Western Sicily’s Temples & Coast

We have just returned from a wonderful 15 days exploring the fascinating island of Sicily. In spite of its being mid October/early November we had hot sunshine and blue skies every day which felt essential to our experience. We wandered at leisure around the wonderful Moorish influenced towns of Trapani and Mazara del Vallo on the west coast. We loved the coastal town of Marinella on the south coast where we enjoyed an alfresco Sicilian- style karaoke evening at the Ristorante Baraonda! We were fascinated and a little horrified by the Museo of the Mafia in Salemi but very glad to have visited it. Marvellous ancient archaeological sites of atmospheric Selinunte and Agrigento were further highlights of our first week.

We drove from Agrigento to Siracusa via the Villa Romana de Casales to see the amazingly well preserved mosaics - an add-on we managed to find ourselves!

The beautiful Baroque towns of Siracusa and Ragusa lived up to expectations and we particularly enjoyed exploring the Neapoli Archaelogical Park on the mainland at Siracusa. Our last two nights in Catania rounded off the holiday perfectly - a vibrant city, much cleaner than we'd expected with its wonderful fish market and Baroque Cathedral and the ever present Etna as a backdrop. We were delighted to have a view of Etna from our 4th floor room at Il Principe.

Hotel accommodation was varied and on the whole excellent- the swimming pools at Nubia and Menfi were a real bonus given the hot weather.

As always Inntravel's directions throughout were a joy to follow- a bit like being on a treasure hunt -  and the notes very informative and insightful. 

We feel we have seen enough Baroque churches to last us a lifetime but that wont put us off returning as we'd like to visit Palermo one day.

Many thanks to Inntravel for an excellent experience.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our Western Sicily's Temples & Coast, and Baroque Riches of Sicily journeys.

We combined the Wonders of Western Sicily with Western Sicily's Temples and Coasts and enjoyed both weeks although the walking was less enjoyable than it might have been in early October because of the heat, although the walks themselves were not particularly demanding. Among the first week's highlights were the view from Erice (and the excellent welcome at the Hotel Elimo), the Impossible Gardens on the Cala Rossa walk on Favignana, the tranquillity of Levanzo and the two restaurants in Scopello overlooking the bay (Nettuno and La Terrazza).

Our second week was notable for the quality of the accommodation, along with the meals provided and the service, not to mention beautiful pools. The Hotel Baglio della Luna did not have availability and we were advised to look for our own accommodation; despite the praises heaped upon the Baglio della Luna by many travellers, we think we found a very satisfactory replacement, with a particularly lovely garden/pool, amazing breakfast and welcoming host! We very much enjoyed the visits to the classical sites (start early!) but also the excursions to Salemi, Mazara del Vallo, the earthquake villages and their history and the visit to Mozia island.

We spent 2 nights in Palermo and found it very interesting; don't miss the Norman Palace and the Palatine Chapel. The only negative experience of our trip was the Hotel Tonic in Palermo for a variety of reasons. It's conveniently located but we were not pleased with it and would not stay there again. Otherwise we would definitely recommend both these holidays.

Useful note: As we started our Temples and Coasts week on a Sunday, we had to pick up our hire car from Palermo airport as the city office was closed. This proved to be very much to our advantage as we did not have to do battle with the city traffic. In our case, it was also very simple because we were transferred to the airport after our first week's holiday but you can easily get the train from the station to the airport if you would prefer to pick up your car there.

The hotel and its location at Nubia was a lovely place to start the holiday. The local salt flats pans and museum were very interesting, as was Erice. All the temples were worth visiting.  My favourite was Selinunte. For the walking week I definitely recommend using the GPX files over the notes. We stayed in seven different hotels and each had its own interesting attractions. All the hotels were excellent and full of character.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer combined our self-guided journey 'Western Sicily's Temples & Coast' with our walking holiday 'The Mountains of Sicily'.

A lovely trip in a relatively quiet area of Sicily. Many places of interest and some fantastic sandy beaches and good restaurants for lunch stops and relaxation. Great hotels, and a friendly welcome everywhere.

It is an extraordinarily beautiful generous Island but has a complicated history of multiple invasions, devastating earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, corruption and at times unforgiving climate. We combined the Baroque Riches Tour with the Western Sicily Temples Tour and it was a fascinating journey into Mediterranean history punctuated with beaches and pistachio pesto and gelato. We loved Segesta Temple for its position and limestone Doric pillars, the clear waters of Scopello, the Norman fortified hill town of Erice, beautiful Ragusa and ancient Greek capital Syracusa. We had the time to drive into the middle of the Island and visit the Norman castles of the various quiet hill towns of Naro, Enna and Spelinga which was a different experience to the busier coastal towns and cities. 

