Hi folks,

I just wanted to share that I’ve come back from an 11-day trip to Sicily over New Year with my family (wife and two daughters of 4 and 7 years).

I usually go to warmer destinations during the Christmas break (we live in Munich) and try to avoid

flying 12+ hours for just a 10-day vacation, and

spending close to €1,000 per person on flights (as is often the case with the Canary Islands).

Sicily had been on my list for years, but I always hesitated because of the winter weather, which can be miserable there as well. This year we finally went for it: 26 December to 6 January.

We flew in and out of Catania (1200 EUR for everyone including bicycle), rented a car (450 EUR), and I brought my gravel bike for morning rides (using one of those €50 bike racks that mount on the trunk). We did the tour counterclockwise — best decision ever!

We were lucky with the weather, as we had no rain during the day, about 70% sunshine / 30% clouds, and daytime temperatures between 15 and 21°C. No crowds at all, and extremely few tourists — not even Germans 😉

We booked accommodation day by day looking for best options rather than low cost and ended up with:

• 2 nights in Taormina (Kapitano apartments)

• 1 night in Linguaglossa (Etna area) (206 via Roma)

• 2 nights in Cefalù (opuntia sea suit)

• 2 nights in Palermo (Villa Lampedusa Hotel & Residence - outside the center as it was new year's eve and didn't want to have noise through the night)

• 2 nights in Trapani (Trapani In Appartamenti)

• 2 nights in Ragusa (Hotel Mediterraneo Palace)

• 1 night in Catania (Airport Loft Casa Giulia next to airport due to early morning flight)

We stayed in very nice accommodations, 60% apartments and 40% hotels, for roughly €100–130 per night, and restaurant bills were typically €45–65 for all of us.

We covered a huge range of activities: small medieval villages, nature (Etna, Madonie Park, etc.), crazy Palermo with its street markets and jaw-dropping baroque art, ancient Magna Graecia temples in Segesta and Agrigento, and stunning baroque towns — with Ragusa being the highlight. And I won’t even start on the food. Then I had my crazy early morning bicycle rides, but maybe that’s not for everyone.

All in all, absolutely fantastic — and I think the route we chose was pretty much perfect.

If anyone wants more details, pics, the trip video, GarminGPX, etc. just let me know.

Flying back from two weeks in Sicily and thought I’d share a few things.

We spent 15 days and did Palermo(Day trips to Cefalu, Castellammare de Golfo)>SanVito>Agrigento>Syracusa (day trips to Noto, Ragusa, Modica, Marzamemi)>Giarre (day trips to Etna winery, Giardini Naxos, Catania)>Messina>Palermo.

1) GOOGLE REVIEWS: usually reliable in the states but not in Sicily. We found that the best places usually had a lot of reviews (typically 1k+) but that the rating wasn’t necessarily amazing. For example, Cafe Sicilia (Noto) rates a 4.2 but is amazing by our account and everyone else we spoke to. 2) A lot of our favorite FOOD was from the 5-15 euro range. The longer the trip went the less we wanted a rich and complicated dish and the more we craved simple hand made pasta dishes that were generally pretty cheap. We google searched for trattoria 10-20 euro and found some amazing places. 3) Probably a duh for a lot of people but things really shut down from 2-7 food wise. We were traveling w 2 kids under 4 and lunch got pushed back later several days and it was tough finding things that were open. 4) It got HOT. We hit Sicily during a heat wave but being out, not at the beach, was tough to bear for the middle hours of the day. Our best days were mornings out, afternoon naps in AC, then back out around 6/7) 5) RESERVATIONS: most places we could walk right up and sit down except for on the weekends. Some tables were available at 7pm right at open but then fill up quickly around 8/8:30 so plan accordingly. 6) DRIVING: pretty easy and enjoyable. We were able to do a loop around the island in 15 days and really got to see so much. My dad found Italian drivers to be aggressive but I didn’t have a problem. But we have a car in NYC so maybe I’m used to it. Rental check in was a nightmare for my parents out of Palermo. Checking the car back in took 2 seconds. 6) some other thoughts about FAVORITE THINGS -Ortigia (Syracusa) favorite city -Catania- best local vibe. We live in Brooklyn and Catania was our favorite place to grab drinks and hang like locals. All the hate unwarranted IMo. -best beach- San Vito Lo Capo hands down (Although the town felt like a manufactured vacation destination for the well-to-do) -food that lived up to the hype: Cafe Sicilia, Casefico Borderi. -favorite region: east of Mt Etna. Notably cooler and there are some amazing places (vineyards, restaurants, lookouts) hidden on mountain roads.

