marcopizzaiuolo

I have tried to stay away from the discussion about food destination as a Neapolitan living abroad, I keep remind people that most of the Food that are now consider Italian Staples are actually of Neapolitan origin (pizza, pasta with tomatoes sauce above all) but what I would say, is that although you can get great quality/value ratio across most of the south of Italy, Sicily can really offer one of the highest value for money you can get. My recent experience on the east coast of Sicily (from Taormina to Siracusa) was great at all level, from high end cuisine to “coffee shops equivalent” , all offering great food at price points that would have been half or 1/3 of what you would pay for similar quality from Rome and above

Lefly

Calabria too has a very good food/prices ratio, but unfortunately it isn't what you could call an "international tourist destination" like Sicily.
That said, as Piemontese living abroad, a lot of food considered "Italian" it really isn't...

By the way, Sicily is a place where I would like to go again after a short trip there last year. I had just the time to see the Etna one day and go to the beach another one, so I have a lot of places and towns to visit yet

rxgeek

I was afraid limiting us to those two cities was a bad idea so I was relieved to read that. I'm trying to limit hopping from one city to another and not renting a car. Visiting in early March is not ideal but my travel calendar is fortunately pretty full.
My questions:
We are arriving in Milan at 10:30 am from the US. Should we stay overnight before heading to Palermo?
How many nights in Palermo?
Taking train to Catania.
We are departing from Catania to Rome to home. How many nights in Catania?
Grazie.

travelmad478

I would have felt very cheated if I had spent my entire trip in Palermo and Catania. There is so, so much to see in the countryside and the smaller towns. We were in Palermo for two nights and Catania for one night. I'm sure we could have done more in each city, but we wanted to spend a lot more time elsewhere.

mreynolds767

I feel there is a difference between staying the entire time in the 2 cities vs. staying in the 2 cities to use as your bases to visit other places since the cities are more accessibility to transit options than the smaller towns are if you don't wish to rent a car.
So for the poster above I am not sure which type of trip you are planning? City sites only or if you are planning daytrips from the cities.

If so figuring out how many day trips and to where you want to see would be a first step before determining how many days you need in the 2 main cities.
Personally I would not go to Sicily and never leave Palermo and Catania. Those are 2 "gritty" cities so may not be the vacation experience you are looking for OR it could be right up your alley and the reason you choose to stay here.