Comments on: Visit Sicily: Top 20 Things to Do and Must See Attractions

By: Vincent

Vincent — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:26:38 +0000

In reply to Daria.

Taormina feels more special as the setting of the town is quite unique (the view, the roman theater).
But keep in mind it’s also more turistic.
Ortigia feels more like an italian old town where italian people actually still live.

By: Daria

Daria — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:02:09 +0000

One more question from me:) It is very subjective, but still. If you had a choice between Taormina and Ortigio, which one would you choose, what impressed you more?

By: Vincent

Vincent — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 16:25:19 +0000

In reply to Daria.

You’re welcome!

Yes, that’s right, it took us 4 hours to walk there and back (including the photo breaks). There’s no mistake.
No, there’s no public transport, you have to do the round trip.

Have a nice day,

By: Daria

Daria — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 06:56:25 +0000

Thanks a lot for your pompt answers, it helps a lot. One more question about Zingaro natural reserve. You wrote that it’s 7 km long and that you did a round trip in 4 hours? Looks like it is nor a round trip, judging by time. Is there some public transport that helps you get back to the southern entrance, if you started from the southern part and reached the northern part?

By: Vincent

Vincent — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 15:44:15 +0000

In reply to Daria.

Hello Daria,

Thanks a lot! I’m glad that my articles on visiting Sicily are helping you prepare for your trip.

Regarding your questions:
1) Yes there is a small part of the Alcantara Gorges accessible on foot.
2) The Zingaro reserve is beautiful in all seasons. Even if you can’t go swimming, it’s worth taking a walk along the way to enjoy the scenery. But it’s a long way from Catania.

As for your hesitation, that’s really up to you.
If you don’t mind doing a lot of driving every day, it might be possible to do a loop. You can look at the journey times on Google maps to give you an idea of the distances.

But of course it would be more relaxing to visit only the east of Sicily if you’re arriving and departing from Catania.

I’d recommend visiting the west by arriving and departing from Palermo, as it’s much more practical.
I hope this helps.

Enjoy your family trip to Sicily!

By: Daria

Daria — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:32:01 +0000

Hello Vincent!
Thanks a lot for your articles about Sicilly, I guess I’ve read all of them 🙂
Could you please help me and answer several specific questions?
Small backround info: travel time – end of March-beginning of April, we are traveling with 2 kids (2 and 8 y.o.) by a rental car. We love more nature beauty than historical sights. So, back to the questions:
1) Alcantara gorges – is it possible to walk there to see te beauty of the place, since I am not sure that it is possible to do kayaking with a small child.
2) Zingaro natural reserve. Is it worth a visit in April when the water is to cold for swimming. I really want to go there, but if we do, we need to change the itinerary a lot, since we will have 8 full days on Sicilly arriving and departing from Catania.
I am hesitating between 2 options now:
– stay in the eastern part without rush
-skip Syracuse and Taormina and try to make a bigger circle including Etna vulcano, Cefalu, Zingaro reserve, Marsala and Erice, Agrigento-Catania. Do you think second option is doable if we have 8 full days (+2 days for arrival and departure)

By: Tammana Begum

Tammana Begum — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 14:54:29 +0000

Wow what a brilliant article. I am off to Sicily for five days late next week and this has been extremely helpful. Thanks so much!

By: Vincent

Vincent — Sun, 08 May 2022 07:35:05 +0000

In reply to U. Dall.

Hi Ulrikke,

That sounds like a nice trip!

1) You can definitely do it in reverse, this is really up to your preferences.

2) For biking, the first place that comes to my mind is Favignana island, as it can only be visited by bike.
Then, you can also probably rent bikes around the Parco delle Madonie (near Cefalu) and the Parco dei Nebrodi (north east of Sicily).

3) this hotel doesn’t exist, the picture you saw is a 3d render.

It’s not possible to build anything there, as it’s a protected area.

Enjoy your trip to Sicily, and if you have other questions, don’t hesitate!

By: U. Dall

U. Dall — Sat, 07 May 2022 15:05:02 +0000

Hi Vincent, Thanks for the great info about 2 weeks in Sicily My husband and I are going to Sicily for 3 weeks in September 2022. We have rented a car for the whole period, and we are planning to drive around the island. We have a few questions, which we hope you will kindly answer 1) Your trip goes clockwise, we are thinking about doing the opposite starting in Catania driving to Taormina, Palermo etc. Is there a good reason why you suggest to go clockwise around the island? 2) We would like to rent a bike 2 or 3 days during the vacation. Is there 2 or 3 areas on the island you can recommend for mountain and race bike? 3) We have seen photos on Instagram of a new hotel called Villa Saraceni at Scala Dei Turchi that should open in 2022, but we haven’t been able to find further information. Any chance you can help? We are looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you in advance. Kind regards Marc and Ulrikke

By: Vincent

Vincent — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 18:47:12 +0000

In reply to Neil Katz. Hello Neil, Thank you! Unfortunately, I can't help you for your trip to the Amalfi Coast as I didn't have the chance to visit it yet. About Sicily, if you only want to do the East Side, you can have a look at this itinerary: One week in Sicily detailed itinerary Here you can find all the things to do and my selection of accomodations. For this itinerary I recommend to rent a car, but if you don't want too, you can do it by bus and train. In that case, maybe you can spend 9-10 days there and do a similar itinerary at a slower pace. Enjoy your trip in Sicily!