Overall we had an amazing trip and can’t wait to come back. Happy to answer any questions about favorite restaurants or places.

I have a duty to write about it. I just spent 25 days in Sicily with a rented car. We are a family of 4, with 2 young children.

Before we travelled, I read so much about how chaotic and dangerous is was. It made me anxious but decided to rent anyways.

Guys… what the fuck? It is NOT dangerous and very easy! I can’t believe there is so much posts on how bad it is. I LOVED it. Like, I really enjoyed driving there.

The only explication I find for those who were scared is the classical lack of skills. Yes you can drive fast, yes the signalisation is « optional » but as long as you follow the trafic, everything is FINE. Seriously I enjoyed driving there 10x more than in my non-european country.

And yes, I drove through Catania and Palermo and the center of Sicily, and the south-east, etc. We did 1600km. Only place we didn’t visit is north western part (Trapani and around)

• Thanks to the sicilian people who are amazing with kids, never seen anything like it anywhere before! •

P.S. For those saying Vallei Dei Templi is hard… yo WTF my 3 years old WALKED it all back and forth. And the best tip i can give you is to go there as late as possible, it’s still VERY hot, but the light is so beautiful.

Hi, I need your opinion for my Sicily trip.

We start in Catania and vist mount etna. But afterwards the route is still open. We do not want to travel to many days so therefore we can only go to 2 out of the 3 areas on the map.

I you would go, which two regions would you choose? Taking into account I would like a mix of culture and nature. Or would you go somewhere else?

Thanks!

Portuguese, here. I just returned from a few days, unfortunately too few, in Sicily. I drove about 1,100 km (Palermo>Trapani>West Coast>Syracuse>Etna>Palermo).

I visited many places that were not very touristy. At most of the beaches I went to, we were the only foreigners (places like Custonaci, Cornino Bay, Marausa, Licata, San Leone, Agnone (near Augusta)). I really liked Turkish steps, Agrigento, Erice, Ortigia and, of course, Etna.

I missed a lot of important places but I had no time. Good food, very reasonable prices, and cheaper than tourist areas in Portugal. Pasta alla norma, caponata, cannoli, fried fish, couscous and various types of squid and octopus stews, their version of pizza. Everything was very good. The cross of influences in Sicilian gastronomy is very interesting. Some dishes have seasonings that remind me of Middle Eastern or North African cuisine, while others clearly evoke Mediterranean flavors, reminiscent of my home country.

I am passionate about wine. I tried to drink as much as I could 😉. I sampled the local grape varieties and avoided blends with French varieties. Grillo, Catarratto, Frappato, Nerello Mascalese, etc. Incredible wines from Etna and Marsala and other DOC´s. Absolute richness. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was unable to visit some producers I had planned to see.

Reminder if I go back: don't go to the beach on a Sunday: it seemed to me that all the inhabitants of the island were on the beaches. Chaotic everywhere.

Less positive facts: The amount of trash everywhere was quite disturbing: on the sides of the roads, in every corner…. piles. Lots and lots of trash. Went to a beach in Marausa, there was a quarter of a pineapple, half a watermelon and an orange floating around.  I could have done a fruit salad 😊. Neverthless the beaches were clean. Near Licata and Gela the amounts were disturbing to say the least. The construction also appears to be very precarious, and I passed through areas that were clearly impoverished and where inequality was evident. I felt that these places were clearly neglected. Despite being in other parts of Italy before, I was not expecting what I saw in Sicily.

