We'll need to stay in touch as we will be going west to east!

Yes, counterclockwise. Staying in Palermo, Castellammare del Golfo, Taormina... It seems every Sicily journal I've read starts like this.

Your northern route from Palmermo to Taormina will be very similiar to ours. You are going counterclockwise?
Racpat

Hi Scott

I've sent you an email. It would be great to spend some time together in Palermo if it works out.

Oh, OK. I guess we’d better start putting down some markers. I’ve roughed out a plan that goes through Holy Week because I think we should be booking that far, but we haven’t gone over it together yet. I’m sure we’d start with 3 nights in Palermo also, so that could be great.

What hotel are you booked into?

Ok, I see now your schedule, I commented on the other posting before reading this one....we will be moving quicker than you across Sicily and then the ferry to Durres to Albania. Looks like you and Jacquie will be in Palermo the same time!! Have fun, will look forward to following both.
Racpat

Ooh! We arrive in Palermo on the 16th and will have 3 nights there, leaving for Castellammare del Golfo on the 19th. No big plans other than recovering from jet lag, building our bikes, and a day ride up Monte Pellegrino. Our flight itinerary will have us a bit ahead on the jet lag recovery as we will spend the previous night in Zurich. 23-hour layover? We can do that!

We have done no planning for this at all yet, but we think we’ll be arriving in Palermo on March 16th and flying out from Bari or Brindisi 90 days later. We’ll be traveling pretty slowly, spending maybe half of our time in Sicily and half in the boot.

Hi Rachel and Patrick

We arrive in Palermo on March 16 and depart from there on April 28. We don't like heat! We aren't crazy about freezing either, but it's easier to dress for cold.

We'd love to connect if it works out.

Jacquie

Hi Scott, we may be in Sicily late April May, what is your timeframe?
Racpat

Hi Jacquie! We bought our tickets to Casablanca yesterday leaving Feb 13th. We plan on then island hopping: Sardinia-Sicily-Boot of Italy to Albania. We think we'll be in Sicily sometime late April-May. What is your timeframe for Sicily??

I thought briefly about starting in Catania but flights to Palermo were easier. I've got all our stays booked so I know where we'll be when. We're still in the cover-ground mode as I'm trying to make up for all those no-travel years and Al isn't willing to be away for too long.

We’ll have to keep track of each others’ plans for next spring - there’s a chance that we could have the first ever CycleBlaze meetup in Sicily. We’re still mulling it over but odds are good that we’ll start off next spring with a return to Sicily. We’re looking at a counterclockwise route this time starting in Catania in mid-March, so odds are pretty good that we’ll cross paths somewhere. I guess we’d better look at the Holy Week calendar ourselves.

It took us a while too get used to cycling in Italy this spring but we did. We experienced fewer close passes than we would have had we been in BC, I think. As for the actual roads, our bikes are set up as gravel bikes and not too bad on rough surfaces. Full-size wheels and low-pressure tubeless tires!

That's the conclusion I came to as well. I thought Prizzi looked interesting, just based on the map--Michelin indicates views in all directions. I'll have to check my route to make sure I choose the easiest way up!

As for Holy Week, I had considered trying to be in Enna for Good Friday but with the flights we chose, we will be in Piazza Armerina that day, as you were, moving on to Enna for Easter. Since Enna's Good Friday procession is so famous, it will probably be more crowded than we'd like anyway. It's not important enough for us to try to speed things up in the first half of the trip.