Moorefun

For a 1st time to Sicily for 5 nights in November, we were thinking of staying in Taormina. Would that be a good base for other places such as Agrigento, and Syracusa? Or does someone have other suggestions that would help us? Also when flying there from Rome, should we get last minute flights or book our tickets from Rome to Catania now? Should we rent a car or rely on the buses and trains? We would appreciate any help.

cigalechanta

Moorefun, if you go to Syracusa, let me know. My father was born there and no little about it.

Spygirl

If you're going Rome to Catania, why not stay at the Sheraton Catania, about 3 miles from the city of Catania? It's a lovely hotel, across from the sea, very nice rooms, within walking distance of a picturesque fishing village. It's about 15 miles from Mt. Etna, 17 miles from Taormina, Agrigento is much further- but it would be from Taormina as well-over 100 miles, and Siracusa is about 35 miles. Check it out on Expedia-the restaurant is excellent, pool, lovely landscaping-there's bougainvillea spilling down over the hillside onto the grounds of the resort, great little restaurants around in the area as well-you can't go wrong with the food scene in Sicily-I believe it's the best in all of Italy-the Sicilians like to prepare pasta dishes with eggplant, which I like. Great seafood here. The Sheraton isn't cheap though, around 250E's/nt., unless you get a better discounted rate.

AP6380

I would definitely stay in Taormina. Some people argue it's "too touristy," but it is rightfully so. It's still charming and not tacky. I would be partial to renting a car, although you could take a car service (or bus) to/from the airport and take organized tours around the areas surrounding Taormina. Deciding what area to stay in depends on your siteseeing preferences. Do you want to stay in a walking town like Taormina, or perhaps stay in a more rural area around Agrigento and stay on a farm. If you stay in the southwestern region of Sicily with a car you could do daytrips to Agrigento, Selinunte, etc.

Check out my Sicily trip report:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34412340

Eloise

I would suggest that you book an Internet fare now on one of the discount airlines. Air One, Meridiana and Volareweb all fly between Rome and Catania. An Internet fare can be as low as 9.99 Euros one way, and you can't do much better than that. You should be aware, though, that Internet fares cannot be exchanged or refunded, so give yourself plenty of time to make the connection in Rome.

My personal vote goes to Siracusa, on the wonderful little island of Ortigia: mostly Baroque, a little worn around the edges but with great charm, a totally unique Duomo built inside a 6th-century B.C. temple of Athena, whose columns are still visible. The Piazza del Duomo is lovely and has a number of cafes where you can sit and soak up the atmosphere. Good restaurants, ranging from the sublime -- Don Camillo -- to the ridiculously inexpensive -- Da Mariano. From Siracusa, you can go to the beautiful Baroque towns of Noto and Ragusa as well as to Taormina, which is only two hours away by car, and to Agrigento, which is much closer to Siracusa than to Taormina. I'm among those who find Taormina too touristy; I also suspect that, for that reason, prices are higher there.

DonnaD44

We stayed in a villa in a small beach town about 10 mins. outside of Siracusa two years ago and found it to be great base for touring the area.
We spent several days in SIracusa and also drove to Taormina, Agrigento, Noto, Ragusa, etc.
I'd pick Siracusa as the livliest spot with friendly people, great restaurants and wonderful sights.

Moorefun

Thanks to everyone who replied with great helpful hints. We have now decided to stay in Sicily for 7 or 8 nights. Probably in Catania, Taormina, and then Syrucusa for the most nights. I am also going to start looking for the air fares now.
If anyone has the reasonable agriturismo type suggestions for Syracusa area, please let us know.
We are also going to spend a week in Tuscany, not sure what town to use as a base or maybe will go to 2 different places. Any help is still appreciated.
Thanks so much.

lincasanova

volareweb.com is great and have used them. interesting for you to know is that you can change dates and passengers names up to three hours before flight time by calling their call center and paying 25 euro penalty.

they have some great deals out there. the taxes are more than the flights most of the time!

Eloise

Try the following Italian Web site for a list of agriturismi in the province of Siracusa:

http://www.agriturismo-sicilia.it/ag...o_siracusa.cfm

Wherever you see "sito" at the end of the listing (generally on the right side of the last line), you can click on it to go to the Web site of the individual agriturismo; most of the Web sites are in English as well as Italian.

One that is generally reviewed very favourably is Il Limoneto.

Moorefun

Thanks again.
I am anxious to take care of the air from Rome to Catania for November 6. I noticed that VolareWeb so far only has rates through October. Is it typical to wait until approx. one month prior to flight time to get the good deals on flights from Rome to Sicily? Have you made car reservations in advance? Which car rentals have you found to be the best to deal with there?

Eloise

I made my Rome-Catania reservation for April 30 on Volareweb sometime in January, but you're right: they're only taking reservations until the end of October. I'd keep checking the Web site as often as possible.

I can't help with car rentals, I'm afraid, as I don't drive. I was very fortunate that an acquaintance met me at Catania airport and drove me to Siracusa; on my way back to Rome, I had to take the bus and wait around for hours at the airport, which was not at all amusing...

Eloise

I just noticed the post about the taxes. I did not pay a penny for taxes but only the posted Internet fare, which was 19.99 Euros from Rome to Catania and 29.99 Euros from Catania to Rome. I suspect that the fares go up from 9.99 to 19.99 to 29.99 Euros -- and much higher! -- depending on how fully the flight is booked.

Moorefun

Eloise
Did you book your airfare right on the VolareWeb site? FYI, I tried the Limonetto to stay, but they are closed in November. Should we be rethinking our going there for a week in November? It seems that a lot of hotels are closed in November.Thanks for the help.

Georgine

Moorefun,

We are also planning a trip to Sicily for November.

What I have noticed is that many of the (budget) airlines are not showing flights after October 31st to Sicily.