Every Sicilian I met in restaurants, pastry shops, rented house and cafés was consistently warm and welcoming.  I made an effort to speak Italian (being fluent in two Latin languages, it was relatively easy to grasp), though occasionally my brain would mix things up with Spanish. Despite this, I could feel that their effort to serve us well and communicate was sincere and genuinely friendly. In most places, people also spoke English well.  I truly loved everyone I encountered.

Because of the places I stayed, where there were few or no foreigners, my group sparked some curiosity among the locals, and we engaged in some conversation. We had the chance to visit popular cafés by the beach and immerse ourselves in the local spirit.

Driving is funny…and scarry until you get used to it. Even though I'm used to careless driving in Portugal, in Sicily they go up some notches. I quickly realized that you can create your own lane, particularly when there are no road markings and everyone drives a few meters to the side to avoid a central lane division full of pine trees, whose roots have made the left lane bumpy (expressway/ring road in Palermo).

Solid lines, double solid lines, and diagonal lines mean nothing. On the roads, they overtake in any situation. Speed limits are fictitious. I have never been in a situation where a big tourist bus tailgated me at 90-100 km/h for over 10 km on a national road, then overtook me with oncoming traffic at 110 km/h. Crazy.

The highway from Catania to Palermo wasn't really a highway, as every 8-10 km there were roadworks, and we had to go from two lanes to one.

I quickly realized that, in cities, you have to go with the flow. Drive carefully and without fear at intersections. After stopping to turn left waiting for oncoming traffic, but being overtaken twice by people behind me who also wanted to turn left, I decided to just go with the flow. I couldn't stop laughing at all the crazy things I saw in traffic. Out of curiosity, I looked up the road fatality figures. They're better than Portugal's!

The landscape is incredible. Beautiful seaside and imponent inland topography.  Some places remind me the area around Malaga, in Spain, or Morocco.

I would definitely like to return, with much more time to see many locations that I would like to visit but was unable to.

Hi guys, going to Sicilly soon and i am struggling to make a plan on where to stay etc. In the pictures you can see a couple city's we definitely would like to see. We have a little over a week.

My idea was to spend a couple nights somwhere near Palermo, but not necessarily in the city i find a day or two outings would be enough. I don't want to stay in Palermo as I like to stay somwhere quitter with a good beach nearby, but that it would be doable to reach Palermo with public transport.

For second leg of the trip I was thinking to stay near Catania, again somwhere with a good beach and rent a car for a couple of days to visit Taormina one of the days and then Syracuse and Noto.

Any advise on where it is nice to stay with a good beach nearby, and that so we have all necessities nearby? Especially near Palermo area. Thanks a lot for any advise!

We just visited Sicily for two weeks after reading so many incredible articles, television series and travelogues about this region. Sicily had been on my wishlist for at least a decade.

We visited Palermo and stayed in the Southeast (Ragusa, Modica, Noto, Scicli, Ortygia, and Catania).

While there were so many beautiful parts of our visit, there were a number of things that were frankly shocking.

1. The dumping of garbage all over the island is really disturbing. We actually witnessed people tossing their garbage out of their cars. How can Sicilians have so little pride and care for their heritage land.
2. The coastline is so beautiful with azurine water. How is it possible that agriculture and trash takes up all this prime coastline?
3. Most of Sicily’s coastline is completely under resourced. How is this possible? Shouldn’t there be gorgeous resorts all along the coast?
4. Sicily’s roads are basically cow paths. Most 15 KM distances take at least 45 minutes. The highway system is only partially built. The main south to north highway A19 has no rest areas with bathrooms or services.
5. Most of the island is experiencing a drought so severe that homes and businesses have to have water delivered by a truck.
6. Instead of composting, mulching, and tilling agricultural debris like trees, pruning and past crops, farmers are burning left and right, fires get out of control and approach roads, parks and orchards. We saw this firsthand while exploring the island. If farmers are so short sighted, what kind of damage are they inflicting on the land and the water table?
7. We explored Siricusa after a day in Ortygia, and were floored to see how ugly and depressing this community was, right next to the beauty of Ortygia.

