Barockreise: Ragusa, Modica und Noto

Having travelled on the railway in 2019, we thought an extended family holiday on the beach, served by the railway would be ideal - access to Noto, Ragusa, Ortigia, Modica..... No driving, no stress. Perfect. I ensured the trains were running during our planned dates and booked a luxurious villa in Fontane Bianche. My husband and I travelled from London to Siracusa by train taking our time and overnighting along the way, but didn't book the final section from Siracusa to Fontane Bianche (FB) as we simply were not sure what time we would arrive. I had checked the train timetable on Trenitalia several times and the live system showed the trains were serving the line right up until I checked with 2 days to go!! And then - NO TRAINS. Surely not! Indeed it was correct. So... the whole reason for being in FB no longer existed. We'd booked the large beachfront villa for 6 BECAUSE OF THE TRAINS. No explanation. The final train seems to have been on 19 Sept and we arrived on 20 Sept. Any replacement bus service, it turns out, does not serve FB. There is a standard bus from Siracusa to FB, number 121 or 122. But they're few and far between. Run by SAIS. We took one such bus from Siracusa to FB. We had 2 hire cars between the 6 of us and we 'made do' but didn't make it to all the towns we had planned. My husband and I strolled to FB station one day to see what information there was on the halting of the service - NOTHING. We also asked at Siracusa station on our return journey and were waved away to the bus service. While at FB station we did read the notice board and there was an Italian info sheet about there being no service available in early Sept until 12 September but nothing about the stoppage that affected us. Once again, I know the early Sept dates were shown as there being a rail service on the Trenitalia website. Furthermore, I happened to bump into a couple in Palermo who had been on the trains during that period. All in all, believe nothing and expect the worst! Note - some 3rd party travel guidance websites continued to show train times as options during our stay. We were unlucky.

My friends and I had a wonderful time visiting these beautiful Baroque villages. Our driver, Maltese Claudio, was amazing! He was professional and friendly and offered to take photos of our group throughout the day which we really appreciated! While touring the destinations is self guided, Maltese Claudio gave us great suggestions of where to walk/what to see and brought us to a yummy restaurant for lunch in Modica.

Thanks to our driver Claudio. We were able to travel to Ragusa Ibla, Modica and Scicli in one day. Although we didn’t stay in each town for long but we managed to see the main streets and main churches. Claudio took us to photo spots along the way and help us took lots of family photos.

This was a good tour and an easy way to see three beautiful baroque towns without renting a car. The chocolate tasting in Modica was a great addition, and we also had a surprise limoncello tasting in Noto. I will say that lunch was a bit of an issue. We didn't end up eating until after 2 pm and our day started with an 8:30 pickup (early pickup was worth it though as we arrived in Ragusa before the crowds). However, I think had we mentioned earlier that we were hungry Claudio would have immediately dropped everything to help us have lunch, we just weren't sure of the schedule. So bring snacks, and think of this as more of a "it is what you make of it" type of tour and you'll be good! The towns are definitely worth it to see!

Very nice baroque architecture. Whether in Ragusa Modica or Noto. Many beautiful baroque churches. In Modica do not forget chocolate

Claudio was a great driver and very knowledgeable. He took us to some beautiful places and made stops for panoramic vistas along the way. It was a lovely way to explore on our own with a little bit of info as we were driven.

During this tour Claudio was our driver. He is a save driver, informative, kind and funny. We enjoyed the trip so much, driving through the countryside and seeing the three beautiful baroque cities!! And beside that, we started with a coffee at Ragusa Ibla, we tasted chocolate in Modica and we looked at the sunset in Noto. And thanks to Claudio we had a great lunch in a cave restaurant in Scicli. We had a wonderful day. Grazie mille Claudio! Pieter, Margriet, Willy

We had a wonderful day with Claudio driving. A not to be missed experience! We will book this the next time we return to Sicily…..

we had a great day with our driver, Claudio, taking us to three magical cities. He was very prompt of picking us up at our hotel in clean van. definitely recommend him for a tour of these cities

We had a great day, just the three of us. Claudio was a great driver, very friendly, funny and knowledgeable. We had a wonderful lunch in Modica at da Ignacio trattoria which was recommended by Claudio, lovely food typical of the area. The three towns were beautiful, great baroque architecture, very fine churches, but the best part of the day was just the scenery, both from the towns and the drive along the way. Highly recommended.