Th1gurl23

Hello I will be in France for the month of October to visit my family, we where thinking of taking a small trip to either Sicily or Crete with 2 toddlers. Can you give me some advise on which place has the best food (we love food). Which has the most ruins to see, best beaches. Things to do i.e. markets and tours? How is the weather? Do they speak English? French? or will there be a hard language barrier? Which one is friendly? Thank you

crazyh

I haven't been to Sicily but it's on my to-go-to list. However, I have been to Crete and can say it's worthy of many days if not weeks of exploring.

Chania Old Town is a gem of a place to base yourself to explore the surrounding area . . . archeological/historic sites right in town and just a short distance away. You can get to Knossis from Chania for a day trip to explore the site and museum in the city. Lots of wonderful areas of "old" Greece nearby from Chania, lovely beaches, spectacular mountains, the Gorge, wonderful shop, markets and tavernas. I think Chania would be the best place to stay and visit all the wonderful areas on the western part of the island.

I've done a lot of research on Sicilty, especially Catania and think it would offer more spectacular ancient sites, but Catania is a rather large city so could be more congested, busier and touristy but still provide a wonderful experience.

Wonderful tavernas/food all over Chania that won't disappoint.

I'm sure Sicily would provide you with a wonderful opportunity just as good as Chania. Bear in mind that Greece established settlements and villages on Sicily way before the Romans did, so you'll get a wonderful combination of Greek/Italy in Sicilty.

Chania was occupied by Greeks, Venetians and finally the Otterman Empire so you'll get a wide range of architecture, food and sites to explore.

I think either will provide you with a wonderful opportunity.

annhig

if you only have a few days, a great way to see a bit of Sicily would be to fly into Palermo and base yourselves there, or to fly into Catania and get the bus to Ortigia, which is a most lovely island attached to Syracuse, about an hour's drive south of Catania.

lots of places to go and Ortigia itself is charming. And the food is wonderful.

julies

I haven't been to Crete, but we spent three weeks in Sicily in October and loved it. There were people swimming at the start of our trip but many fewer by the end of the month. Regular beach resort towns seemed pretty closed down from what we saw. As the grandparent of toddlers I am having a difficult time thinking of a convenient area in Sicily where you could easily combine good, sandy beaches and ruins and sightseeing all the while trying to accommodate a couple toddlers who need naps and aren't into sightseeing. You might want to take a look at Cefalu which has a swimming area and also puts you in range of Palermo. We loved Ortygia, but there is nothing there as far as sand beaches for kids. Adults were swimming off a giant rock platform right in town.

Italian in Sicily (it is Italy after all), but we also found many English speakers.

My son and DIL and their small children did pretty much exactly what you are talking about in Rhodes last year. They rented a house on the beach and did day trips from there to see the ruins.

kja

I’ve been to both, loved both, and had delicious and memorable meals in both. Neither English nor friendliness should be a problem in either location, at least IME.

Here are some things you might consider:

- Sicily easily merits a stay of 2.5 weeks, just for it’s highlights; IMO, Crete lends itself more easily to a stay of 1 or 1.5 weeks. Of course, it depends on what YOU want to see and do.

- Sicily does not lend itself to “base” locations very easily – and with toddlers, that could be a key consideration. IMO, Crete lends itself to base locations more readily.

- Note that the ruins on these islands are incredibly different (to simplify, Greek vs. Minoan).

You might do well to consult a good guidebook or two….