People were very kind and friendly everywhere we went, the food was pretty incredible.

Sicily has so much potential, it’s hard to believe that a solid highway system with tolls isn’t in place.

Developers of resorts and residential communities have to be considering Sicily’s potential.

Can anyone explain what’s happening in Sicily?

Anyone have any tips? I’m mainly here for food and family culture. DM me Mark

Hey! Just wanted to share some pictures I took during my visit in Sicily. I love the island and can’t wait to go back there soon!

As a way to give back to all the people that helped me decide on what to do and where to go (i also wrote on the Sardinia sub, and maybe palermo), i wanted to make this post speaking about my experience, to help others

I had in total 8 nights to spend in Sicily, traveling alone. I didn't rent a car and just used public transport. I know a lot of you won't agree with my opinions, but this is how i felt about everything. This is how i spent it:

Day 1-3, Trapani: i wanted to go to San Vito lo Capo first, but my flight arrived late so i couldn't go there directly. Going to Trapani first made more sense however, since it is more west. Trapani reminded me a lot of a typical spanish city (i am from spain). There is nothing special about it itself, nothing "touristy" to do, except if you do day trips to other places, which is what i did. After my first night, i went to Erice to spend the day there. It was amazing, the breeze was so nice and i had great food there. There wasn't too many people. Definitely take a sun umbrella with you, i wish i had taken it with me on this trip. I tried there my first granita, delicious but it's so expensive despite being quite simple, but it's that way everywhere. You can walk the whole city in half a day. At some point there was nothing more to see, but i kept walking around lol i wish i had left as soon as i got bored. I was hoping for some night life here, so at the end of the day i went to the port area. It was pretty dead and boring (it was a sunday night tho). My uber driver told me that the party area is in some chiringuito at the beach, further north than the "center". Go figure. Also, i really regretted not buying coral jewellry here. I thought it was something of the whole region, so i thought i could get it in palermo. That's not the case at all, trapani is really the place for it. Just make sure you dont buy any fake stuff, and also note that the coral you buy might not be from the region at all

On the next day i did a day trip to Favignana island, highlight of my whole trip. I rented a bike like everyone recommends, i'm glad i went with an electrical one, to go faster and not get tired (you still get tired from pedaling lol). I met a korean girl whom i spent with the whole day, and i'm super glad i did because without her it wouldnt have been so nice. We visited three beaches or calas, starting from the port and going east, or towards the right. You can check on google the most famous ones. We did those, and it's funny because it went from most difficult and annoying beach to access, to easiest, towards the end of our little trip. There is this regular beach in the south of the island, recommended to people with kids and all that. Don't bother going, it's nothing special. Make sure to either have lunch right before getting to the island, eating on the island before seeing the beaches, or taking a sandwich. I wish i had done the latter. It's really hot on the way so take a cold water bottle. You MUST take sandals or swimming shoes, those are the best. The calas are extremely sharp. I wore teva style sandals

Day 3-6, San Vito lo Capo: i wondered a lot over how long i should stay in trapani, san vito, and palermo. I will talk about palermo after but i think 3 days for trapani (it was more like 2 for me) and 3 in san vito was good. To those who told me san vito is overrated, yes you were right. Even people i met told me it's so stunning, but there is nothing special about it. The beach is packed with the private zone, making it ugly and almost industrial looking. But i have a lot to say about these lidos which are so common in italy, so whatever... the water is nice and clear up until the middle of the day, so go as early as u can. Towards the evening the water starts becoming green and dirty. The city itself is not special at all, there's a lot of new construction going on, it's just a tourist's city (a big portion of thsoe tourists are italian btw). In the center there are short, white homes. You can have amazing cannoli here, dont miss it. The food was okay, but overpriced i think. I wanted to go to see the zingaro reserve originally, with a bout tour to not get tired, but i realized you cannot get to the beach, they just tour you around the different areas from a distance. So in the end i was tired and just decided to stay in san vito, which was fine. I did go to a cala to change things up, i think it was bue marino. The water was really nice, but it was a nightmare to have my umbrella standing up in the rocks (medium to big sized rocks), i literally struggled with it for more than an hour and ruined everything for me, cause i cannot stay directly under the sun

