Sicily is a very beautiful island where you can spend weeks exploring it properly. There are so many villages and towns to visit that the best option would be to discover this lovely isle of Italy bit by bit. In this post, you will find a detailed 10 day trip plan around Western Sicily. I prepared this plan for our summer vacation with the family. We’ve done it ourselves and had a fantastic time! If you have less than 10 days for your Sicilian holiday, just pick a few days out of the plan below. It’s prepared in a way that can be altered easily based on your time frames and budget limitations.
The towns you will visit
Renting a car
In order to make these trips happen, make sure to rent a car. We rented an 8 seater van (as we were 6 people). You will need a car starting from Day 4 as the trips to Erice and Favignana can be done with public transport. It’s worth mentioning that parking and driving in Trapani is quite problematic, as the streets are very narrow and parking places are limited. Trapani is a small town, so you can walk everywhere, you don’t need a car in this town. Rent a car only if you are going to go out of the town. Make sure that either your hotel has parking or your Airbnb provides a parking place. We had neither, so we found a paid parking place that was some 25 mins walk from the apartment where we used to live.
I suggest you check out my guide to renting a car abroad. You’ll find a lot of useful information and tips on how to rent a car abroad and don’t loose money.
Accommodation
For this particular plan, you’ll need to rent a hotel/apartment in Trapani and in Palermo.
I went ahead and found a couple of moderately priced superb hotels in Trapani. I chose them the way I usually choose accommodation for ourselves – very seriously, with attention to details and taking into consideration the price/quality ratio. You can check out the hotels I picked for you below. If you use my link to book your hotel on Booking.com, you will get 10% of your trip back.
I also thought that you might like an idea of renting an apartment. So, l also found a few nice and well-rated apartments that you might be interested in. If you are new to the idea of renting a holiday apartment for your vacation, you can check out my guide on how to rent an apartment for the first time for your vacation. In this guide, you’ll find out how to find the perfect apartment for your holiday and how we usually do it. If you’ve never booked anything on Airbnb before and you don’t have an account, I encourage you to use my link to sign up and book your apartment; and you will get up to €25 off your first trip!
Hotel Trapani In
A modern 3* hotel, located in the heart of Trapani. The rooms are stylish and cozy. The hotel’s guests say that it’s clean and the service is great. There is a public parking nearby and breakfast is included in the price, which starts from €80 per night (might differ with the season)
Hotel San Michele
Another great 3* hotel with great design and quite spacious rooms, offering a perfect location and a private parking nearby. The price per night starts from €75 (might differ with the season).
Apartment: NoMapartments Il Cortile Romey
An Airbnb apartment for 3 guests: 1 bedroom, 2 beds, 1 bathroom. Price range per night: €37 – €43 (depends on the season).
Check it out now & use my coupon to get up to $30 off your first trip!
Romey apartment. A due passi dal mare
An Airbnb apartment for a maximum of 4 guests: 2 bedrooms, 3 beds, 1 bathroom. Price range per night: €35 – €65 (depending on the season).
Check it out now & use my coupon to get up to $30 off your first trip!
“L’Atmosfera” Apartment
A large Airbnb apartment for a maximum of 8 guests: 4 bedrooms, 4 beds, 2 bathrooms. Price range per night: €39 – €43 (depending on the season).
Check it out now & use my coupon to get up to $30 off your first trip!
Day 1. Trapani
We arrived in Trapani in the afternoon and stayed there for 6 nights. We used this town as a base to travel to close by villages, and of course, we spent some time in it. So we arrived, checked in, went for a walk around the little centre, found some nice restaurant and had a great dinner. It was a perfect start to our holidays! As you can imagine Trapani is full of restaurants and it won’t be a problem for you to find a good quality meal.
If you have some more time on your first day you can use it to find a car rental office and prebook your vehicle. However, I think it’s easier and more convenient (and very often much cheaper) to rent a car online. Note that a car you normally choose through any website is not always the car you are going to get. They will give you the same type/size/specs car, but it might not be the same brand and colour, as it very depends on the availability. Make sure to book your rental car beforehand if you travel in summer, as you might not find any or prices will be very high.
Day 2. Erice
Have your Italian breakfast at the hotel or in some local cafe and prepare yourself for a wonderful trip to a medieval town called Erice. It is situated around 15 km away from Trapani and nested on a hill which you can get to cable car (so much fun!). You’ll see a few churches and castles, you’ll walk down the cobbled streets, venturing into pretty shops every now and then, and eat at some really nice restaurants.
I wouldn’t suggest you renting a car specifically for this trip, as it’s very easy to get to the cableway station by bus and then use a cable car to arrive in Erice. The tickets are not very expensive. You can check prices here. So, we had a fantastic day in Erice! We had lunch, did a lot of walking, took many beautiful photos and then returned back to Trapani at around 6 pm. That gave us plenty of time to shower, get dressed and go for dinner. I must say, I am writing this post right now and feeling so happy going through all the memories in my head about this amazing holiday. By the way, Erice is one of my favourite places in Western Sicily!
Day 3. Favignana
Make sure to have your swimwear ready as today you are going to visit Favignana island, it is the biggest Island of the Egadi archipelago! Again, you don’t really need a car today (if your accommodation is in the Trapani centre), as it’s very easy to get to Favignana by public transport (bus to get to the ferry terminal (if needed) + ferry). You can check timetable and prices here and even book your tickets. We just went directly to Hydrofoil Ferry Terminal Trapani and bought our tickets right there. It was very easy. Make sure to go in the morning, as the ferry might be packed with people later and it’s much nicer to experience the island during the early hours as later in the afternoon it can be unbearably hot (if you travel in summer).
