Howard

Here are our tentative plans for an 18 day trip from the US to Europe next May/June. <BR>Any comments or suggestions would be welcome.<BR><BR>London - 5 nights<BR><BR>Our stay in London will be bracketed by a visit to the Chelsea flower show on the our first full day, and a Bruce Springsteen concert on our last evening. We already have tickets for these two events, the only things we have made bookings for so far. We would have probably stayed in London a day or two less, but these two events are three days apart. Form London, we will probably go on one,or less likely, two daytrips. Top candidates so far, in rough order of appeal, are Cambridge, Canterbury, and Bath. On previous trips, we have been to Oxford, York, and Stratford. We are still looking for a budget/moderate hotel, up to about $120 per night. (suggestions are welcome) Leading candidates: Morgan, Luna Simone, and Corona.<BR><BR>Malta - 7 nights<BR><BR>This is the main destination of the trip. Stopping in London because least expensive flights to Malta go through there, and we can layover at just a minimal extra charge. We are going to Malta primarily for the sights/culture, rather than beach/nightlife. Our main decision here is whther to stay in the captital of Valletta, which is handier to the bus tranportation we will be taking, but is pretty dead at night, or further up on the coast at Sliema/St. Julians, which has more restaurants/action at night, but which would entail an extra bus ride each time we want to go anywhere else on the island. Since we are not big on nightlife, we are leaning towards Valletta - Hotel Castille? Any suggestions on which area to stay, or particular hotel up to about $100 per night? We will jsut stay in one place the entire time, with daytrips. At least one day to neighboring island of Gozo. Also want to see ancient sights/Mdina/perhaps a day at beach.<BR><BR>Sicily - Three nights<BR><BR>Since Sicily is so close to Malta, we firgure we can spend a bit of time there, not trying to see a lot of the island, but limiting ourselves to one or two places. This is the least thought out part of trip at the moment. We could take a ferry to Polazzo or Catania, or take a plane to Palermo or Catania. I don't know the ferry schedules exactly, so we have to check into further. If ferry works out, we are thinking of Catania one day and nearby Syracuse two days. Or perhaps Syracuse two days and nearby Noto one day. Or perhaps a Catania/Taormina combo. Or obviously Palermo if we fly there. Since these plans are tnetative, I haven't gotten to the hotel planning stage yet. Anyway, the idea would be too not spend too much time in transit between places. Any thoughts on Sicily plans? We would need to return to Malta the night before we depart for home, in order to make the plane.<BR><BR>Thank you!!<BR>

Geoff Hamer

For ferries from Malta to Sicily, look at www.virtuferries.com.

Marie

Dear Howard<BR><BR>Check out the following web sites<BR><BR>www.imperialcollege-conferencelink.com<BR>www.laterooms.com<BR>www.ven uemasters.co.uk<BR><BR>Hope some of these places help. Just note that Chelsea Flower show is a big event and hotels will be booked and knowing from experience they will be expensive.<BR><BR>Hope you have a wonderful trip through Europe.

Howard

Re the Castille in Valletta. Wise choice<BR>and &amp; very &quot;old-world&quot;; formerly a home I believe - a couple of blocks to the &quot;bus station&quot;. <BR>Restaurants in cellar &amp; Roof (skip roof except for breakfast; dinner was horrible) but cellar good for Pizza up to more substantially casual meals...<BR>Don't remember if it's under $100 but a good place to depart from each day.<BR>

Howard

Thank you for your responses.<BR><BR>Geoff - I had gone into the Virtu Ferry website,a nd saw the 2002 schedules they had online. I would assume that '03 will be similar. I can send them an e-mail at some point. It looks like boats may not leave every day, but if neccesary we can break up our Malta stay into two parts, with Sicily somewhere in the middle. It would not matter, in the overall plans of the trip.<BR><BR>Marie - Good point on getting a room early. We should do that in next week or two. I will check out your links.<BR><BR>Howard - Castille sounds like a good choice. I had already e-mailed them, and price is about $87 per night.

Frances

We visited Sicily in 2000 and because we had some very particular travel arrangements I remember spending some time looking for fares. I DO remember that one of the flights I turned up actually changed planes in Malta- this could be a really good option for you.I'm afraid though that I can't remember which airline it was!Sorry.There's no reason though why a search by you might not turn up the same info.

Howard

Thank you for your reply, Frances. However, as I stated in the original post, one can fly to Palermo or Catania. A search had already been done.

Frances

Howard if I've misunderstood you then please shoot me down in flames.<BR>What I tried to say albeit not too clearly is that to get from Britain to Malta and then go on to Sicily,you can buy a return flight which changes in Malta. You then have the oppurtunity to reduce your total travel cost as it will only cost the flight to Sicily plus the stopover.<BR>Having thought about this today, I have a feeling that the airline might have been Air Malta.If you are buying aflight From the U.S. then buy it on an airline which is in partnership with Air Malta and you get the best of both worlds.<BR>P.S. traffic to come west out of Palermo can be really heavy.We were advised to fly into Catania for Cefalu . We were told that that way you could gauge exactly how long the drive would take whereas out of Palermo you could be stuck for hours in traffic

Pauline

Hi Re Hotels in London try a Travel Inn they are similar to an American budget hotel like Sleep Inns but the one at County Hall has a great position right on the Thames walk over the bridge to St Pauls etc Tube ststion 2 mins away about &pound;50 per night they have online booking www.travelinn.co.uk I think. Enjoy Pauline

Howard

Here is an update. We now have hotel reservations in London - Travel Inn Town Hall. Thinking, for the trip out from Malta, of going to Tunisia (Tunis) for four days/three nights.

xxx

Is anyone familiar with the Westin Dragonara hotel in Malta? Is it easy to get from there to Valletta?

Lisa

Westin is a nice place!!!

Simon

One of the best hotels on the island, and possibly within your budget off season, is the 5-star Hotel Phoenicia. This is situated just 2 mins walk from the main bus terminus just outside city gate, with marvelous views and some of the most professional hotel staff on the island.<BR>I strongly recommend you check this out.

Karo

Definitely stay in Valletta, especially if you're not big on night life. We did and the convenience outweighed the lack of activity. Also, you are close to the ferry to Sicily. There is a new archaeological museum in Syracuse which is excellent if you're interested. Malta is wonderful, Sicily beautiful. We did a month starting in Malta (1 week), Sicily, Naples, Sorrento, and Rome.

xxx

to karo - where did you stay in valletta?

Howard

Simon - I did check out the Phonecia - it looks very nice, but seems to be quite pricey. Is there anywhere else in Valletta that you would recommend? How about in Sliema or St. Juliens?

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fyi

Joe

Good plan.

Jill and Will

Merry Christmas from Malta.