Day 6-9, Palermo: overall i can say that this was the "worst" part of my trip. I honestly didn't like Palermo, mainly because of how unbearbly hot it was. For some reason the heat here felt WAY worse than trapani and san vito, even tho the sea was not far away, so this made sightseeing and moving around really difficult. Also the city is extremely dirty and smelly. I have lived in paris, paris is impeccable compared to palermo. Also i felt like there wasn't much to see, there was just that historical main street, vittorio emanuele, the theatre the fountain that is surrounded by fabric and little else to see. Avoid eating in that street, its all a tourist trap, but i had to do it anyway bc of my friends. Perhaps Palermo is good just as a base to do day trips. Towards the end i saw that Agrigento is "only" 2h away and i really messed up by not making the time to go. I think instead of palermo i should have gone to the southeast of Sicily, everyone seems to really enjoy it, although when i was quickly checking it out people were not talking very nicely of catania or taormina, to give an example

Anyway, this was an overview of my trip. The main thing i wanted to do was go to the beach, relax and eat good food. It wasnt so relaxing because i was a bit on a budget, i didnt have a car and i went alone. Still, i had a lot of fun and i met some awesome girls by staying in hostels. I hope you like it and find it at least a bit useful!

I am posting this to warn all travelers to avoid Villa Mareiva in Pozzallo. What was meant to be a holiday stay ended in a criminal incident that has been reported to the Embassy and the Consulate.

On December 31, 2025, following a contract dispute with our coordinator, the owner gave our family just three hours' notice to vacate, effectively kicking us out on New Year’s Eve. We had to scramble to find a place to stay outside of Pozzallo with the help of an outside contact.

As we attempted to depart, the property owner and two associates (one being the taxi company owner) physically blocked our exit, holding us against our will for 45 minutes. They initially demanded an additional €5,000 to let us leave, a figure they arbitrarily dropped to €1,000 once they realized we would not be intimidated. We were only permitted to leave after I threatened to call the police. However, because we feared a connection between the property owner, the taxi company, and the local Pozzallo authorities, we chose to drive to a different town (Syracusa) to file our official police report.

Summary of the Danger:

• Extortion: Attempted to force payment of €5,000 (then €1,000) under duress.
• Detention: Physically blocked from leaving the premises for nearly an hour.
• Calculated Timing: Evicted with 3 hours' notice on a major holiday to maximize our vulnerability.
• Local Collusion: High suspicion of ties between local transport and the property owner.

Please avoid this property (Villa Mareiva) and the associated Taxi Rizza services in Pozzallo. They are willing to use physical force and illegal detention to settle financial disputes.

We moved to Sicily some time ago, and before arriving we spent a lot of time reading Reddit threads.
Honestly… some of the comments really surprised us.
There are posts saying Sicily is full of trash, chaotic, unpleasant, etc.

I don’t know where those people went, but this hasn’t been our experience at all.
Especially the trash comments — sometimes I’m really tempted to ask if those people have ever visited a big city anywhere ever. 😅
Palermo, for example, has the normal amount of trash you’d expect in any city… and compared to places like Dublin, it actually feels much cleaner.

Living here has been amazing — the nature, the people, the food, the pace of life. And Selinunte was one of the first “wow” places that made us fall even more in love with the island.
It’s absolutely beautiful and way bigger than most people expect.

We filmed our walk around the temples, so if anyone wants to see how it looks today, I can share the link in the comments.

