Sicily, from Etna to the Valley of the Temples

A week travelling around eastern Sicily, from Catania to the Valley of the Temples, all organised "do it yourself" online. Windjet-Meridiana flight from Verona, return €300 per couple Car hire with enoleggioauto.it, final company Advantage, a Citroen CMax (there were 4 of us) for a week €204.00 Hotels booked on Booking.com: Catania Misterbianco hotel il Gelso Bianco (€65 including breakfast) Coming down from Etna, on the outskirts of Trecastagni, Agriturismo biologico dell'Etna, (€50 without breakfast) In Piazza Armerina hotel Selene (€65 including breakfast) In Porto Empedocle hotel Villa Eos (€60 including breakfast) On the way back to Catania hotel Catania Ognina (€56 including breakfast).

Two nights at the Agriturismo Saccollino (meeting our travelling companions) just outside Noto, immersed in the countryside, to reach it a few km of dirt road (€70.00 including breakfast, in the end we pay €100.00 per day for half board). A week is certainly not much even though we limited ourselves to the eastern part of the island. We saw a great deal, sometimes a bit rushed, but for a first taste of the island it was a lovely experience.

Here are the places we visited, in order; Acireale (very busy centre) - Giardini Naxos, the seafront is beautiful - Taormina (the view of Isola Bella is spectacular, parking problems here too) Etna (passing through Linguaglossa we got as far as Rifugio Sapienza, unfortunately it was a cloudy afternoon and we managed to see very little, quite cold anyway) - Trecastagni (the Saponari restaurant is excellent) - Nicolosi (the famous "gateway to Etna") - Enna (worth seeing the Cathedral, the Castello di Lombardia and Frederick's tower) - Villa Romana del Casale, near Piazza Armerina (the mosaics are marvellous and so is the la Ruota restaurant) - Caltagirone (the staircase is beautiful...

the infiorata had just taken place) - Piazza Armerina (a little disappointing) - Valley of the Temples (blazing sun and a special atmosphere) - Porto Empedocle (nothing special) - Scala dei Turchi (an unthinkable place, beyond all imagination) - San Leone (if you are looking for somewhere to have dinner) - Ragusa (very beautiful, from the Cathedral to the gardens to the old town, all well kept) - Modica (the cathedral is majestic, and the chocolate) - Scicli (a Baroque jewel and a set for Inspector Montalbano) - Noto (astonishing) - Vendicari oasis (a lonely sea) - Marzamemi (ancient tuna fishery and fish restaurants) - Capo Passero and Isola delle Correnti - Calamosca beach - Syracuse (beautiful Ortigia, the Greek theatre a little disappointing) - Catania (chaos and traffic)