The biggest mistake you can make when you come to Sicily
We give advice to travellers coming to Sicily all the time and the number one issue we come across without a doubt is travellers trying to squeeze too much in during their visit to this wonderful island.
Given it is an island, people seem to think they can travel to all the great places they have heard about in 3 or 4 days and go to Taormina, Agrigento, Palermo, Siracusa , Trapani, Mt Etna, Turkish Steps, Valley of the Temples, Catania and on and on…..sorry to say it’s not possible! Sicily is quite a large island that covers an area of 25,711 kms.
I say ‘3-4 days’ because that is the typical amount of time travellers leave to come to Sicily on their ‘Italian trip’ and they get so disappointed when they get here and realize they actually can’t do all the things they wanted to.
Some of the major towns and landmarks you will have on your bucket list will often take 3-4 hours to get there like the trip from Taormina to Palermo or Agrigento. That cuts into a lot of your time to see and do things and means quite a lot of time in the whatever mode of transport you are taking.
My advice often goes like this if you only have a few days:
• Prioritize the top 3-4 places you want to see and things you want to do.
• Then put the travel times between locations in the Google Maps and check out the travel times.
• Then you must consider if you don’t hire a car, add time for the fact that trains are slow and don’t run very regularly and buses have timetables that you must wait around for. Private transfers are great but not if you are on a budget.
• Ask for advice in Sicily travel groups and forums – local people and service providers are always happy to give advice.
• Just stay in 1-2 places if you only have a few days and get the full experience there and come back another time if you can.
Really, to see the whole of Sicily, you need two weeks and even then, you could stay longer!
So, if you want to see some special places, design your own personal tour and time is short, reach out – that’s what we do best!
Safe travels!
Catherine x
