Travel Plan 2018: Sicily!

Sicily is our travel plan for July 2018. Nothing better than Italian sea, sun and food! Unfortunately, we only have 5-6 days, so we'll have to do a lot of choosing. There is so much to see, do and eat in this island!

Let's start practical: from Treviso airport, there's Ryanair daily flights to both Catania and Palermo. From Venice, a daily flight to both Palermo and Catania with Alitalia (according to Rome2rio), and on Mondays to Catania with Volotea. We'll see how much they are and how much stuff we need to pack! What about flying back to Budapest? Wizzair flies from Catania on Saturday - this is already sooo expensive, but it could be useful to let us recover on Sunday before going back to work - or we could have a Ryanair layover in Treviso on Sunday. Ryanair also flies from Palermo to Budapest on Sunday and is cheaper (at the moment).

Because this is the decision to take: which side of Sicily do we choose? Palermo and the West, or Catania and the East? That is the question. It is such a struggle to open google images and check out the Duomo of Monreale, the streets of Palermo, the beaches of Favignana island, the Temples in Agrigento, the Etna vulcano, the sea of Eolian islands... Come oooon, how can we choose? It's supposed to be a holiday, and I'm already stressed :D

No, focus: in July, it will be roasting hot. A great plan should feature a lot of relaxing beaches and sea, some interesting sights and history, and very little stressful Italian driving. I'm not even mentioning food, as it will be there with us every couple of hours without making any effort. Strategic accommodation is needed in 1 or 2 towns.

If we choose Palermo, the highlights could be:

• Palermo itself, with centuries of history and amazing attractions, like the Palace of the Normans, Cappella Palatina, the Cathedral, and of course much more
• The Duomo of Monreale
• The beach of Mondello or Isola delle Femmine
• To the West, San Vito lo Capo, a 2-hour drive from Palermo
• More to the West, Favignana Island, reachable from Trapani by ferry
• Or to the East, Cefalú

Cappella Palatina in Palermo
By Fintan Corrigan of http://friendly-hotels.com -
Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35670228

The Gulf and beach of Mondello
By Andrea Calcagno from PALERMO, Italia - il golfo di Mondello, CC BY-SA 2.0,
 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24992690

By Roberto Fontana from Mantova, Italia - San Vito Lo Capo,
CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24319385

Favignana Island
By ChrisO at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=864748

On the other hand, around Catania, we would visit:

• Catania, itself, with sights from roman, medieval and baroque age
• The Etna vulcano
• Taormina, its ancient Greek theatre, the beach and Isola Bella
• Wine tasting of local Etna Rosso
• More to the North, the gorgeous Eolian islands, with another vulcano
• To the South instead, Siracusa and architectural marvels

Southern flank of Mount Etna showing lateral cones and flow from eruption of 2001.
By Wilson44691 - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26777320

The Greek Theater in Taormina
By Evan Erickson - Own work, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5744732

By Giovanni from Catania, Sicily - Eolian Islands from top of Vulcano island,
CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2139853

Duomo Square in Siracusa
By Tango7174 - Own work, GFDL,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15545258

And what about Agrigento and its incredible Greek temples?

Temple of Concordia
By General Cucombre from New York, USA - Valle dei Templi 3214
Uploaded by Markos90, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22793141

It's very motivating that many itineraries available online, like this by Frommers, this by Sicilian Secret Tours, this by the Telegraph, this by Lonely Planet,  or this generic advice on Eastern Sicily by the Guardian, include A LOT of sights, which makes me hope that the distances are manageable and the crowd is not overwhelming.

More research is needed. But we are so excited! Have you ever visited Sicily? What do you advise? Let us know! :)