haruko425

Ciao!

My fiance and I are going to be in Europe for 3 months. We are going to be in Italia in June. We have been to Italy in 2009 and visited the Cinque Terre, Florence, and Tuscany.
This summer , we are thinking of going to Bologna for a week to explore Emilia-Romagna. Then head south to Amalfi Coast and/or Sicily. If we stay in Sicily for 2 weeks, is Taormina is a good home base? I have read that 2 weeks is perfect for exploring Sicily. Also, I was thinking of staying for a few days in the Amalfi Coast and then head down to Sicily. What and where should we stay in the Amalfi Coast if we decide to stay?

Thank you so much for your help.
Best,
Stephanie

Michael

Taormina is not a good base for most of Sicily since it is on the east coast. You would need a couple of bases for Sicily. You might be interested in my trip report, aside from the medical issue: click on my name to find it.

bobthenavigator

Click on my name above to find my TR---a 15 day itinerary.

It does take 2 weeks to see Sicily, and at least 3 base camps.
The AC question is not easy to answer---we would need more input.

thursdaysd

You need to at least split your time between the west and east sides of the island, better still to do a circular tour. Taormina is fine for one day, but not more. The views are excellent, the theater is worth seeing, but otherwise it is a tourist trap. Click on my name for my TR.

kja

I agree with all the comments you've gotten so far - except that I think it would take closer to 3 weeks to see Sicily! (I had about 2 weeks and felt that I skipped a LOT.)

haruko425

Thank you so much for your help. Bobthenavigator, your trip was great to read about. If we split it up in Sicily, with Taormina for homebase to explore the East side and then somewhere on the West Coast? Where would you recommend for the west side of Sicily so we can explore that region? Also, we were also thinking of going to the Aeolian Islands for a couple of days as well.

My fiance and I are very into food, wine, being outdoors, beaches- snorkeling & scuba diving, farmers markets, cooking, and learning how the locals live. So we are excited for amazing seafood, freshly made pasta and tasty wine. My fiance has also gotten into photography and from what we know it looks gorgeous.

So we are still deciding about the Amalfi Coast or if we should save that for another trip?

neckervd

I would visit the Aeolian Ilands on the way from Amalfi Coast to Sicily. There are night ferries and catamarans during the day from Naples to Stromboli - Lipari - Vulcano - Milazzo (Sicily):
http://www.snav.it/en/destinations/sicily.html
http://www.siremar.it/en/linee-e-ora...-aliscafi.html
May be you would like Favignana Island. You can easily visit Selinunte, Segesta and Trapani in day trips from there. Castellamare del Golfo has a long sandy beach and a railway station (trains to Selinunte, Segesta, Trapani, Palermo) but Scopello and San Vito lo Capo in the Zingaro Park are more scenic (with bad public transport to everywhere). Cefalu (scenic old town, sandy beach) could be a base for the visit of Palermo and Monreale. Google for these places.
http://oldweb.enit.it/navgraficacomu...lang=UK&id=624

mamcalice

I recommend you spend the two weeks in Sicily - we like it so much better than the Amalfi Coast which has become so crowded in the past few years. We were in Sicily for 12 days and were unable to spend time on the western part of the island. I recommend a couple of days in Palermo - we loved it. Then split the rest of your time between a base in the east and one in the west.

Unlike some on this board, we really enjoyed out stay in Taormina. Using it as a base would allow you to take day trips while the day trippers are in Taormina and return to enjoy the pleasant evenings and mornings. The views from Taormina are spectacular. And the food in Sicily is incredible.

bobthenavigator

WE loved Taormina in May--not sure about later.
Plan on at least 3 days in Palermo to include Monreale as a day trip. Others may say Agrigento on the west side but we enjoyed the Greek temples at Selinunte more. If you include the islands then somhting has to give---your call !

annhig

hi haruko,

i appreciate that you are drawn to Emilia-Romana for part of this trip, but actually the Amalfi, or at least Naples makes more sense paired with Sicily as you can get a ferry to Palermo or Catania from Naples, either directly or via the islands as you can see.

http://www.directferries.co.uk/routes.htm

we are looking at a trip to Sicily and I'm very keen to get the ferry, at least one way.

neckervd - do you have any more info about the catamarans? any links?

haruko425

Thank you for all of your responses. We are planning on renting a car.
Is Siracusa or Taormina a better base for the east coast? Where should we stay on the westside?
I have gotten recommendations for Agrigento and Castellamare del Golfo. I will keep on doing research.

thursdaysd

I much preferred Siracusa (Ortigia, not the new town) to Taormina. Taormina is very touristy, there is more to see in Siracusa, and it's a better base for visiting places like Noto.

On the west side the obvious base is Palermo, but I also enjoyed staying in Trapani, which you could use as a base for Erice.

Dayle

haruko,

I'm visiting Sicily mid-April for 3 weeks, including the Aeolian Islands. I'm doing a circular route and Bob's trip report started my interest several years ago. Since then thursdaysd, kja and others have inspired so many places to visit that now my trip looks like this -

Erice 3 nts
Scopello 1 nt
Selinute 1 nt
Agriento 1 nt
Piazza Armerina 1 nt
Scicli 2 nts
Ortigia 3 nts
Taormina 1 nt
Lipari 5 nts
Palermo 4 nts

I know there are a lot of 1 nighters and this isn't something I would recommend to most people, but for me it works.

Happy planning.

kja

> Is Siracusa or Taormina a better base for the east coast?

I would think that depends on what else you hope to see on the east coast. I enjoyed my brief time in Taormina, but like thursdaysd, thought Ortygia a better base for my interests (which included Noto).

> Where should we stay on the westside?

I really enjoyed my time in Palermo, but not everyone does. I didn't make it to Trapani.

(Dayle - thanks for the kind words! )

bon_voyage

Siracusa/Ortigia has the daytrip advantage of being flat and easier to get in and out of than Taormina.

kja

I forgot to say that Taormina may provide a better base than Ortygia for joining a group tour of Mt. Etna and the Gole Alcantara - it was when I was there, but that was back in 2007.