Best things to do in Sicily: 16 picks by area, with distances

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The best things to do in Sicily are spread over an island of 25,711 square kilometers, the largest in the Mediterranean, so the first decision is which half to visit. Give one half seven days, or plan 10 to 14 days if you want Etna, Siracusa, Agrigento and Palermo in the same trip.

At a glance

• How many days: seven for the east or the west, 10 to 14 for both. See how many days to plan for Sicily.
• Main airports: Catania Fontanarossa for the east, Palermo for the west.
• Getting around: trains and buses link the main cities. A car is the practical choice for rural temples, reserves and small towns.
• Book ahead: the guided ascent of Etna in summer, Aeolian hydrofoils and rooms in July and August, theater tickets in Siracusa from May to July.

The order of priority

On a first trip, rank the sights like this and cut from the bottom. The sections below follow the map instead. The Sicily travel guide covers general planning.

1. Valley of the Temples, Agrigento
2. Palazzo dei Normanni and Cappella Palatina, Palermo
3. Mount Etna
4. Siracusa: Ortigia and the Neapolis park
5. Monreale cathedral
6. Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla
7. Taormina and its ancient theater
8. Villa Romana del Casale
9. Palermo markets and street food
10. Aeolian Islands
11. Cefalù
12. Segesta
13. Zingaro nature reserve
14. Catania
15. Trapani and Erice
16. Selinunte

How far apart things are

Sicily is roughly a triangle. Palermo is on the north coast toward the west, Catania is on the east coast, and Agrigento is in the middle of the south coast.

• Palermo to Catania: 191.6 km on the A19 motorway across the interior.
• Catania to Messina: 76.8 km on the A18, with Taormina about two thirds of the way up.
• Catania to Siracusa: about 60 km by road.
• Palermo to Agrigento: about 130 km by road, with no motorway.
• Catania to Agrigento: about 160 km by road.
• Palermo to Trapani: about 95 km by road.

Agrigento is a long day trip from either Palermo or Catania and works better as an overnight stop between the two. The east or west comparison helps if you have one week.

East coast: Etna, Taormina and Catania

Mount Etna

Etna is an active volcano that covers 1,190 square kilometers north of Catania. Its summit was measured at 3,403 meters in September 2024, and the figure changes with eruptions. From Rifugio Sapienza on the south side, the Funivia dell'Etna cable car climbs from 1,920 to 2,500 meters. The operator's Tour 3000 continues by 4x4 bus to 2,800 meters and on foot with a volcanological guide to 3,000 meters.

Time: half a day for the cable car and the lower craters, a full day for a guided ascent. Booking: buy the guided tour ahead in summer. Prices are on the operator's booking pages. Access to the upper zone depends on volcanic activity and can close without notice. See the Etna guide and how to get from Catania to Etna.

Taormina and the ancient theater

Taormina is a hill town between Catania and Messina. Its ancient theater faces Etna and the coast. The full ticket costs €16 and the reduced ticket for ages 18 to 25 costs €9, as listed for 2026. The theater usually opens at 9:00 and closes one hour before sunset. Entry is free on the first Sunday of the month.

Time: one to two hours for the theater, half a day for the town. Booking: not needed outside concert evenings. The main street is crowded from late morning in summer. Read is Taormina overrated before you commit several nights, and the theater guide for the visit.

Catania

Catania is the island's second city, rebuilt in baroque style after the 1693 earthquake. The morning fish market near the cathedral square is the thing to see, and it costs nothing.

Time: half a day. Booking: none. Start with the Catania guide.

South-east: Siracusa and the baroque towns

Siracusa: Ortigia and the Neapolis park

Siracusa was founded by Corinthian settlers in the 8th century BC and has been a UNESCO site since 2005. There are two parts to a visit. Ortigia is the old town on a small island and is free to walk. The Neapolis archaeological park is on the mainland side and holds the Greek theater, first built in the 5th century BC, with a seating area 138.6 meters across.

Time: one full day, two if you add the archaeological museum. Booking: only for the classical plays staged in the theater at sunset from May to July. Check the current park ticket price on the official site. Guides: Ortigia in depth, the Neapolis park and Catania to Siracusa transport.

Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla

The earthquake of 1693 destroyed the towns of south-east Sicily, and they were rebuilt in baroque style. UNESCO listed eight of them in 2002, including Noto, Modica, Ragusa and Scicli. Noto is the easiest to visit, with churches and palaces lined up along one main street.

Time: half a day for Noto, a full day for Modica and Ragusa Ibla together. Booking: none. The motorway south of Siracusa runs 47.7 km to Ispica and passes Noto. Beyond that the roads are slow. Compare the towns in Noto or Ragusa.

Centre and south coast: Agrigento and Villa Romana del Casale

Valley of the Temples, Agrigento

The Valley of the Temples is the archaeological park of the Greek city of Akragas, on a ridge below modern Agrigento. It has the remains of seven Doric temples in a park of 1,300 hectares, a UNESCO site since 1997. The Temple of Concordia, built in the 5th century BC, is the most complete.

Time: three to four hours on foot, with little shade. Booking: tickets are sold online and at the gates. The park ticket is listed at €14 on the CoopCulture ticket site. Go at opening time or late in the afternoon from June to September. Guides: the Valley of the Temples guide and Palermo to Agrigento.

Villa Romana del Casale

This is a Roman country villa of the early 4th century AD, about 3 km from the town of Piazza Armerina in the interior. Its mosaic and marble floors cover about 3,500 square meters. They include hunting scenes and a room of women athletes in two-piece outfits.

