cambee

Has anyone visited Sicily during the Christmas Season? We are thinking of flying from the states to Rome and then to Sicily. We have been to Rome three times and want to just rest up before traveling to Sicily. Or, would it be better to fly on the same day to Sicily? Are concern would be finding a nice restaurant open for Christmas Eve and Christmas day may be in Rome than Sicily. Also, we have limited time for touring and wonder what would be the best plan to tour Sicily for 4 or 5 days, We are hoping the touring sites may be open during Dec. 26 through 30th. Thanks for any advice.

dutyfree

I asked this question a week ago myself about traveling to Sicily during Christmas and someone answered that there would be no problem. I found that strange as my daughter lived over there for 6 months in college and said that EVERYTHING was shut up for the Easter holidays.
Our family has decided to go to the Canary Islands this year as we decided after doing Morocco last year and Egypt/Jordan the year before that the non traditional Christmas countries are so much fun.

I work for the airlines and find that alot of the European countries seem to shut up during the period of Christmas and New Years.It seems to be somewhat of a "given" holiday over there.You will have to probably stick to the bigger cities to make sure things are open.

Sicily is in a world by itself.It is a beautiful island and truly unique.I have often said that it is like Italy was about 40 years ago before all of the tourists ruined it!It runs a different way than being in Rome and other Italian cities-slower paced and very family oriented.

The smaller towns honor the siesta hours so think that with so many people being Catholic, Christmas might be difficult?
Since you mention that you only have 4-5 days,I would concentrate on either the east coast or the west coast.You have to fly into either Cantania or Palermo.Personally, I love Mt. Etna and Ortigia on the east coast with Marsala and Trapani my favs on the west coast.Alot of people love Palermo but it is not one of my favs.

Last year my daughter and I did a two week driving trip around Sicily and had a wonderful time. If you let us know what you want to see and do everyone will be happy to help!

cambee

Dutyfree, thank you for your response to my question. Since it will be the first time to Sicily, what would you recommend seeing with 4 or 5 days to tour? I am not interested in climbing to Mt. Edna, and more than likely the weather may be wet in December, so maybe a driving tour of the country and seascape, museums and architecture would be of interest.
We have been to northern and central Italy at Christmas, and the weather was very wet. We are hoping that Sicily will not be as rainy and cold as our other trips. We also found restaurants closed and reduced hours for sites we wanted to see.
If we fly into Palermo rather than Cantania, would we find more restaurants open Christmas Eve and Christmas day there?
Thanks for any advice.
Cambee

zeppole

Cambee,

Sicily normally is not and cold and wet has much of the rest of Italy around Christmas, but you are traveling during the darkest, shortest days of the year. The sun is a big heat driver in the Mediterranean. If it is dry, it still might be cold -- and Sicily is notoriously windy. If it is wet, you could see snow or experience ice on the roads. I was in Napoli last year just before Christmas, and it hailed. (It was snowing in Rome.) If you plan to drive a car, you will need to keep your plans loose to accommodate weather. You might get nonstop sunshine. But you might not.

Sicily follows its own customs in many ways, but many Italians like to go out for a huge Christmas lunch. I think Palermo might have more restaurants open than Catania. Be aware that the only restaurants that you will find open are likely to offer only a fixed holiday menu at a high price. For dinner, you may need to go to a large hotel (another reason for choosing Palermo).

Just as an aside to Dutyfree, Easter is a much more important religious holiday around the mediterranean than Christmas, much in the same way that Passover is so much more important than Chunnukah (the world over).

There is a Sicilan woman who posts on the Tripadvisor message board for Sicily. She could probably give you a great many details about what is and isn't open and help you with a specific itinerary.

cambee

Zeppole,
Thanks for your information. I will check-out the Tripadvisor message board for Sicily. Since I have never used the message board , I assume it is sort of like a this forum. Post a message and then hopefully get a response.
Thanks again!
Cambee

telechick

I was the one who said that I'd been to Sicily over Christmas and didn't remember having any problems with things being closed. Granted, it was in 1999, so my memory may be slightly faulty, but we did 8 days on the island and drove around the whole way (clockwise). We did go to various sites and they were all open and we never had a problem finding somewhere to eat - I think I would remember that. Siracusa was lovely as was Taormina.
8 days was just long enough to make it around the island, but was a little rushed.

cambee

Telechick,
Thank you for your information. Is using Palermo as a home base and traveling to local sites near it and Agrigento a better travel plan for 7 day? If we have time left either spend a night or two in Syracusa? Considering it is winter maybe skipping beach towns like Taormina is a good idea.
Thanks for any help.
Cambee

telechick

We had a rental car and I do remember that Palermo was a nightmare for driving. It took us forever to figure out how to get to our hotel. We really didn't have any problems with Sicilian drivers or roads except in Palermo.

Since we were there in late Dec, I don't think of Taormina as a beach town, altho' I do remember looking down on a beautiful beach area. The setting of the theatre and the town is lovely.

I think that there's probably plenty to do for 5 days on the west coast, but I'd check with some of the Sicily experts on what to do.

One of my favourite memories of Sicily at Christmas is of the creches in every town/village/church. Some of them were truly amamzing.