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Agrigento trip planner
The world's best-preserved Greek temples are in this Southwestern Sicilian city
Via C. Battisti 15 (first left off Via Atenea, just behind Piazzale A. Moro), Agrigento
tel. +39-0922-20-454)
Another information office:
Via Empedocle 73
tel. +39-0922-20-391
Valley of the Temples info:
www.parcovalledeitempli.it
Hotels in Agrigento
www.booking.com
www.venere.com
www.hostelworld.com
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Agrigento Guide
• Intro
• Sights
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• PlanningAncient Greek Akragas, founded around 581 BC, is lucky enough to retain a ridge below the city lined with 5th-century BC Doric temples, one of which, the Temple of Concord, is one of the two best preserved Greek temples in the world.
There are few spots more magic or beautiful to spend a sunset than in Agrigento's Valley of the Temples. It's a long, full day to see the museum, Insula Romana, and the temples themselves.
The vista of the temple ridge with the sea beyond, once one of Italy's most breathtaking sights from the city, has been despoiled in recent decades by some 600 concrete condominium monstrosities creeping up from the side, erected entirely illegally under the aegis of the mafia.
In fact, this is a good, palpable example of the Cosa Nostra's continuing stranglehold over Sicily; these affronts to aesthetics and the law remain despite their flagrant violation of zoning codes in a land so corrupt that no official has the guts to bulldoze the things.
Planning your trip
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Getting to Agrigento: Agrigento is on the southern coast of Sicily, roughly in the middle. Agrigento is 90km (54 miles) southeast of Selinute, 256km (154 miles) west of Siracusa.
- Getting to Agrigento by car: Agrigento lies on the coastal SS115, which you can follow from Castelvetrano near Selinute or from Siracusa.
- Getting to Agrigento by train: There are 9 trains (4 on Sunday) from Palermo (2 hr.); and 5–8 trains from Catania, direct or with a transfer at Caltanissetta Xirbi (4–5 hr.). There are 4 trains daily from Siracusa (5–6 hrs.), all involving at least one train change, usually in Catania or Bicocca.
The Agrigento centrale station (tel. +39-0922-26-669) is on Piazza Marconi, just down the steps from Agrigento's central Piazzale A. Moro. Don't get off at the suburban station Agrigento Bassa. - Getting to Agrigento by Bus: Agrigento's depot is on Piazza V. Emanuele, above Piazza A. Moro.
Lumia lines (tel. +39-0922-20-414 in Agrigento, 335-153-6613 in Selinute, www.autolineelumia.it) runs a bus that runs 3 times Monday to Saturday (1 Sunday evenings) from Trapani (3–3.5 hrs.) that stop in Castelvetrano, which is the Selinute stop—the 2:10pm bus actually leaves from Bar Selinus on Via Marinella (2.5 hr.).
Cuffaro (tel. +39-091-616-1510, www.cuffaro.info) runs 7 daily buses (3 on Sundays) from VSi Paolo Balsalmo (just east of the train station) in Palermo to Piazzetta Russelli in Agrigento (2 hr.).
SAIS (tel. +39-0922-595-933, www.saistrasporti.it) has 15 runs (9 Sunday) from Catania, just north of Siracusa (2–3 hr.); their office is behind the booth on Via Ragazzi del '99.
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Visitor Information: Agrigento's tourist office (tel. +39-0922-20-454) is just behind Piazzale A. Moro at Via C. Battisti 15, your first left off Via Atenea.
There's another information office at Via Empedocle 73 (tel. +39-0922-20-391), and an info kiosk in the train station.
In summer, there is another info office open down by the parking lot in the Valle dei Templi.
Sadly, there is no official tourism website (even the towns' civic site barely mentions aspects of tourism). Fortunately, there's an excellent info site for the only big sight in town, the Valley of the Temples Archaeological Park (www.parcovalledeitempli.it) A festival: The early February Festival of Almond Blossoms is a celebration of local folklore with music, flag tossing, and traditional foods held in the temple zone.
- How to get from Agrigento to the Temples: City buses 1, 1/, 2, 2/, 3, and 3/ all run from the center of Agrigento down to the Valle dei Templi.
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For a taxi, call tel. +39-0922-26-670 or 0922-21-899. A trip from town down to the temples should be about €15.
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A note on banks: For years the only ATM in town that will accept American bankcards or credit cards is the San Paolo branch at the northeast corner (far left as you exit Via Atenea) on Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, across from the cinema and post office.
- Stick to the temples: If your time is limited, just hit the temples. There's nothing of consequence to see in the city itself.
Related pages
- What to see in Agrigento
- Hotels in Agrigento
- Restaurants in Agrigento
- Agrigento homepage
- More sights in Western Sicily
- More ancient Greek sights in Sicily: Selinute, Siracusa, Segesta, Taormina
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This material was last updated January 2011. All information was accurate at the time.
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