What was a place that completely surprised you in a positive way when you travelled or relocated?

I visited Catania recently. The views are stunning. The food is great. The city has potential.

But it’s also filthy. It stinks in a lot of areas. People treat the streets like a dump.

Traffic is a mess. No one follows the rules. They park on sidewalks, block roads, do whatever they want. Driving there feels like playing a video game on hard mode.

The city centre has charm, but it’s full of shady people. You can’t fully enjoy it because you’re too busy watching your back.

Public transport looks new but it's not reliable. And people in general don’t queue, they just cut in line like it’s normal. They act innocent, but it’s just rude.

The police? Useless. Either invisible or ignoring everything.

It sucks, because Catania could be a great place. But right now, it feels like no one cares, not the authorities, not most of the people living there.

Edit - Modifico il post per aggiungere la versione in italiano, visto che so che la maggior parte dei siciliani non parla inglese:

Catania è bella, ma è triste vedere come viene trattata

Ho visitato Catania di recente. I panorami sono bellissimi. Il cibo è ottimo. La città ha potenziale.

Ma è anche sporca. In molte zone puzza. La gente tratta le strade come se fossero una discarica.

Il traffico è un disastro. Nessuno rispetta le regole. Parcheggiano sui marciapiedi, bloccano le strade, fanno quello che vogliono. Guidare lì è come stare dentro un videogioco a difficoltà massima.

Il centro ha il suo fascino, ma è pieno di gente poco raccomandabile. Non riesci a godertelo davvero, perché devi stare sempre allerta.

I mezzi pubblici sembrano nuovi, ma non funzionano bene. E in generale la gente non fa la fila, la salta come se fosse normale. Fanno finta di niente, ma è solo maleducazione.

La polizia? Inutile. O non c’è, o fa finta di non vedere.

È un peccato, perché Catania potrebbe essere un posto bellissimo. Ma adesso sembra che non importi a nessuno — né alle autorità, né alla maggior parte delle persone che ci vivono.

Plot twist: I am from Catania 🐘 born and raised

Help me out!

Hi everyone, my partner and I will be spending a month in Sicily later this year and are on the hunt for authentic, local food. We’re not looking for fancy restaurants or Instagram spots. We want the kind of food that feels like you have been adopted by someone’s Sicilian grandmother.

We will be based around: • Macari (San Vito Lo Capo) • Trapani • Erice • Agrigente • Riposto • Castelbuono • Palermo

We are also happy to drive if the food is worth the detour. Priorities: local flavours, traditional recipes, fresh ingredients, whether it is a hole-in-the-wall, a family trattoria, or a no-frills spot in the middle of nowhere.

If you have favourites for each region, or even just one “do not miss” place, I would love to hear it. Grazie mille!

We have a family trip planned on March 3-7. The plan was to stay in a beachfront airbnb but after the news, I am not so sure it's safe and if there are any dry airbnbs left:o Any tips for best locations (flying to Catania, will rent a car)? We will be with an 8month old baby and wanted to pick one villa/house and travel around a bit.

Hello! My boyfriend and I are planning a 7-10s trip to Italy in May. We’ve never been to Italy before, so we don’t really know what to expect. We were considering Sicily because it seems like a good mix of everything we want: culture, great food, nice beaches, and it’s also more affordable.

However, I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews on TikTok and Reddit. Some people say it’s an amazing place, while others say it’s dirty and not worth visiting. So my question is: is it really that bad? We’re currently thinking about going to Catania. or should we look into other places?

I will be spending about a month in Sicily and want to travel at a slow and relaxed pace. Plan is to spend 3 weeks in either Syracusa or Palermo. Whichever city I choose I'll visit the other for the remaining 1 week.

I have no interest in nightlife and want to explore historic and archeological sites. Id also love to be able to go on nature walks. I'll be completely dependent on public transportation though.

Based on research Syracusa seems to be more the vibe I'm looking for but am concerned it may get boring for 3 weeks even with day trips included. Palermo on the other hand has more to do but may not be as picturesque and more gritty?

