Ian

Well, I'm planning another jaunt. This time Sicily (with a dose of Roma to start) has been chosen as our destination. I have booked flights into Roma May 22 & depart June 9, 2009.

Rough itinerary:

Roma: 4 nights Hilton Cavalieri (points) We have been to Roma before & THIS time we are not staying in a dive. (I spit on you Hotel Caravaggio. When we checked in, my wife threw herself on the bed & yelled at me to change our flight so we could leave early. She was not a happy camper. I learned a valuable lesson.)

Fly to Palermo

Palermo: 2 nights Hilton Villa Igiea (more points)
Erice: 1 night Hotel Elimo (visit Segesta on the way)
Agrigento: 1 night – unknown hotel (visit Selinunte on the way)
Ragusa/Modica area: 4 nights. This is where we plan to ‘go local’. An apartment or some other rent-by-the-day where we can slow down, maybe cook a bit, do local day trips & just wander the town. Ragusa seems to foot the bill, but I am open to suggestions. We have no interest in a beach area. Agro-tourism is OK except we don’t want to be restricted to on-site restaurants & night-time drives in strange countries usually aren’t much fun. And I like to drink wine with dinner so . . .
Siracusa: 1 night – unknown hotel but somewhere in Ortygia
Taormina: 3 nights – unknown hotel This will be our ‘go-out-with-a-bang’ place. Maybe Villa Schuler

Fly to Roma from Catania

As you can see, we are taking our time. Last time in Italy, we spent too much steering wheel time.

Does this look workable? Any suggestions in Ragusa? Any suggestions in general?

Ian

bobthenavigator

I like your destinations and overall itinerary but I hate one-niters and you have 3 of them. Add a nite to Siracusa and drop it from Ragusa.

Ian

Good point, Bob. I travel for biz, so one-nighters are easy, but my wife hates them. She's an unpacker. I will rethink that ^ adjust.

Ian

zeppole

I have to disagree with Bob. I think the Baroque towns are the crown jewels of Sicilia for people who don't want to be on a sightseeing treadmill, who want to get the feel of insular Sicilia, and who want to eat well.

I really liked Modica -- it was just perfect and so non-touristy, but it had fab restaurants -- but the b&b where I stayed didn't have a kitchen. Also check out Noto in addition to Ragusa and Modica for a place with a kitchen, but not too far out in the countryside.

In Agrigento, I really enjoyed staying in the Camere con Vista, which is near both the monuments and Pirandello's house an has very easy parking (plus a nearby good fish restaurant).

Personally, I didn't enjoy my stay in Taormina beyond seeing the fantastic Greek theater. It just gets way too many cruise ships, and at the risk of sounding terribly jaded, if you've been to Italy's other cliffside, seaside beauty spots, Taormina -- with its designer label shopping and mostly English speakers -- might have you longing for a hideaway from the tourists. In which case, check out Castelmora, above it.

You might prefer using the time more adventurously than 3 nights in Taormina, or lingering in Ortygia (good eats, great markets).

A friend of mine recently stayed at this place near Siracusa.

http://www.anapama.it/

It looks so beautiful.

Were it me, I might stay in a B&B in one of the baroque towns and let others do the cooking for me for a few nights, and then retreat to that agriturismo above for a few days, do my touristing as daytrips to Ortygia, Siracusa and Taormina in the day, and cook for myself at night (shop at the Ortygia market!).

The B&B where I stayed in Modica was L'Orangerie.

thursdaysd

My favorite places in Sicily were Ortygia and Erice, so I would definitely spend more time in or near Ortygia than in Taormina. Taormina is worth a quick visit for the views and the Greek theater, but it is the most touristy place I saw in three weeks on the island.

I also enjoyed Trapani, which was a surprise, as I thought it was just useful as a transport hub - the old town was definitely worth visiting. And I notice you're skipping the Villa Casale, which was a high point for me.

zeppole

sorry, I should have typed Castelmola -- and I'm not sure there is an adequate hotel up there. Still, I don't recommend a long stay in Taormina.

galaxygrrl200

Let me make some suggestions too.

(1) ragusa is really nice. The nicest hotel in town is
Locanda Don Serafino and there is a 2 star michelin restaurant which is just great called Il Duomo. Ragusa is a nice town, though I liked Noto better.

My only concern about Ragusa for you as a base is it's not easy to really get in and out of, it's a steep hilly, hill town. You know, if you have the cash a place that might work better is Eremo della Giubiliana which is a nice hotel between Modica and Ragusa. I don't think you need to dine there.

(2) there is a nice hotel in Modica too that i liked.
http://casatalia.it/

(3) there is an awesome hotel between Taormina and Castelmola http://www.villaducale.com/en/index.htm I love this hotel, it's great.

(4) I think Taromina is overated and there is not much to do. It has a nice view, some good food and that's about it.

I would just stop by there and eat lunch.

(5) Instread I would visit the Aeolian islands which are truly amazing. The are a world heritage site. I took my parents to Sicily and they said they were the best part of the trip besides for the temples.

(6) I would add the Mosaics in Piazza Aremina... they are amazing.

(7) There are two high end nice hotel on Ortygia. I've stayed at both and I preferred Hotel des Etrangers et Miramare It's books itself as a five star, but it's really 4 stars. Get a room with a view of the water.

