justretired

Hello all,

My husband and I have enjoyed renting apartments on our European trips. We pick a location that is relatively central and stay there for 2-3 weeks while we explore the area, driving an hour or so in all directions. We have used this way of traveling most recently in Bonnieux (Provence) and Montelpuciano (Tuscany). My husband speaks French, Spanish, ,and Italian, and he in particular, loves to chat with locals. In Bonnieux, we loved getting to know the butcher and the owners of local bakeries and cafes. In addition, we love small villages, great food, historical and beautiful sites, art galleries and museums, gardens, etc.

Since we haven't visited Sicily yet , we have begun to explore the possibility of traveling there this September, with the hope of renting a place in one ( or possibly 2 places). When we have spoken with friends, they all travel around the island, moving every day or so, and so far, no one has suggested an area for renting. Would it make sense to see one coast on this trip and the other on a subsequent trip? In my research, I’ve thought the east coast, with Syracusa or perhaps even Catana, which is more north and perhaps more central to what we'd like to do, as serve as a good base, but it has been difficult to find out if there is enough to see and do on day trips.

What I'm asking, I guess, is for some suggestions for spending time in Sicily while not moving constantly? Does our preferred mode of traveling make sense for Sicily? I understand that we will not see everything on this trip, but do those of you who know Sicily think that this is important? Should we perhaps change our thinking about this trip- would it be better to travel around the island for a week or so, but then, stay in one place for just a week at the end? Incidentally, we are used to renting a car, but can certainly use public transportation when appropriate.

Thank you for your help .

Elizabeth_S

We travel like you do - although we did change our method a bit for Sicily (which we loved BTW).

We started in Lipari (Aeolian Islands) for 5 nights - it was beautiful. Then spent 6 nights outside of Siracusa at an agriturismo, traveling in that area (like you we are prepared to drive 60 or even 90 minutes one way to sight see rather than change accommodation). Then we spent 10 days in Sciacca (south) in another agriturismo - from there we traveled far and wide to the north and west as the roads are terrific.

Highly recommend our Sciacca agriturismo - bearing in mind it was 8 years ago

http://www.verdetecnica.it/home.htm

We certainly enjoyed the agriturismo outside of Siracusa, but the unit didn't have a kitchen which I presume you would want...although they may have other units with kitchens so here's the link

http://www.limoneto.it/open.asp?pag=home&lang=eng

yestravel

Glad u started this thread!
Elizabeth_S-we stayed at one of your recommendations in Chilean Lake District and really liked it.

zoecat

I too am happy your started this thread. I have wanted to visit Sicily but, like you, I prefer a slower pace.

humptynumpty

We tried to find a suitable house rental between Siracusa and Noto. In the end we gave up and stayed at a lovely hotel just outside Siracusa. Following our visit we were well and truely relieved that we did not rent a house. Many of the coastal resorts (we tend to like beach houses) were very scruffy.

The town house rentals in Ortigia are good value and very well located. We looked at the exterior of some of those and they looked great, whilst the interior photographs on the websites also looked good.

I would be very careful and apply plenty of planning. Parts of Sicily are beautiful, other areas are not. I would also try to find independent reviews of properties as some of those we passed during our visit were very different to their website photographs.

Personally, I would steer well clear of Marina di Noto, Marina d'Avola and Fontana Bianci. All three looked fine on the websites but on visiting all three were fairly awful. I personally would concentrate on either a town or country based property if you are looking to stay in the Siracusa area.

Mimar

Sicily doesn't lend itself to this kind of travel. Most of the sights are on the coasts, and it's too far to drive from the east coast to the west coast for a day trip. Plus it's hilly in the center of Sicily.

I tried to work out such a trip and finally gave up. You could have a base in the northwest (Erice/Tripani/Castellammare del Golfo) and another one on the east side. And you'd also want to spend time in Palermo with an excursion to Cefalu. But you wouldn't want a car for this last.

Geographically, Catania makes sense as a base for the east coast. And it's close to an airport. But I didn't really want to spend time around Catania. So we ended up with bases in Siracusa (day trip to Noto, one of the 3 Sicilian Baroque towns) and Taormina (from which you could daytrip to Mt. Etna and Messina).

mirunaadler

I guess the best thing to do is to see one coast at the time. On the west you should stay somewhere in the middle and close to the highway. I suggest you check www.on-sicily.com since they have a great choice of accommodations and lots of useful info’s about the area, cultural sites, good restaurants etc.
On the east side I would not choose Catania as a base due to it’s traffic. Siracusa could be better and will aloud you to see all the east coast with less stress. You can find some nice rentals on the east coast here: http://www.dicasainsicilia.com/
Thinking off what you should see, in my humble opinion on the west side to have more Greek style “attractions” and on the east side more baroque cities. Depends on what you prefer.
On both sides September is a great month to come to Sicily: the weather is great, the sea is still very warm and you have less tourists.
Choosing one coast at the time will also give you more time to spend getting to know the Sicilians and enjoy the weather, maybe even doing a cooking course just for fun.

justretired

Thanks so much for your answers- they are quite helpful. I'm rethinking a bit, and am now thinking of renting 2 apartments/houses- one on the west and one on the right, each for about a week. We'd spend a couple of days in PAlermo to deal with jet lag and see the city and perhaps a couple of days in Catania before our departure. Does that make sense?

Do any of you have additional suggestions for towns that we should look at? The links for websites are helpful (thank you), and if any of you have additonal specific towns or places, that would be great. We love the agritourismos and other rural villas, but want to be near or in a village. This would allow us to eat in a town some evnings and not have to deal with dark, unfamiliar roads after drinking some wine with dinner. Sometimes, it's fun to walk aorund a village at night after supper, stopping for a coffee or ice cream at a cafe.

Thanks again for your generous help.

aprillilacs

We've been to Sicily 3 times and are going again for 3 weeks starting in September. We like to travel the same way you do, basing in one spot for at least a week at a time and taking day trips from there. I think you're on the right track to get two places.

On one trip we rented a place in Aci Castello, a seaside town just north of Catania. Wonderful views and an active small town with good local restaurants and really nice people. From there we took day trips to Taormina, Etna, Sircusa/Ortigiya, and other interesting places. Rented through www.thinksicily.com, a high-end British company that we could afford only because we went in off-season (March). You might want to look for something in the area between Catania and Taormina.

On the west coast we liked the Castellammare del Golfo and the little village of Scopello nearby. That would make a nice base for day trips in that area. The Greek ruins at Segesta are awesome.

After seeing most of Sicily on our various trips, though, we keep being drawn back to the Aeolian Islands, which I highly recommend. We'll spend all 3 weeks of our September trip in the islands, a week each on 3 of the 7 islands. They are the ultimate in low-key travel but still with plenty to do. I have written a couple of trip reports about Sicily and the Aeolis--you can click on my name to find them.

Have a great trip!

Viajero2

Look up The Lemon Tree apartments in Taormina.