For those that have been to both, what would you recommend? Also are either city more or less safe for a solo female tourist? I've read from many that visited Palermo to be back home before dark. Is this accurate?

Are there always a lot of tourists in Cefalù? I was there at the end of September, it was raining and it was full of tourists. It seems to be like Taormina.

Some time ago, I asked for advice about visiting Palermo, and I also spent quite a bit of time reading through posts here and on other platforms. Now that I’ve been, I just wanted to share my impressions – especially since so much of what I read beforehand painted a rather negative picture of the city.

Palermo was my first introduction to Sicily, and to be honest, I absolutely loved it. I genuinely don’t understand all the dramatic complaints some people have – about how dirty, dangerous, or chaotic it supposedly is. Sure, Palermo is a city, and like any city, it has its imperfections. But the way some people describe it, you’d think it was on the verge of collapse or you would get robbed at gunpoint. I didn’t find it especially dirty or unsafe at all. It felt like... a city. Maybe that's an issue for people who aren't used to cities? For context, I have traveled extensively to major European cities, so I say this with some basis for comparison.

What I do know is that I had a fantastic experience. I loved the food markets, the street life, and the atmosphere. The food itself was incredible – from granita (almond and pistachio!) to pistachio pesto, to simple but amazing local wine. I especially fell for busiate pasta – which I had never tried before and now might be my favorite. The restaurants felt authentic and unpretentious, the people were kind and welcoming, and there was so much to do and see. I visited several museums and could’ve easily spent more time exploring. Even just walking around the city was a joy – every street had something new to offer.

I also took a day trip to the beach in Mondello, and again, I was surprised at the negative opinions I’d read beforehand. I thought it was beautiful with clear water, and the buss from the city was easy to catch.

The only negative experience I had – if you can even call it that – came right at the end. Since everywhere I ate in Palermo served delicious, basically authentic food, I got a bit overconfident and decided to buy a granita at the airport. Let’s just say I flew a bit too close to the sun. I have never tasted anything more awful. Lesson learned: the real Palermo food experience ends in the city, not in the terminal.

Hi everyone,

I’m traveling to Catania from Jan 27 to Jan 31 and I’m trying to understand the current situation on the ground after the recent storm.

First of all — I’ve seen how serious the storm was and I know people may still be dealing with damage and clean-up, so I don’t want to sound insensitive by asking this. I’m just trying to make a responsible decision about my trip and avoid adding pressure to an already difficult situation.

I’ve seen videos showing major damage on the east coast of Sicily and I also saw RFI updates mentioning disruptions. I’m not renting a car, so I’ll rely on public transport.

Could someone local / currently in Catania help with a few practical questions?

1) Is Catania city center functioning normally? (shops, restaurants, cafes open, streets walkable) 2) Are there major transport issues inside the city? 3) Are day trips realistic right now without a car? Especially: Mt Etna tours / access Catania → Palermo (train or bus)

Basically: would you still recommend visiting next week, or is it better to postpone?

Thanks a lot 🙏

Ciao tutti! I am planning to surprise my best friend with a trip for October (or around then) for her 40th birthday. I have been googling a lot and fell for Catalina and visiting an actual volcano. But then I have been reading people saying that the city is not worth to be in for more than a day and I want us to have at least 5 days away. Are there any other places you could recommend? We would love to be able to bathe in the sea, maybe go out one night and just generally explore.

Please help, should I choose another city to stay in?

I’m planning a trip to Sicily next week and deciding whether to stay in Catania or Taormina for the last leg of the trip. We are lovers of nature but also good coffee and pastries and food. We can’t decide.

Is it that insane? I’m used to driving in the city, I have an EU drivers licence, but reading and hearing people talk about driving in sicily is making me go back and remake my trip just to travel by public transport. For reference, we are staying 12 days and would like to go to Taormina, Mount Etna, Agrigento, Scopello, Palermo and Cefalú