The Detour Diaries

Planning your next trip to Sicily? Here is a 10-day itinerary that hits the highlights of western Sicily without rushing around.

Takeaway tips for a trip to Sicily

Tip #1: For less than 14 days, pick a coast

Don’t try to visit the whole island of Sicily in less than two weeks (I’d even recommend less than 3-4 weeks). You won’t see everything and you’ll leave your trip more tired than when you began.

Tip #2: Visit a mix of cities and beach/mountains

Sicily’s cities (like Palermo) are a lot for those who aren’t used to the chaos of southern Italy. Unless you’re looking for just an urban exploration vacation, mix up your bases throughout the trip.

Tip #3: Rent a car, don’t rely on public transport

Sicily’s public transport is unreliable at best, and limits your flexibility to visit places “off the beaten path”. Rent a car, driving in Sicily is not that bad.

Tip #4: Pick your season well

Sicily is not always warm enough for beach and ocean, and the summers can be intense. Pick your season well depending on what matters to you. Looking for mostly beach time? Pick late shoulder season (i.e. September). Want to avoid crowds? Don’t come in June-early September. Want to see green landscape and wildflowers? Late April and early May are your best bets.

A 10-day itinerary

Here is a 10-day itinerary for a late spring-early summer trip to Sicily.

Route: Palermo – Marsala – Agrigento – Erice/Trapani – Scopello

Days 1-3: Palermo

Start your trip in Palermo. It’s the most common airport to fly into when getting to Sicily’s western coast and it’s a great introduction to the island.

What to do in Palermo:

This definitely isn’t a comprehensive list of things to do in Palermo, but it is some highlights from my trip.

• Take a walking tour: A good way to get an introduction to the city is to take a walking tour. You can either choose one of the group tours, or get a private guide. We had a private guide recommended to us and it was great!
• Visit the Norman Palace & Cappella Palatina: I’ve been to a lot of cathedrals and palaces across Europe and the Norman/Arab influence in the architecture in Sicily is really unique and incredible.
• See the Quattro Canti: This intersection of Palermo’s main streets has some incredible architecture and is a must see. Sadly it is incredibly crowded so not a peaceful visit, but still worth it. Don’t be tempted by any of the restaurants on Via Marqueda though – they’re mostly tourist traps!
• Visit the Palermo Cathedral: Even just from the outside, the cathedral is quite impressive. You can go inside (the inside of Monreale cathedral is better), and then also go up to the roof for some views (closes at around 5pm though in low season).
• Take a partial day trip to Monreale: A bit outside the city is Monreale, which has an incredible cathedral! You can drive or take public transport there and perhaps plan to spend 3-4 hours if you include lunch.

Tip: If you go to Monreale, there are two things not to miss. First, do not miss the cloister gardens right behind the cathedral. You can have exit left out of the cathedral, go behind the corner, and there is a ticket office there. The gardens and architecture are amazing (see below)! Second, if you want to have lunch, go to Osteria Peper’s – cute terrace and great food!

Where to eat in Palermo:

There are a ton of restaurant options in Palermo that it can get difficult to choose. Below is a map with some of the recommended and tried restaurants that I found. Some notes:

• Locale: This was definitely a very funky restaurant. The food was okay, not amazing, but it’s an easy place to eat and great for an aperativo.
• Buatta Cucina Popolana: This place was recommended to me by multiple people from Sicily and it was good, but I wasn’t blown away by it.
• Casa Stagnitta: This bar/restaurant is right next to some to the Cathedral and the Church of Saint Mary ‘dell’Ammiraglio’, and I got the most amazing lemon granita here. Highly recommend!
• Terra Natural Spirit: The most understated place to get an aperativo is in Piazza Magione and Terra Natural Spirit is a great bar right on the square. Also highly recommend!

Tip: Do not rent a car for inside Palermo city. It’s not necessary and they really do drive insanely in the city itself.

Days 4-7: Marsala/Agrigento

After the chaos in Palermo, you will probably want a couple of days of peace and quiet. Marsala is really a beautiful area, especially staying outside the city of Marsala itself. A great place to stay in right near the famous salt flats, so you can visit those and you can see the amazing sunsets.

We stayed here, and it was a really awesome place to stay. Great for a group of 3-6.

