Jim

Planning a tip to Sicily mid September. <BR>Have 8 days to do it. Would love to hear what you guys might suggest for itineraries. Prefer staying at comfortable mid range price hotels where one can get to sites by public transit or better yet by foot. I see that Taormina is a hard place to get a room in this time of year. Would love to spend 2-3 days in that area. Siracusa and Agrigento seem interesting as well. So far the cheapest airfare I can find has been 686.00, <BR>any ideas for airfares as well. <BR>Thanks everybody............

Caroline

Hi Jim, <BR> <BR>I hope you will still see this before you go to Sicily, as you leave mid September. I went to Sicily in June, and I'm going back next summer, because I just love this peace of Italy. What you really should visit is the volcano Etna (very impressing), Toarmina, Agrigento and Syracusa. I staid in a lovely 3*** hotel in Trabia, a town between Palermo and the beautiful town of Cefalu. The name of the hotel is "Hotel Torre Artale". It's a very beautiful renovated old villa and belongs to the "charming hotels" of Italy. I really recommend it! The hotel is at 2 km from the beach and you can reach cities like Palermo and Cefalu (this town is a real "must": it's a beautiful town near the sea and it is still very typical, very Sicilian. If you decide to go to Cefalu I recommend you to go to the excellent restaurant "La Brace": delicious food for a very reasonable price!) <BR>About the Sicilian people:they are very friendly and always ready to help. Tip: try to say someting in Italian, even if it's only "Buongiorno", they love it! <BR>Hope you have a great time in Sicily!

Jim

Thanks for the suggetion,take care.

Terry

Hi Jim <BR>I was in Sicily at that time last year. We stayed in the Grande Hotel Capotaormina in Taormina for three nights - which was lovely but a bit too far from the town for our liking. Then we stayed in the Otello Hotel in Naxos for a couple of nights - very cheap and cheerful. From there we went to Lipari in the Aeolian Islands and stayed in the Poiseidon Hotel - which was lovely but had very rude staff. Then on to Cefalu where we stayed in the Mediterraneo Hotel. Zero character, but across the road from the train station, the staff were really helpful, and the rooms were nice and modern with air conditioning. <BR> <BR>Apart from the first place, we had no bookings and just landed in the tourist office and let them do the work for us. I would recommend this in low season, as none of the hotels we were sent to were bad (although the Otello, in Naxos, was a bit gloomy, we had a lovely view). You'll find phone nos for all the hotels by doing a search on Google.com <BR> <BR>Taormina was by far the liveliest place that we stayed in. All the other places closed very early. Everyone in Naxos takes the bus to Taormina at night for dining and just strolling around - although the beach in Naxos is lovely. Cefalu is a handy place to stay for day trips to Palermo, and also has a nice beach. Great seafood as well. Lipari is just gorgeous - don't forget to take a boat to see the other islands (esp.Stromboli) if you decide to stay there. <BR> <BR>Enjoy your trip - I envy you!

bob

Hi Jim, <BR>I was in south Italy (Sicily included)thanks to the advices of my friend catherina who is a tourist operator. <BR>Her address is [email protected]

lynn

This may seem like a basic question, but how do you make reservations at hotels/villas in Sicily ahead of time without speaking Italian? I've tried e-mails that are posted with no response, we've tried calling and noone speaks english at all - even to understand basic italian/spanish mixed. <BR>Travel agents won't get involved with most of the places we would be staying since they make no money. <BR> <BR>Ideas? <BR> <BR>