Time: two hours. Booking: none. The park's price table lists the full ticket at €14 and the reduced ticket at €7. The table is dated 2025, so confirm it before you go. The villa is hard to reach without a car. It fits best as a stop on the drive between Catania and Agrigento.

Palermo and the north coast

Palazzo dei Normanni and Cappella Palatina

The royal palace of the Norman kings holds the Cappella Palatina, a 12th-century chapel covered in gold mosaics under a carved wooden ceiling. It is one of the nine components of the UNESCO listing for Arab-Norman Palermo, added in 2015. The Fondazione Federico II lists the full ticket at €19 from Friday to Monday and €15.50 from Tuesday to Thursday. Last entry is at 16:30 from Monday to Saturday and at 12:30 on Sundays and holidays.

Time: 90 minutes. Booking: useful in high season to avoid the ticket queue. The chapel can close for part of the morning on Sundays and feast days. See the Cappella Palatina guide.

Palermo markets and street food

Ballarò and the other street markets in the old center sell produce and fish in the morning and fried snacks all day.

Time: two hours on foot. Booking: none, unless you want a guided tasting. Go before noon. Details in the Palermo markets guide and the street food guide.

Monreale cathedral

Monreale is a hill town just outside Palermo. Its Norman cathedral is part of the same UNESCO listing, and its walls are covered in mosaic cycles of Bible scenes. The cathedral's site gives the visiting hours as 9:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Saturday, and 14:00 to 17:00 on Sunday.

Time: half a day from Palermo. Booking: none. Transport is in Palermo to Monreale.

Cefalù

Cefalù is a small town on the north coast, east of Palermo, with a Norman cathedral in the Arab-Norman listing and a sandy beach next to the old streets. It is on the Palermo to Messina railway, so it is the easiest beach day from Palermo without a car.

Time: one day. Booking: none. The beach is packed in August. See the Cefalù guide and Palermo to Cefalù by train.

The west: Segesta, Zingaro, Trapani and Selinunte

Segesta

Segesta has an unfinished Doric temple standing alone in a valley and a theater on the hill above it. It is inland between Palermo and Trapani and has little shade. Time: two hours. Booking: none. Check the current price on the park's site. The Segesta guide explains the walk between the two monuments.

Zingaro nature reserve

The Zingaro is a strip of coast with no road between Scopello and San Vito Lo Capo. A footpath follows the shore and drops to a series of small pebble coves. A fire in summer 2025 burned about 1,600 hectares. The reserve reopened in part on 14 March 2026, and the north entrance and the full coastal path reopened on 9 May 2026. The reserve's site gives the opening hours as 8:00 to 16:00 every day.

Time: a full day with swimming. Booking: none. There is an entry fee. Check the amount on the reserve's site. Carry water and wear closed shoes. More coast ideas are in the best beaches of western Sicily.

Trapani and Erice

Trapani is a port town on the western tip, about 95 km from Palermo. Erice is a medieval stone village on the mountain directly above it. Time: one day for both. Booking: none. See Trapani and Erice.

Selinunte

Selinunte is a large Greek archaeological park on the south-west coast with temples in two groups above the sea. It is quieter than Agrigento. Time: half a day. Booking: none. Check the current ticket price on the park's site. The Selinunte guide has the layout.

Off the north coast: the Aeolian Islands

The Aeolian Islands are seven inhabited volcanic islands 30 to 80 km off the north coast: Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea. Stromboli and Vulcano are active volcanoes. UNESCO listed the group in 2000. Hydrofoils leave mainly from Milazzo, on the north-east coast.

Time: three nights at least. Booking: hydrofoils and rooms in July and August. Sailings can be canceled in rough seas, so do not plan a flight for the day you return. Start with the Aeolian Islands guide.

What to skip if you are short on time

• With five days or fewer, do not combine Palermo and Siracusa.
• Selinunte and Segesta repeat what you see at Agrigento. Keep one of the three if temples are not your main interest.
• The Aeolian Islands need their own block of days. Leave them out of a one-week trip.

How to group the sights by day

East, seven days from Catania airport: Catania for one day, Etna for one, Taormina for one, then three nights in Siracusa with day trips to Noto, Modica and Ragusa Ibla. The Catania, Taormina and Siracusa itinerary has the detail.

West, seven days from Palermo airport: three days for Palermo with Monreale, one day in Cefalù, then Segesta on the way to two or three nights around Trapani, with a day at the Zingaro reserve. See the Palermo and western Sicily itinerary.

Both halves, 10 to 14 days: fly into one airport and out of the other. Sleep in Agrigento between the two halves. Routes are in the 10-day itinerary and the 14-day itinerary. For bases, read where to stay in Sicily.

Questions travelers ask

Sources

• Wikipedia: List of World Heritage Sites in Italy (the seven Sicilian sites and their years)
• Wikipedia, for stable geography and history: Sicily, Mount Etna, Greek Theatre of Syracuse, Valle dei Templi, Villa Romana del Casale, Aeolian Islands
• Wikipedia: Autostrade of Italy (lengths of the A18, A19, A20 and A29)
• Rome2Rio: road distances and transport operators between Sicilian cities
• Funivia dell'Etna: cable car and Tour 3000
• Taormina.it: visiting the ancient theater, 2026 prices and free days
• CoopCulture: Valley of the Temples ticket
• Villa Romana del Casale: park ticket table
• Fondazione Federico II: opening hours and prices of the Palazzo Reale complex
• Duomo di Monreale: visiting hours
• Riserva dello Zingaro: official site, opening hours
• Regione Siciliana: Zingaro reserve reopening, March 2026
• Balarm: Zingaro north entrance reopening, May 2026