Don't know where to stay in Sicily in Oct

[zafferana]

We're thinking of going for a week next Oct half-term and I can't decide why to stay.

We'd like to visit: Etna, Syracuse, Noto and Agrigento and ideally stay near the beach. We'll hire and car and we usually SC. We have two boys aged 12 and 9 who like the outdoors. A pleasant town with a bit of life, some restaurants and shops would be good. We don't want to stay in Catania (which I've visited before and don't particularly like).

Any ideas? TIA

Look at Giardini Naxos. It's well placed for what you want to see, & seems to fit the bill.

We stayed in an hotel nearby a few years back, so can't recommend a SC place.

We stayed in Ortigia and loved it but we are old.

We travelled around Sicily a few years ago - I'd recommend staying in more than one place to see all the things you want to see.

Near Etna, we stayed in a lovely town called Mascalucia (or something very similar to that) - it was brilliantly placed for seeing Etna, and not touristy at all. There was a lovely Sawdays property there with a pool etc which was perfect.

For the 'earthquake' towns in the south (Noto etc) I'd stay somewhere near there - Modica is an amazing place to stay, and a good base for exploring.

Cava Grande well worth a visit, and the necropolis close by there - can't remember its name!

Cefalu!!! Wonderful beach - my daughter took wonderful pictures in October
Close to town

Thank you for all your ideas so far.

I think Giardini Naxos is too far from Noto, etc and Agrigento.

I've stayed in Ortigia too @UrsulaPandress and loved it - but I think with kids it wouldn't be ideal and there's the issue of parking too.

Cefalu looks lovely, but it's too far from the things we want to see this time.

I'm think I'm leaning towards somewhere on a beach near Syracuse.

Isn't Ortigia just part of Syracuse? (rather than being a difference place).

The places you want to visit are quite a long way apart (esp Agrigento) - you run the risk of spending hours and hours in a car if you attempt to do day trips to them all. I'd look at staying somewhere on the east coast to visit Etna etc, and then somewhere in the south to visit Noto etc. The beaches near Pozzallo are lovely if you can find somewhere near there.

It takes a long time to get anywhere in Sicily - the roads aren't great. And it's a massive island too. A beautiful one though - I can't wait to go back!

Ortigia is part of Syracuse but a 'separate' island and very much has its own character. Reviewing

Ortigia is the old, walled city of Syracuse - the streets are very narrow and parking extremely limited. And yes, Agrigento is far from everything else and I'm not 100% certain we'll make it there. I've actually been to Sicily three times, but I've only seen a small fraction of it, so I'd love to see a bit more, but I understand what you mean about the size of the island. However, with kids I don't really want to do a two-centre holiday with all the hassle that entails. I may have to just accept that we'll see stuff I've seen before on this trip!

We stayed in Ortigia and loved it but we are old.

That is on my wish list Ursula

We had a wonderful holiday in Cefalu a couple of years ago cinders15, but it is a long way from the places the OP wants to go to. I am desperate to go back to Sicily.