mishk

Hello everyone!

I am new to this board, but have been searching and reading your posts for the past few days, and it seems you all have a lot of good advice about planning an itinerary for Sicily! I have 12 days (after a week in Malta), and have come up with the itinerary below. There are a few little things I am stuck on due to being unable to find accommodation or transport, so hopefully someone can help me out! This is what I have come up with so far, the places listed beside the dates are where I plan to stay:


21 June – Catania (arrive by morning ferry from Malta)

22 June – Catania – Day trip to Etna

23 June – Catania – Day trip to Piazza Armerina or Syracuse

* I have already booked 3 nights accommodation

24 June –Piazza Armerina or Syracuse

* or stay in Catania an extra night and do Piazza Armerina and Syracuse as day trips from there (having trouble finding accommodation in either)

25 June –Agrigento

26 June – Agrigento – Day trip to Selinute?

27 June – Segesta or Palermo

28 June – Segesta or Palermo

29 June – Palermo – Day trip to Selinite?

30 June – Palermo

1 July – Taormina

2 July – Taormina

* then back by bus or train to Catania for ferry to Malta, then evening flight ex Malta to London


I am having trouble finding affordable accommodation at Piazza Armerina, Syracuse and Selinute. Would it be better to do day trips from Catania for the first two, and Agrigento or Palermo for Selinute?

Also, two nights at Segesta could be a bit long (accommodation I found requires a minimum of 2 nights), but that could also be done as a day trip from Palermo. I also thought of incorporating a night at Cefalu on my way from Palermo to Taormina if possible.

I am travelling only by public transport (no car), hopefully my ideas are all workable. I have searched many bus and train timetables, and haven’t found answers for everything yet.

I am a 28 year old Australian female travelling on my own, so please let me now if there are any dodgy areas I should avoid.

If anyone has any suggestions to help me clarify these areas that are giving me headaches, I would love to hear them! I want to book something as soon as possible.

Thank you, and look forward to reading your responses!

Michelle.

gertie3751

Michelle
I was interested in your post as I'm planning on doing much the same itinerary later in the summer. I'm wondering how easy it is to find accomodation for one person without having to pay double rates. What did you find? I too will be travelling by train/bus so I'd like to know how easy/difficult you find it.
Sorry not to be any help with your questions, I'll be reading the board to see what other people suggest.
Good luck
Gertie

mishk

Hi Gertie,

It looks like a lot of people do similar trips, it's just a matter of co-ordinating it all! I am booking mostly hostel/B&B type accommodation. Sometimes in a private room, sometimes in a dorm. Most places seem roughly 20 euros per night, give or take a little. It can be difficult to find somewhere with a single room or bed though, if you find a room with 2 or 4 beds you do often have to pay for them all, which gets expensive. This is where some of my difficulties have come in, but I'm getting there slowly.

Good websites I have been using for this and other trips are:

www.hostels.com
www.hostelz.com
www.hostelbookers.com
www.hostelworld.com

These sites don't just have hostels, but it's a good way to find and compare cheap accommodation. Various travel websites also often have booking facilities.

I'll let you know how I go when it's all sorted out.

Michelle.

mishk

.

gertie3751

To minimise changing hotels and carting stuff about, I was thinking of basing myself in 2 centres, say Palermo and Siracusa, and hoping to get to other places on day trips from there. This will depend on how easy it is/how long it takes to do day trips to everywhere I want to go. Hmmm.
Gertie

mishk

I am thinking more towards that approach now, staying put a little longer. I have booked another night at Catania and will do both Piazza Armerina and Siracusa as day trips - no affordable accommodation available at either place.

I am now trying to decide on whether I should stay the 2 nights at Segesta (farmhouse property with views of the ruins - looks nice, but remote), or forget that and increase Palermo by a day, doing Segesta as a day trip.

That could make it:

4 nights Catania (daytrips P.Armerina & Siracusa), 2 nights Agrigento, 3 nights Palermo (daytrips Selinute & Segesta), 1 night Cefalu, 2 nights Taormina.

Or 4 nights Palermo, and Cefalu on the way to Taormina.

Have I missed anything crucial, or could I not do those daytrips without rushing around like crazy on public transport? Any better ideas from anyone?

Thanks....

vnh

Sounds good except I think you would really struggle to do Selinunte as a day trip from Palermo on public transport. There are a few buses to Castelvetrano and then you have to take another bus to Marina di Selinunte and then walk - or get a cab. I was lucky in that I had a friend living in Castelvetrano so he would drive me down but another friend who attempted it as a day trip from Palermo got stranded out there because of the lack of public transport.
It's a shame because in my opinion (not generally held, I think), Selinunte is a more beautiful site than Agrigento. I'm not sure what the transport situation would be between Selinunte and Agrigento as I only went to Agrigento once.
If you are doing Segesta, see if you can get to Erice on the same day. You'd have to get the bus to Trapani first and then get other buses but you should easily be able to do both in a day and get back to Palermo.
Just as an aside, the buses are generally better/cheaper/easier than the trains except on the north coast and east coast where the trains are workable.
I used to live in Palermo (it was only two years ago so the info isn't so out of date!) but I still think lots of others on this forum know a lot more about getting around than I ever did! Still, I did acquaint myself extensively with the public transport and spent a lot of weekends out and about..

mishk

Thanks vnh, that's just the sort of advice I'm looking for! From what I've seen, Selinute looks great, and I'd hate to miss it. Erice does look interesting, good to know I could fit them in on a day trip.

Does anyone else know where would be a good place to base myself to do a day trip to Selinute, or if it's doable from Agrigento? I have tried to find accommodation in Sciacca, with no luck. I could swap one of the nights I've allowed for Palermo for somewhere else if there's a better option.