I am starting to believe that volareweb, along with some other budget carriers, may discontinue their Sicily routes after 10/31.

I have been watching their web site for over a month now, and all flights to Sicily---since I have been checking ----show nothing beyond 10/31.

Air One, which is owned by Lufthansa, flies out of Rome to Catania and Palermo. It is also a discount airline, and they do show flights to both Sicilian cities beyond the 10/31 date.

We are waiting until closer to 10/1 to book our flight, just in case they change their schedule in the meantime.

I know many people have praised volareweb, but you do need to be careful because they change their flight schedules quite frequently --not by minutes, but sometimes by hours.
This may cause you problems if you are trying to connect from, or onto, an international flight.

November is no longer "the tourist season", so many hotels will be closed and some airlines are, apparently, cutting their flight schedules to Sicily.

I have also checked Auto Europe's car rental rates---they are as reasonable as can be expected (for Italy). If you want or, need to, cars can be driven up and returned anywhere in Italy (I checked Rome Fiumincino) without a "drop charge".

Hope some of this information is of help to you.

grenelle2004

I travelled around Sicily a couple of years ago off season and I would definitely vote for staying in Taormina. Its very pretty and off season probably more relaxing than Syracusa. When we were in Taormina we stayed at the Pensione Swizzera (or similar spelling..) a simple pensione with some lovely sea views. If you're going for five nights, it might even be worth choosing two bases. As its off season you should have no problem finding rooms which is what did - staying in Taormina, Agrigento and Syracusa.

Eloise

Moorefun: I just noticed your message this morning.

I have to admit that I'm surprised that Il Limoneto is closed in November. I checked it out on one of the Web sites, and it's their annual closing period, i.e., they're open in December, January, etc., etc. and closed only in November. In my experience, most agriturismi operate year round, but some do close for a time for an annual "vacation." I checked two others in the Siracusa/Noto area -- Case Damma and Il Roveto -- and neither of them seems to be closed in November. (Incidentally, there is one that has quite a negative review on www.slowtrav.com that you might want to avoid: Villa dei Papiri.) If you Google <agriturismo, Siracusa> (without the arrows, of course), it will bring up a great many sites in addition to the one I originally gave you. As mentioned before, if the site is in Italian, it will generally allow you to go to the Web sites of the individual agriturismi, almost all of which are bilingual.

November, of course, is not high season, but it would surprise me very much if many places were closed.

And I must have been dreaming when I wrote in an earlier post that I flew Volareweb; I didn't, I flew Air One. Air One is showing flights in November, but not at the 9.99, 19.99, 29.99 fares that it was offering when I booked in January for April/May. Perhaps they will reintroduce the special fares; perhaps they will not. I cannot imagine that Volareweb (or any other airline) would discontinue service between Rome and Sicily on 1 November, although they might reduce it. The flights are not only used by tourists but also by Italian business people.

Although it seems a bit discouraging at the moment, I would urge you not to abandon your plans to visit Sicily in November. For one thing, you can hope that it will be a little bit warmer than mainland Italy... As for the choice between Taormina and Siracusa, since it's very much a personal thing, I would suggest that you go with what appeals to you more.

Moorefun

Georgine,
When are you going to Sicily in November? How long and where? If you see some good air fares, please let me know. Volare web still ends so far on 10/31. We plan to go on Nov. 6 and stay at least one week. I think that we will stay in Taormina and either Siracusa or near Agrigento. My husband also wants to stay in or near Cefalu. Are you picking your car up in Catania? After Sicily we plan to go somewhere in Tuscany and rent another car there. So far we only have our tickets from Pittsburgh to Rome Nov.5 (arriving on the 6th)- Nov. 22.

Georgine

Moorefun,

Sorrry---just saw your message from 8/17.

We are flying PHL to FCO on 11/17 and returning 11/30. So far, all I have done is purchased "cheap" tickets to Rome and have been occasionally checking the Volareweb and Air One sites to determine flight schedule continuity (if any flights) and pricing.

Because of other vacation planning, I won't start any research (hotels, cities, and sites to see) for Sicily until mid-Sptember.

We expect to be in Sicily from 11/18 to 11/26, and then up the coast back to Rome for a 11/30 departure.

You will probably be on your way to Tuscany while we are flying down to Sicily.

It would have been fun to "hook up".

If I get any "solid" flight news, I will post---you do the same.

Moorefun

Georgine (and all),
I just checked Volare and Air One. Still nothing good. It's funny we are flying Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and then on to Rome. It would have been good to get together in Sicily. We are waiting to finalize plans until we get that airfare. We think we will get a car (have you looked at Thrifty.it? Someone else recommended it on this sight. It's hard to determine prices with all the required extras)in Catania at the airport, stay 3 nights in Taormina, 2 in Syracuse, 2 in Agrigento area, and 1 somewhere else. Then we will drop the car off, fly back to Rome and get another car for Tuscany, Umbria. The last night we may stay near the Rome airport. This will be our 1st time with car rentals in Italy. We have used trains in the past.
It sounds good to be planning other trips too. We love to travel.
Will keep you posted with any luck on the discount air lines or good hotel prices.
Any suggestions for hotels,or tips on cars from others would also be helpful.
Thanks, Donna and Dave in Pittsburgh

WanderingTexan

I stayed in Taormina for 4 nights, rented a car and drove to Agrigento, stopping to see the mosaics along the way. I think it was about a 4 hr. drive. Spent one night in Agrigento, drove about an hour or two (sorry can't remember exactly)to Catania where I got a flight to Milan. I didn't see Syracusa. You could take day trips out of Taormina, or spend 3 days in Taormina, 2 in Catania or Syracusa. I also think Agrigento is too far for a day trip from Taormina.
I really enjoyed Taormina.