The easiest way to 'do' Sicily is to fly into either Palermo or Catania exit from the other. Taormin

I will be returning to Sicily with my family in the summer of 2014. I am planning now for what I hope to be a wonderful trip. My daughters will be 19, 15, 12. We were in Italy 2 springs ago and had a magnificent vacation. We visited wedding chapel lodging branson mo Rome, Venice, Florence and Sicily. My family was from Sicily. This time we want to explore more of Sicily and briefly visit Malta. We are wondering if anyone might offer some must see places wedding chapel lodging branson mo off the tourist maps. We want to visit the ocean, small towns and relax and become like a local. We will have two weeks to do this. We are comfortable driving and the girls are great travellers. My family is from Polizzi Generosa a very small mountain town near Cefalu. We are planning on visiting there. Any other suggestions?
for route planning i suggest looking at the Lonely Planet guide to Sicily - i've not been yet, obviously, but it has what look like some good routes for driving including to places that appear to be off the beaten track.
The easiest way to 'do' Sicily is to fly into either Palermo or Catania exit from the other. Taormina for the stunning views, Siracusa for the atmosphere in Ortygia, the Renaissance triplets (Nota, Modica Ragusa - stay in one day trip the others), Caltagirone for ceramics, lots of great ruins - Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Segesta, Selinunte, etc etc with wonderful people, food wine everywhere.
We visited 3 years ago and it was like spending a week with a psychotic lover. ( not that I speak from experience on that front). One day was like Tuscany by the sea, beautiful architecture and wonderful food. The next day was like doing battle in a third world favela, it was an exhausting week.
Apart from the usual destinations wedding chapel lodging branson mo like Ortigia, we loved Marzamemi and Fontane Bianche. Just be very careful and do thorough research. Sicily clearly isn't part of the EU in many respects, the most obvious are planning laws. It is apparent that a brown paper bag stuffed full of money allows Sicilians to build ANYTHING. Some of the development around Lido di Avola and Lido di Noto was just diabolical, like nothing else I have seen in Europe.
wedding chapel lodging branson mo I have very little to add. I think Ian's list of destinations is spot on although we missed the "Baroque triplets". Sicily was certainly one of the most beautiful and memorable trips we have taken. The scenery, the architecture, the food, the wine, the people - all wonderful. Driving is a bit more of an adventure than in most of Italy and it is often difficult to find a place to eat in the countryside between noon and 3:00PM but we enjoyed every minute of our trip.
Dickie - you are forgiven. our [actually my] ideal plan would be to fly from Bristol to Pisa, drive down through Tuscany wedding chapel lodging branson mo to Rome [I want to show DH the area around Orbetello where I did a week's italian course last year] then fly to Palermo. We'd then tour Sicily ending up in Catania and fly back from there to Naples and spend a few days there before flying home from Rome.
Monte Argentario, Marina Alberese, Porto Ercole and San Stefano form great day trips from that area. We combined A flight into Pisa with 4 days in Pienza, 4 days near Ortobella and then four days on Elba which is lovely and an our ferry from Piombino. We had a great time over two weeks.
Alternatively, just take Easyjet Bristol to Rome, spend a week near Ortobello which is around a 90 minute drive up the coast. Then back to Rome and Blu Express have cheap as chips flights wedding chapel lodging branson mo to Catania. On the last day just do Catania to Rome to Bristol.
Polizzi Generoso is certainly wedding chapel lodging branson mo off the tourist map and you should give yourself relaxing days there. Fortunately, it is in the Madonie mountains, which is one of the cooler parts of Sicily in August, so you are unlikely to get an argument from your teens about the fun of being there. In addition to staying in a place with a pool and air conditioning, if anybody wedding chapel lodging branson mo in your family likes horse back riding, it is popular in that area. This might also give you some ideas if you haven't wedding chapel lodging branson mo already seen it.
You don't say what else you did in Sicily during your last visit, but were I traveling daughters the age of yours, I might include the islands for several nights, especially to see the volcano of Stromboli. If your trip consisted of Cefalu, Polizzi Generoso and the Aeolian islands, you would have quite an adventure of Sicily.
I see that you want to include Malta, but I'm not sure why. In August, it is likely to literally overrun with cruise shippers and even cheaper package tours. Anywhere you go with a coastline you will find the waterside packed with vacationers, but the amount wedding chapel lodging branson mo of time and energy you will consume getting to Malta might not have much of a pay-off. If it is high on your wish list, don't let me talk you out of it, but you might find the islands closer to Cefalu more fun.
Dickie wedding chapel lodging branson mo - Alternatively, just take Easyjet Bristol to Rome, spend a week near Ortobello which is around a 90 minute wedding chapel lodging branson mo drive up the coast. Then back to Rome and Blu Express have cheap as chips flights to Catania. On the last day just do Catania to Rome to Bristol.
wedding chapel lodging branson mo great idea, only from memory the flight times don't work. I think that we'd probably only give Pisa to Orbetello 3-4 days as we've seen the area between Pisa and Siena before. Though your suggestion looks very nice. I'd like to stay in Orbetello again, I think because of the restaurants and shops - we like to stay somewhere where there are things to look at and do in the evening, and not to have to drive and drink!
Ian - I'd agree wholeheartedly if we could fly straight from Bristol to Sicily. sadly this isn't possible and London is 6 hours drive from here, necessitating an overnight stay somewhere - either this end, or the other, before we can set off. So I am trying wedding chapel lodging branson mo to work out ways that we can do it so as to maximise wedding chapel lodging branson mo interest with convenience. There have been some interesting wedding chapel lodging branson mo threads about Naples recently, so a couple of days there at the end of the trip might be fun.
I have to say that were I going to Sicily with teenage girls, i would pick places where there is something to do in the evening - if they are anything like my DD, places in the country will bore them rigid. they need shops and a swimming pool to be happy, and if they are happy, you will be too.