are going to see Puglia etc before Sicily, once in Sicily maybe concentrate just on the east coast so Taormina Catania and then down to Ortigia etc

Siracusa Trip Report October 2017

A blog about travel, vacations and holidays in Italy and Spain with advice, tips and trip reports

slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com

 

[wco81]

thank you so much. I will certainly look into the places you mentioned.

We will fly into southern Italy probably Bari and make our way around the heel; visit Lecche, and Matera and take the ferry to Sicily. From there we plan on heading over to Catania and take the train to Riposto, where my father was born. From there on our plans are sketchy but we do want to mingle with the locals. We do hope to visit Italy for a period of about one month.

If you plan to visit or stay in Taormina, you may want to do that first before going to Catania since Taormina is north of Catania and closer to the Messina where the ferry will arrive.

It is pricey to stay in the Taormina centro but it's more or less flat whereas there are places to stay up and downhill from Taormina which will require walking uphill.

If you have a car, it's not convenient in Taormina but not impossible. Or you can pick up a car after your stay in Taormina.

What are your interests? If you like architecture, then definitely places like Siracusa, Noto and Ragusa are great places to visit or stay.

If you like antiquity, you get some of it in Ortigia and Agrigento. Or make the long drive to Villa Romana in Casale to see the mosaics.

If you like to lounge by the beach, maybe stay some days in Cefalu.

 

[konradd]

Would highly recommend booking a tour up to Mount Etna from Catania
Taormina is nice but an expensive high end tourist town.. Good Catacombs in Syracuse
Ortygia ,Syracuse are very nice.
Siciliano wine is very good

 

[California Go Girl]

It sounds like an amazing trip! I suggest you buy a guidebook for Sicily and thumb through it to see if anything in particular calls out to you, and see if it makes sense to work that in. I was a fan of the Montelbano TV series during Covid lockdown, so I was longing to see the Baroque hill towns featured in the series, and I based myself primarily in Ragusa Ibla for my first (solo) trip, essentially just hanging out, taking strolls around town, sitting in the town garden to read my novel, enjoying a light lunch and an aperitivo and dinner in the evening. I spent 2 days seeing the other hill towns, then a couple of nights in Ortega and 2 nights in Catania to be close to the airport for my return flight. I felt like I was in heaven in Ragusa Ibla, but I didn't try to run around to see everything possible, and dropped almost everything that I had on my original itinerary. I saw much more of Sicily in my subsequent trips and discovered how much I love Palermo. (I have been twice for the Easter processions, and did a two week language class in Milazzo, a few days in Palermo, Good Friday procession in Trapani, and a week long bike tour on my last trip.)
Be aware that train travel is not as efficient in parts of Sicily as is in many other parts of Italy. Sometimes the bus is a better option between towns. There is a person (Vagabonda) on the TripAdvisor Sicily forum who is a great resource for links to timetables for local bus service if you have specific questions.

 

[CityScrolls]

My recommendation for something unique that you likely won’t find in most travel guides is the ruins of the ghost towns next to the epicenter of the Belice Valley earthquake of 1968.

The Ruderi di Salaparuta feel like a portal to a parallel dimension, defined by an eerie emptiness and profound abandonment. Nearby, you'll find Gibellina Vecchia, home to the striking landscape artwork Cretto di Burri.

It's a deeply moving experience, imo, that offers a different side of Sicily's history.