Day two: Agrigento, Turkish Steps and Villa Romana del Casale
On day two of the ultimate itinerary for one week in Sicily without a car, it’s time to explore a bit more of Sicily. From your base in Catania, there are several day tours you can choose from to take you to Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples.
It’s not really possible to visit Agrigento in a day by public transport. It would just take too long to get there, leaving you very little time to look around before you have to try to get back. A small group day tour is perfect for Agrigento. It allows you to visit in a day, and you also have time to visit some other attractions such as the Turkish Steps and Roman Villa.
Check out some tours here.
On my tour, we started with the drive from Catania to Agrigento. It took a couple of hours, but the scenery from the road was amazing.
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento
At the Valley of the Temples, we had two hours to explore the ancient site on our own. I enjoyed having this free time to explore at my own pace and take in the area. There were so many amazing views and amazingly preserved temples.
The temples date back to the Greeks, and the Temple of Concordia is one of the most famous sights in Sicily.
After spending two hours exploring the ancient site, we then got back in the minibus and drove the short distance to the coast.
Turkish Steps and lunch
Here, we could get out for ten minutes to get an amazing view of the Turkish Steps. This rock formation is really impressive, with the white steps that cascade down into the sea.
The views along the rest of the coastline were beautiful as well.
After this, we stopped in the small coastal town for lunch. This was included in the tour. I was really impressed with the quality of the food. Highlights for me were the anchovy and olive focaccia and pistachio cannoli.
Villa Romana del Casale
Back on the minibus, we drove for another hour to Villa Romana del Casale.
This Roman Villa has some amazingly preserved mosaics. It was clearly owned by a rich person back in Roman times, as the whole place was huge and impressive. I loved seeing all the intricate details on the mosaics.
One of the most famous mosaics was the ‘bikini girls’. Apparently this was the first time girls had been captured in art in bikinis! It’s actually a scene of them playing sport, but it was good to see.
I also really liked seeing the mosaics of animals and hunting scenes.
We spent just over an hour at the villa, which was a good amount of time. Then it was time to head back to Catania.
We got back to Catania fairly late, around 7.30pm. But luckily Italians enjoy late dinners, so there was still plenty of time to enjoy dinner and a walk around when we got back.
I had one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever tasted! We went to a restaurant in Catania and I had the pasta dish Penne alla Norma. Its pasta in a tomato sauce with aubergine and ricotta cheese. It sounds so simple, but the flavours were just amazing. A perfect end to another great day in Sicily.
Keep reading for day 3 of the ultimate itinerary for one week in Sicily without a car!
Would like to know where you landed? Any suggestions for B& B – or small hostel/hotels?
I flew into Catania. It worked well to stay in Catania for a few days – it’s a great base for doing day trips around the region. There are lots of accommodation choices in Catania, I’d recommend staying in the centre near the market and cathedral. And my second base was Syracuse, staying on the small island of Ortigia. It was easy to get from Syracuse/Ortigia back to Catania for the flight home. Hope that helps, and hope you have an amazing trip!