What to do in Marsala:

Again, this isn’t a comprehensive list, but here are some things to do in the Marsala area:

• Relax at the beach/in a pool: This part of your trip should be a bit calmer after Palermo, so take a day to just rest and relax in some the nature and coast of the area.
• Visit the salt flats: The salt flats between Marsala and Trapani are famous and quite nice for a 1-2 hour visit. You can buy a ticket and walk out near them, or see from afar. If you aren’t staying near them and can see a sunset, there are some bars and restaurants that have a sunset view – but they get very crowded!
• Visit Mozia or one of the Egadi islands: Off the coast of the Marsala area, there are some islands to visit. Mozia has some ruins and a museum, and you can take a 10 minute ferry from the coast. The Egadi islands are a bit further out and better for when it is beach and swimming weather.
• See Marsala and Trapani city centers: Both are medium-sized towns that have some historical sites, but also nice seaside areas for walking and eating. In Trapani, we ate at Historico Restaurant, which was okay food and a great view. Some other choices on the list were Gennaio30 Bistrot, Al Vicoletto, and Ristorante Antichi Sapori.
• Take a road trip to Agrigento: I didn’t include this as a separate part of the itinerary because we did a day road trip to Agrigento from Marsala. It is definitely a long drive (2-2.5 hours each way), but we didn’t want to stay somewhere else for a night on such a short trip. If you go to Agrigento, get a guide and plan for a 2-3 hour tour at a minimum. Lunch at Il Re di Girgenti before driving back is a must for great views on a terrace overlooking the ruins!

Tip: Visiting a vineyard or olive oil tasting is great, but I would not recommend Donnafugata. They have great wine (which I would recommend), but it’s such a well-known name now that the tastings are not as intimate or nice as they are in smaller venues.

Day 8: Trapani/Erice

If you don’t visit Trapani before, stopping in Trapani and Erice on your way back to the northern coast is a good way to break up the day and kill some time before you check into your hotel in Scopello in the afternoon. I have a whole guide on visiting Erice here, but the gist of it is that it is worth a half day visit for sure, either taking the cable car from Trapani or driving.

Days 9-10: Scopello, Zingaro Reserve, and Castellammare del Golfo

Now it’s time for Sicily’s famous coastal beaches! There are a couple of cities/towns here and a big question is where to base yourself. We were based right outside Scopello town in one of the villas. I thought this was great because it was quiet and we had a pool and view of the ocean. Another option would be in Scopello town itself. I think that would be very charming, as the town is quite cute. But the town is tiny and I would guess there are fewer options with a pool.

You can also stay in Castellammare del Golfo. This is very close to Scopello and a much bigger town with more restaurant and other options.

What to do in the Scopello area:

• Walk through Scopello town: Scopello town is cute but tiny, you can visit it in an hour easily. But it’s still nice to walk around, have a coffee or gelato and just relax. We ate there at Ristorante La Terrazza, which had okay food, but an amazing view from its terrace.
• Visit Castellammare del Golfo: For a bit of a larger town, you can go to Castellammare del Golfo. Park up the hill in the modern part of the town and then walk down to the port and old town. We had an aperativo on the port and then ate at Ristorante Cumpà, which was good and had a view of the sea and port. Other options were Egesta, Ristorante La Madrice, and Osteria – Cucina e Cantina Siciliana. We also then had gelato at Gelateria Vernaci, which was awesome gelato with generous portions!
• Take a hike (and swim!) at Zingaro Nature Reserve: Zingaro Nature Reserve was my favorite part of my entire Sicily trip. It was absolutely beautiful, both for hiking and swimming, especially with the spring wildflowers. We were there in early May and it was still crowded to enter after around 12pm, so plan to get there before 10:30am for parking and maybe hike to the later beaches for a calmer experience. Note that the northern entrance is still closed from the wildfire so you must enter from the south (as of May 2026).

Tip: Do NOT visit Tonnara di Scopello – it really has become a tourist trap. The water is beautiful of course, but it’s the same in Zingaro and many of the beaches around the area. The entrance at the gate is expensive with just one tiny rock sea area to enter the water and the whole area is filled with people. Also note that you cannot visit the actual tonnara without a guided tour, which are only at specific times.

Alternative routes/options

Here are some other routes/alternatives that we considered, and their pros and cons.

Option 1: Staying overnight in Agrigento

We had a long discussion of whether we should stay overnight in Agrigento or do only a day trip. The day trip definitely was a lot of driving but ultimately I’m glad that we did not stay longer. With such a short trip, we did not think it was worth it to have four bases instead of three and we would have rather had more time in Marsala area. But staying in Agrigento would make for a more relaxed trip and less driving time in one day.

Option 2: Taking a day trip to Segesta

Segesta, another famous ruin, is very close to Scopello and we did consider going for a half day trip. Ultimately we did not because we wanted more relaxed time by the beach in Scopello, but it was highly recommended by our guide in Agrigento and was only about 45 minutes by car away.

Option 3: Going to Cefalù instead of Scopello

Finally, you can choose between Cefalù and Scopello area as your beach part of the trip. I have only heard good things about Cefalù, but we ultimately decided on Scopello so that we could go to the Zingaro Nature Reserve. As I said above, Zingaro was my favorite part of the whole trip, so I would make it a priority in my itinerary.