People make to much fuss about changing hotels every night. I've been to Sicily twice and changed hotels almost every night -- except on the Aeolian islands and it was fine.

here is a nice link for you. These is a great site. The restaurants are awesome.

http://www.sicilyguide.com

dutyfree

Why the Hilton in Rome besides the points? Its not convenient for enjoying Rome as it is really out of town. Your life will revolve around the shuttle schedule for going back and forth-so much for lingering over a glass of wine at night.......

I would definitely shorten your nights in Taormina(agree about the cruise ships and crowds) and add more to Ortigia which is magical. Just my opinion!

kja

Hi, Ian -

I think your plan looks good in general. I agree with others that adding a day to Siracusa is worth considering. You might also consider adding another day to Palermo, but that depends on what you hope to see and do there. Like others, I would probably cut 1 night from Taormina and probably cut 1 from Ragusa/Modica.

Enjoy!

Ian

Great advice, one and all!

I was starting to suspect that Taormina might be tourist hell & I was thinking that Castelmola or some other remote place might be better. But your concerns are noted & I will lop off at least one day (or 2) and add to Siracusa.

About Ragusa . . . I like hill towns. Especially ones that aren’t packed to the gunwales with flag following tourist cattle. We stayed in sleepy Todi in Umbria for 4 nights and loved it. And we can easily day trip to Piazza Amerina, Noto and surroundings if we get restless.

About Roma and the Hilton . . . Last time we stayed a 15 minute walk from the Pantheon. We found Roma noisy, busy and far down our favorite city list. But we want to give it another chance and see the sites we didn’t get to. And free is hard to pass up, so the Hilton stays on the list. Kind of the same in Palermo. We want to see it but larger cities just don’t have a lot of appeal.

Any suggestions for budget flights to/from Roma/Palermo/Catania? Air One I know about. Any others? And car rental suggestions – outside of the usual suspects? An affordable convertible would be nice but no one seems to offer them in Sicily that I have found.

Thanks

Ian

zeppole

I don't think you want a convertible in Sicilia. You're going to have to protect yourself against the sun.

You can take a boat from Roma to Palermo.

I recommend that you not pick up your car until you are through touring Palermo. You can take a train back to the airport to pick up the car.

Are you planning to go to Monreale? It's a fantastic site. Again, I wouldn't drive there. Buses are readily available.

In general, driving around Sicilia towns is jaw-clenching. You won't have a problem dropping off your car in Catania, but you'll find Palermo awfully challenging.

thursdaysd

I don't know about Ragusa, but I day tripped to Noto from Siracusa, and found it had a lot more tourists than I expected - and that was in April. Palermo's not bad - don't miss Monreale or the Palazzo Mirto.

I flew Air One Palermo-Naples - no problems except they sent me an email that started out saying the flight had been canceled and it turned out it had only been delayed a half hour! Going the other way I took the train from Naples to Siracusa, but it takes all day and the mainland leg isn't that scenic. Riding on a train that's on a ferry is cool, though.

zeppole

Oh yes! Right:

Always check a flight to Sicily 24 hours before your departure to make sure they haven't changed the departure time. They do it all the time. Have your hotel call the airline.

Ian

zeppole

My fun car at home is a convertible & we rented a 307 clam convertible in Andalusia several years ago. It was top down (with the AC at max) in the morning only due to heat but it was great to smell (in a nice way) southern Spain.

Ian

zeppole

In Sicily, you might like the feeling of a roof over your head.

galaxygrrl200

Noto is much more touristy than Ragusa. As a note, it's not that hill towns are bad, it's just Ragusa is on long, narrow medieval streets and might be a hard base, you'll spend a lot of time getting in and out of it.

Just my two cents. I would not stay in the town again. If you do stay there, get a very small car. ;-)

Ian

I hear you, galaxyggrl. In other words, it’s a good place to park the car & not come or go too often. But I like adventure & yes, I have driven the Amalfi coast & parts of Napoli so I know the mayhem of southern Italian roads & drivers.

Well after looking it over again . . .

Fly Roma to Palermo

Skip Palermo on arrival & drive to Erice
1 night in Erice (Segesta on the way in or out)
1 night in Agrigento area (Selinute on the way)
(or extend to 2 nights in some interesting town along the way like & skip staying in Agrigento)
3 - 4 nights in Ragusa (day trips)
2 – 3 nights in Siracusa (Taormina day trip)
2 nights unassigned – maybe Castelmola or Cefalu on the north coast, or Enna or similar interior mountain town
2 nights in Palermo

This would make car rental/dropoff & flights to/from Sicily easier. And my wife likes this because of the no pressure departure.

Keep the ideas coming . . .

Thanks

Ian

kja

Hi again, Ian -

> 2 – 3 nights in Siracusa (Taormina day trip) . . . 2 nights unassigned – maybe Castelmola . . .

If you plan on visiting Taormina as a day trip from Siracusa, it wouldn't make sense to later stay in Castelmola. Castelmola is just a short bus ride outside Taormina. One could even walk - perhaps an hour uphill from Taormina to Castelmola or 1/2 hour down.

travel2live2

Your 2 unassigned nights would be excellent in Cefalu. It is truly a breathtaking town (especially the views from above). Lovely place to explore.

Love it that you are spending time in Erice. The evenings and early mornings are especially magical before the tourists inundate the place.

zeppole

I would extend the time in Palermo so you can easily see both it and Moneale, and perhaps take a day trip to Cefalu, or a boat to the islands, perhaps overnighting on one of them.

If you don't like Palermo, you can easily daytrip out of it. If you do like Palermo, you won't feel like you rushed it.