I've never been to Sicily before, but I lived in Rome for most of last year, and have been back twice this year already -Italy is such a magical place!

mishk

ttt

AP6380

For an accomodation in Sciacca, try verdetecnica.com

mishk

I'd already looked at the Verdetecnica since a few people have recommended it, and just had another look. Unfortunately it's a bit out of my price range - it would be great if I was sharing with a few other people though. Thanks for the suggestion!

bobthenavigator

Mishk, I wish I could help---I assume you have seen my recent trip report. But, it is hard to see Sicily using public transport, and your price range is limiting. I agree that Selinunte is more impressive than Agrigento and Segesta is very isolated. Why go back to Malta? You can fly direct Palermo to Rome. Good luck !

mishk

Thanks bobthenavigator. I agree, it would probably be easier with a car, but I am an Australian who is used to driving on the other side of the road, and haven't even done that for over a year! I know what the Italian drivers are like after a year in Rome, so I'm not game to hire a car.

My price range is a little limiting for what some people might like, but in most places I've found perfectly suitable accommodation. This way I can afford to do a little more when I'm there rather than spending all my money on an expensive place to sleep.

I'm only flying out of Malta to London because my flights are already booked and paid for (I live in London now). I was originally supposed to be in Malta for 3 weeks doing an Archaeology course, but that got cancelled the other day (do my great disappointment), hence my last minute organising for something else to do. My mother has donated me a week of her timeshare to use in Malta, and Sicily, I think is a great option for the other two weeks!

Can anyone comment if the day trips I have proposed are not possible? That is my main concern, otherwise I'm ready to go ahead with the rest of my bookings.

gertie3751

Morning Michelle!
How's it going? I was looking in Rough Guide to Sicily and I agree, Selinunte looks hard to get to. I too don't like hiring a car on holiday; I do enough driving every day in real life.
I wonder if it's just a matter of accepting that some things just can't be done. I've been looking at these Explore trips which cover Classical Sicily in about 10 days and organise accomodation and transport thus removing the hassle factor. Have you heard anything good or bad about them? What's putting me off is the cost, I too am on a budget.
Keep me posted.
Gertie.

gfeibleman

I am pretty much plannig the same trip (Malta and Sicily) in Nov. but with a car. Good luck and look forward to your report.

KayF

Hi Michelle,
We're Australians and are visiting Malta and Sicily in Sept/Oct this year. We have also seen the Italian drivers in action and have decided to only use public transport. I think it will work out OK, we are not visiting as much of the island as you are.
The only place where I have found day tours readily available is from Taormina. The website I found is
http://www.compagniasicilianaturismo.it/home.asp
Click on Excursions then Taormina (top right)
We were originally going to catch the ferry from Malta to Pozzallo but the ferry timings were awful and then public transport from Pozzallo didn't seem great so we have booked flights to Catania instead. Are you travelling with Virtu Ferries from Malta?
Feel free to email. What's it like living in London?
Kay

mishk

Ok, I have finally made all of my accommodation bookings! This is what I have come up with:

Tues 21 June: CATANIA, Agora Hostel, 4 nights. Day trips to Etna and Syracusa. Day trip to Piazza Armerina?

Saturday 25 June: AGRIGENTO, B&B Lerux, 2 nights. Day trip to Piazza Armerina?

Monday 27 June: MAZARA DEL VALLO, Sporting Club Village, 2 nights. Day trip to Selinute.

Wed 29 June: PALERMO, Hotel Regina, 2 nights. Day trip to Segesta.

Friday 1 July: TAORMINA, Taormina's Odyssey Hotel, 1 night.

Sat 2 July: Back to London via Malta.

Unfortunately I can only fit in one night at Taormina, I'm running very short on time.

I still have to work out the exact logistics of getting here to there, train/bus times etc, but I'm almost done. Also, I'm not sure whether it will be better to do the Piazza Armerina day trip from Catania or Agrigento, but I think it's possible from either.

Kay, thanks for that excursions link, they have some good ones. I think I will be travelling with Virtu Ferries. They do leave Malta at 5am, which I'm not too keen on, but I might get to see a sunrise, which could be nice.

London is very expensive, and a big, busy city. It has its good points (theatres, historical stuff, etc.), but after living in Rome, it doesn't excite me too much. The travelling opportunities are great though.

Gertie, I haven't heard of that tour company, but from the brief searching I have done on tours, they are generally so expensive that I haven't even considered any. It would take out the hassle factor, but for that cost I think I'll deal with it!

Cheers...

gertie3751

Hey Michelle
Your accomodation looks very similar to what I have found, except for the Sporting Club Village. Let me know what the places are like. Did you manage to book yourself in without having to pay double rates? I'm hoping to get hold of a train timetable soon to see how long all this takes.
As I'm 30 years older than you I'm a bit hesitant about the Agora and Odyssey hostels, especially as Odyssey specifies age limit of 60!!! Can this really be true?
Good luck
Gertie

mishk

Hi Gertie,

Yes, all of my accommodation is at single rates, I avoided the ones where you had to pay extra. I have booked them on hostels.com and hostelbookers.com if you want to check the prices.

Try www.trenitalia.com for train times, it's an easy way to find them. Not all of them go the directions you want though, some places that are quite close seem to go way back to Palermo or Catania and back again, long journey, but no direct line. That's why I'm also researching buses. I'll post my findings when I'm done.

I did notice that comment about no guests over 60, that's pretty strange! Often they specify no-one over 35, but I've never seen this before. Actually, I sent my mum the website for the Agora hostel (www.agorahostel.com), and she wished she was coming too!

gertie3751

Good luck with your trip Michelle. I'll look forward to reading what happened. I'm sure I'll end up doing much the same, though my plans have been delayed until September now. Maybe your Mum and I should show those hostels we haven't got one foot in the grave yet.
Gertie.