You can’t avoid the magnificent views from every corner and the glimpses into the many influences from past empires in the culture, agriculture, religious practices and architecture. It’s fascinating and confusing, often things are open when they say closed and vice versa and train station clocks can be out by 5-10 minutes. My advice is get up early and do as much as your energy allows, plan as much as you can but be prepared to be flexible and if you are going to drive in Palermo you will need a sense of humour and full insurance on the rental car. 

Stunning scenery and wonderful archaeological sites

Highlights for us were Erice and Agrigento particularly the cathedrals. Did enjoy most of it though including the greek temples at several sites, the amphitheatre at Segesta and walking round Mozi island out from the Saline. Many churches were closed at every place we went, so after tempting descriptions from you we couldn't enter them. There was only one open in Trapani but it did have these interesting statues that are carried in parades and only look like stone. Nothing was open in Salemi except for the museum which was certainly worth visiting. Hard to adequately descibe the Mafia section. Agree with all your comments there. The information given in the booths was a mixture of prosaic almost banal on the one hand and terrifying on the other. Very few people around when we were there but a man did appear down a dark corridor in the Mafia section and I briefly felt unsafe. It is that sort of place. The earthquake villages and their replacements were interesting in a different way and I am plesed we saw them. Gibellina old and new were the best. Gibellina is still not the complete deal though. Yes it has some nice art works and a fascinating church where I damaged my thumb trying to open a gate facing its little amphitheatre but it seems over supplied with housing and underpopulated. Dont know if they would welcome heaps of immigrants though. The Autostrado were magnificent, quite a contrast to the backcountry roads you sent us down. All in all we are left with a host of memories and very glad we did the trip. My wife had misgivings about me driving on the wrong side of the road in Italy but we somehow both survived and returned an undamaged car. That was also a highlight as about 3% of Scily's drivers go scarily fast and tailgate you. 

Western Sicily's Temples & Coast:

The upgrade to the Patruni room at Relais Antiche Saline was definitely worth it. The boat trip and stroll round Mozia island are very relaxing. The Salt Museum attached to the Relais Antiche Saline is very good value especially with the expanation of the salt journey by staff. Segesta and Selinunte are both spectacular sites. Segesta can easily be visited en-route to Menfi. Getting to the Valley of the Temples early is well worthwhile, both to avoid the crowds and the worst heat of the day. Also the Roman sector was virtually empty and just as fascinating as the rest of the site, but a bit of a walk and easy to miss (there's a slightly overgrown underpass on the way to it).

Baroque Riches of Sicily:

Siracusa was our favourite stop, and we could easily have spent two extra days there. The puppet theatre show in Siracusa is great fun, even if you quickly lose the plot. The guided tour of Chiesa di San Filippo Apostolo in Siracusa is fascinating. Catania is an interesting city to explore, but Etna is a "must visit" destination, so extra time here is worthwhile.

HIGHLIGHTS: Baglio della Luna hotel, but also of course the Temples at Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento. The overall highlight for us was probably Villa Casale, though the route there (on Google Maps) was almost as memorable as the mosaics, but for the wrong reasons.

Hotel Baglio della Luna and Relais Antiche Saline were particularly good and the extra nights enabled us to spend more time sightseeing in these areas. We added 3 nights in Old Town Palermo and would certainly recommend this.

We saw so much, Sicily is a truly beautiful country of contrasts. The accomodation options were comfortable and sometimes really great - try driving in Sicily it's a great way to go.

A really lovely tour amidst beautiful scenery. So much to see and the clear choices of suggested daily tours helped focus our minds on what we really wanted to experience. Out of peak season travel meant less crowds but still beautiful sunny and warm weather. I highly recommend this tour if you love history, art and beautiful scenery.

Restaurants- definitely visit Da Vittorio at Porto Palo di Menfir if you're staying at Il Vignetto. What a magnificent setting and what a glorious meal. A perfect evening.

Palermo - We recommend the Hotel PLaza Opera's restaurant. The food is imaginative and the staff enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The rooftop view of Palermo is superlative!

The open-topped bus in Palermo is useful for orientating oneself, and taking weight off the feet!

We spent a magical morning at the Botanical Garden, reached using the open topped bus.

The InnTravel walking tour of the city was helpful for a closer look at some of Palermo's many architectural treasures.

Best visits: Selinunte was marvellous; the Ritual Bread Museum in Salemi was a unique experience. Both highly recommended.

Mozia was also a special visit as was Mazara del Vallo. As usual Inntravel sets a very high standard. 

Thank you for an amazing holiday. It was brilliant from start to finish. The temples and churches are stunning, Sicily is a fascinating place and the driving itinerary allows you to see much more of the country. The hotels were excellent - we had an extra night in Nubia which was good as a lot to see. Walking across the salt pans for dinner was exciting (we went every night as the food and setting was so good). The dinner at the last hotel was simply stunning - we ate in the garden with a view of the Valley of the Temples surrounded by citrus and olive trees - the food was superb. It was a wonderful holiday.