we have one week to spend in sicily in late april/early may. where would you have your base if you were us? palermo, taomino, catania (we'll be arriving from gatwick)...? how about two bases? any recommendation for online travel agent for flight+hotel package? not easy to find one which offers one with two bases.

I would definitely have my base in Palermo. I live on the Eastern side of the island near Catania and much prefer the western side.Taormina is nice, but in a week the western side could keep you very busy.

I assume since you'll be arriving from Gatwick you'll be flying into Palermo.

I would be sure to visit Erice(an amazing mideival town), Selinunte/Segesta (great ruins)and Marsala(famous for its sweet wine. In Marsala you can take a tour of the famour Florio winery, there are also pretty salt flats near Marsala.

If you fly Ryan air you can get a cheap flight into Palermo and then stay either in the city, or maybe in a little town near there. We've stayed in a hotel in Castellemare del Golfo that was really nice and serves as a good base.

You'll definitely need a rental car, but all of those places that I mentioned are within an hour driving distance from Palermo.

There are lots of good Sicily guides- I really like the Frommers guide.

Hi

I was in Sicily on the Eastern side in June 2006.

I would recommend Giardini-Naxos (very close to Taormina).

It is well catered for tourists, cheaper than Taormina and well situated to get around. A car trip to the base station at Mt Etna took me 45mins.

You can easily use this as a base to tour other parts, the highway is easily accessible from there.

Enjoy!

Anton

O how do I envy you! We divided a week between Palermo and Taormina last year. Although it was not nearly enough, I am glad we did a bit of both.

There is a lot of good information on the board - do a search and take time to read through the posts!

After much effort I can only get ticket to fly in and out Sicily at Catania. Ryanair and Easyjet don't have flight to Sicily yet for our period of travel.

As we are not into driving unless absolutely necessary, and we always enjoy strolling and sneaking in small alleys, old towns, etc. for a feeling of ways of life of other culture, we are now struggling whether to split our 1-week stay between Palermo and Taormino, or just base in Taormino in view of the travelling time between these two towns (said to be 3-4 hours at least).

As it's our first time in Sicily, and from what I read so far in this forum, we are bound to return some days for a much longer period, should we just base in Taormina and tour around the eastern part of the island this time?

Watakeet - do a search on the forum - plenty of good advice about Sicily. As I said we divided a wek between Palermo and Taormina and it was actually frustrating.

If you are flying in and out of Catania, I think it is good to base East. I loved Taormina (a lot of people on the Forum don't) but will not spend a week there. Rather divide the week between Taormina and the Baroque towns of Modica, Noto and Scicli. Do a search for Modica - I think it is "Nessundorma" that recommended a beautival B&B/Guesthouse there. I already decided to stay there next time!

By dividing time this way I think you will be able to enjoy quite a lot in the area - Mt Etna, Greek theatre etc, Siracusa, Ragusa and the Baroque towns.

Have a lovely time! I am sure you will see lots of wild flowers that time of the year.

Siracusa is a definite must if you enjoy tiny alleyways, atmospheric ruins and great food. Can recommend Domus Mariae to stay (a former nunnery- now excellent small hotel)

Siracusa is lovely. I would split time between there and Taormina. Like others have said, you can use Siracusa as a base to explore the Baroque towns of Noto, Modica, Ragusa, etc.

thanks for all your valuable advice. will explore the eastern part NOW!

after further research, we are now inclinded to stay split our one-week time between syracuse and taormina. want some comments on our hotel choices -

syracuse - l'approddo delle sirene

taormina - either villa paradiso (on via roma) or hotel villa taormina (on Via Tommaso Fazzello). which one of them is more of sicilian style? can't get a room with view for both hotels, so which one would you choose taking into consideration of location and facility.

ttt

Are you sure you want to use Taormina as a base? It's certainly beautiful, but you can see the main sights in less than a day, and it's inconvenient for taking side trips because it's up on top of a mountain, so you end up wasting a lot of time driving in and out, not to mention parking which can be a hassle. As an alternative you might consider staying down in Giardino Naxos and just make a day trip up to Taormina.

If it were my first time to Sicily, and IF I only had one week (which is like a blink of an eye to see Sicily) I would look for an escorted tour. One that circles the island so I could also get to see the beautiful north coast. This way you can get a feel for this gourgeous and diverse island and know exactly what you want to do the next time you go back, because I believe you will return. This way you can get to enjoy Sicily without the bother of trying to get around on your own. You will have a tour guide that will answer your questions and give you advice about the island.

I agree with not using Taormina as a base-two days is more than enough for that area. Siracusa(more particularly Ortigia the old island section) would be my choice-hotel Gutkowski or Domas Mariae. We stayed in Catania for a day at a Best Western so that we could use GeoExplorers which is a tour led to Mt. Etna by a graduate student in Volcanology from Catania. They pick you up in a Land Rover at your hotel and for about $50 a person you have a 5-6 hour tour of all the different areas of Mt. Etna including going down into a lava cave with flashlights and hardhats.Sicily is fabulous and is like Rome-you will need many trips to see everything. Have fun!

Dutyfree - we will be in Sicily next week and are interested in seeing a volcano up close. We are thinking of Stromboli (I just posted a question about that) but your visit with Geoexplorers to Etna also sounds tempting. Google isn't helping me. Do you have a website or email address for them that I can contact for details?

http://www.geoetnaexplorer.com/eng_etna.htm
tag32 - This is probably the company you are looking for

tag32 - I will be taking a group of people to the Aeolian Islands in June. We have a day planned to climb Stromboli. It's very active right now so we won't know until we get there how high we can go, but no matter, even if we get to the observatory at Punta Labronzo that will be wonderful. The Aeolians need a week on their own. Gorgeous. This is a good website about Stromboli and volcanoes. Enjoy
http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/index-en.html

For your next trip to Sicily....We have based ourselves in Catania the couple of times we have spent short four day stays in Sicily. It was very easy and convenient to walk the 20mins to the bus station and take inexpensive day trips to Taormina and
Syracuse. In Catania, if facing Piazza Elefante, look up to the left and that balcony belongs to a most lovely Sicilian restaurnt where lots of Sicilian families go for a bite...and lots of noisy wonderful chatter..sorry cannot remember the name but you cannot miss it. It might be wise to rent a car and concentrate on one side of the island...on another trip we spent 10 days solely driving around from two bases ,Giaradini Naxos area and one close to Cefalu and we still feel that we must go explore the wilder interior a lot more. In Cefalu do go to the Scoglio Ubriaco (The Drunken Reef) restaurant and try their chick pea flour squares...the locals on the next table said that these, newly fried, used to be their quick after school snack. And the house wine went down very well too!