What we did was have our breakfast in Trapani, arrived in Favignana, had a coffee in a big cafe near by the ferry Terminal in Favignana; walked around the centre briefly and took a local bus to get to Cala Azzurra – a very nice beach with crystal blue water. The bus stop wasn’t very far from where the ferry stopped us. After spending a good amount of time at the beach we head back to the centre of Favignana to find something to eat. There is a number of restaurants that offer good lunch options. After heaving long and Italian lunch we had back to Trapani, where we had some more time to discover the town and have some dinner.
Day 4. Segesta and Selinunte
Have your breakfast and go to collect your car. You are going to have a long day ahead. Today’s destinations are Segesta (40 km from Trapani) and Selinunte (50km from Segesta). You’ll get to see remains of real Greek Temples!
So we went to Segesta, enjoyed this beautiful place, took lots of photos and then, of course, we’ve got hungry as lunchtime approached. Luckily for us, while planning this trip I found this amazing restaurant only 1.5 km away from the sight. So don’t you dare to eat at a local bistro at the sight (the food isn’t good there anyway). Simply follow the signs or find it on Google Maps (the road will be a dusty one among the vineyards, and you might think that you are going in the wrong direction, but don’t give up) and have your lunch at Baglio Segesta. It’s a family-run “turismo rurale” restaurant, where everything you are going to eat is homemade and delicious. Some people commented on Tripadvisor that it was closed when they went, so maybe it would be a good idea to call there and ask beforehand.
After lunch, we went to Selinunte. He we enjoyed another temple, had a long walk at the site (as there are a few spots that you can visit) and headed back to Trapani, where we had our dinner and a pleasant walk down the streets of the town.
Day 5. Castellammare del Golfo
Today head to Castellammare del Golfo (50 km from Trapani). It’s a small coastal town, and is very pretty as are most Sicilian towns. Here apart from beautiful views you can see a local castle, fortress and a couple of churches. We weren’t lucky as the castle, fortifications and churches were closed. However, it was enough for us to view them from the exterior, and we didn’t feel like we missed out on a lot by not visiting them.
We enjoyed walking around the town and taking photos. We then found a good restaurant right near the beach (just check Tripadvisor) and enjoyed our delicious pasta followed by a giant Canollo Siciliano.
After lunch, we wanted to see Scopello. This place is only 10 km away from Castellammare. We didn’t go down to the beach, however. The access to the beach wasn’t free, I think it was some 4 or 5 euros and since we were 6 people we just didn’t feel like paying 30 euros for such a short amount of time. So instead we found another small, secluded bay nearby and enjoyed a short swim there in the clear blue water. It was just perfect.
If you don’t mind paying for the beach access I think it would be a good idea to check this place out as from afar it looked very beautiful. I managed to take a photo.
Day 6. San Vito Lo Capo/Zingaro Nature Reserve
Initially I planned a hike to Zingaro Nature Reserve. But then it was so hot and our parents didn’t want to hike, so we chose to go to San Vito Lo Capo instead. If you choose to go to Zingaro Nature Reserve I read that the hike is long, and the surroundings are very beautiful. The highlight of the hike is going down and swimming in beautiful crystal clear coves. By the way, there are parking lots at the beginning of the trail in Scopello and San Vito Lo Capo.
If you choose to go to San Vito Lo Capo prepare yourself to see the finest beach in Sicily. The water is simply amazing! It’s incredibly clear! However since this beach is so nice, it’s full of people and umbrellas and other touristy stuff so all these things obviously ruin the beauty of the beach. Nonetheless, I recommend that you go there anyway, at least for an hour.
Day 7*. Monreale. Palermo. Change of Accommodation
Have your breakfast, check out and head to Trapani via Monreale. I liked this trip very much as the Cathedral in Monreale was amazing! We also visited the Cloisters. After visiting the Cathedral we found a really nice small restaurant just behind it, had a delicious lunch and headed to Palermo.
If you are not very tired, on the way to Palermo you can stop at Mondello Beach (22 km from Monreale and 10 km to Palermo). It is very beautiful and I think it’s worth visiting. If you are not interested in beaches, pass by and go to Palermo directly. Again, it’s not easy to park in Palermo, unless your hotel provides you with a parking space. We had to park at a private parking that we found some 15 mins away on foot from the hotel. It wasn’t expensive.
Check in (we stayed in Palermo for 3 nights) and explore the town and have dinner.
Day 8 . One day in Palermo
Spend a day in Palermo, visit churches and the Cathedral, enjoy walking along the beautiful old streets and eating at some very good restaurants. What surprised me in Palermo? The amount of trash on the streets! The rest was simply beautiful!
Day 9. Cefalù
Have your breakfast and prepare yourself to visit Cafalù (70 km from Palermo). This town is just wonderful! It’s so beautiful! Make sure to climb up the mountain and see the castle (the views are breathtaking). If you are not into hiking, simply enjoy walking around the town, relaxing in small restaurants and cafes, looking at shops, visiting the Cathedral… This place is simply perfect!
Day 10. Going back home
You can plan this day according to your flight schedule. We spent half a day in Palermo and checked out after lunch. It took us around 1 hour and a half to get to Trapani (107 km away). We encountered some traffic on the way to the airport but made it in time. The drop off at the airport is pretty straightforward as it is everywhere. We left our minivan and hopped on the flight back to our country.
I hope you’ll find this plan useful and enjoy your trip as much as we did!
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