Sicily- stay on West side of Island or explore the East?
Hi friends!
I'm going to Sicily for a week, arriving about 7 days ahead of a wedding near Palermo in early August this year. Wedding festivities begin / family gets in to Palermo about 3 days before the wedding and planning day trips and such 2 of those days (Cefalu and Mondello). We'll be staying in Palermo City. This leaves us with about 4 days (excluding travel time) to explore and plan ahead of the wedding.
Our question is, do we head straight to the West side of the island and explore there the 4 days before we head to Palermo, or do we start on the Eastern side of the island and explore that area first instead?
We like to hike, sight-see, and relax. Strong preference towards activities rooted in nature (beach, ocean, mountain, farmland etc). I also have my scuba cert and would be interested in that. Knowing we have to go to Palermo halfway through the trip, what is transport from one side to the other? Better to rent a car or just take public transit/taxis? Honestly any input is wonderful! TIA!