Scicily

[Gman1]

Looking for recommendations for place to stay during May 2026.
We are looking for somewhere that has good mix of town life and beach.
We will hire car so can travel around to places of interest or beach.
We are in our 50s and 60s so not looking for club life,just a choice of bars and restaurants.

We had a lovely holiday in Cefalu a few years ago.

Syracuse is lovely. There’s a market in the historic Ortigia part and the big archeological site is astonishing. We have been to Catania twice. It’s a bit rough and ready, but I like to cook, and I like fish, and the fish market is unreal. Palermo was enjoyable. You aren’t likely to encounter the mafia, but their presence is there in, for example, the tomb of a judge who was killed, and has turned into a shrine.

Just love Sicily. Haven’t been to Ragusa, but it is a village on a hill, which I have on good authority, is wonderful.

we got the bus from Catania to Palermo. It skirted round the base of Mt Etna - great views of the volcano. If you get to Palermo make sure to take a day to go to Monte Reale, but it’s worth paying €10 for the tourist bus because the regular one is stupidly crowded and you might struggle to get on it.

hope you have a fabulous trip

Sorry. Just realised you are hiring a car so won’t have to fight for a spot on a bus

I think the previous poster means Siracusa and Monreale.

@Gman1we did a driving tour of Sicily a couple of years ago. Started in Palermo (without a car), then hired a pre booked car after that to tour around.
We loved Palermo, it’s got a great buzz and so much history. We went to Selinunte, Agrigento, Marina di Ragusa (seaside resort), Ragusa town (inland), Modica, Noto, Ortigia and Taormina. We flew home from Catania. The Baroque ‘earthquake’ towns in the south east are wonderful.
Taormina was the only place we weren’t so happy with. Great views and very pretty, but we felt it was extremely over priced and crammed with tourists (including us of course!).

Looked at Palermo and Marina di Ragusa, only going for 7 days so do you think its worth doing both then, and any recommendations where to stay.Can anybody use beaches or are they private to that hotel ect Not sure how it works always gone to places where they are free unless you want sunbed.

Ortigia is absolutely stunning

@Gman1there were plenty of sandy beaches at Marina di Ragusa that were public. It’s quite a drive from Palermo though. What about Mondello beach near Palermo? I haven’t been, but heard it’s nice.

I’d agree Cefalu is lovely.

Yes ive looked at both mondello and Marina di Ragusa and not sure to try both and if i only did one which would be best.