Despite Umo's claims, Ortygia and Siracusa are not within an hour's drive of Ragusa. I've never read a recommendation for visiting Gela. Here's what we did:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-november.cfm

Dayle,
We are having the same issue with Delta. We are flying from Sacramento,CA to Sicily. We might fly into Boston first
(Parker House Hotel), and stay a few days. The flight options to Sicily are better.
I hope this helps. Either way it is expensive.....
Ciao, Louie.

I second Marija's point about drive-times. All our driving took longer than we expected--and not only because we got lost so frequently.

Dayle, I don't think I booked flights for a late-March visit until late January. Those short hops Alitalia does may not have a firm schedule this far in advance.

Marija: , Ragusa -to- Siracusa = 100k+/- , looking at my travel notes , it took me more like 1.5hr+, that inluded getting into town., still not bad and a doable day trip for me.. i enjoyed staying in Ragusa. i mentioned Gela, because i found it interesting,an ancient city dating back to around 700BC, there is an archaeological museum there,even though there is a lot of intustrial sites there now. it also played important part during WWII, this was the initial assault landing of US forces on the beach there in July 1943.

your report is very intesting , thank you for the links and posting it.

Ann, no Palermo for you?>>

Leely - probably not. our easiest route into Sicily is probably Catania and with only 10 or so days, I'd like to concentrate on the east of the island, especially as I too have fallen for the lovely Commissario Montalbano!

Marija- i just spent a lovely 15 mins rereading your TR. we will have a car - I enjoy the freedom it brings, though i appreciate that it's not for everyone. my problem is that everywhere i read about, i want to stay there! [apart from Gela - that's off my list already].

here is a site that may be usefull to those visiting Sicilia

http://www.sicilyincoming.com/index.html

go to bar on top of site and scroll over : "Sicily Guide", each Province is listed and you will get a map of area with points of interest.

annhig , i would put Taormina on your short list. i'll post some of the hotels and a b&b i stayed at there. i am looking at an appartment there for my Oct trip, but undecided on it.

UmoDiViaggio - thanks for the link. looks like a terrific source of information.

I have read mixed things about Taormina as a base - some people rave about it, others at it. i'd be interested in your view.

Umo gives wonderful info! I would, however, land in Palermo and fly out from the east. If you are interested in stunning mosaics, don't miss Palermo (The Palatine Chapel) or Monreale.

We took a local bus to Mondello and found its art deco bath house pretty nifty.

Ciao All,
My wife and I just purchased out tickets to Sicily. We fly into Palermo April 28TH and stay for two nights. We plan to do a clockwise circle of Sicily from Palermo, and fly back out of Palermo May 22,2013. Here is what we thought would be a nice itinerary. We are open for suggestions on locations, and can use help with nice clean B&B Hotels with easy car access & parking. Here is our tentative travel plan. Palermo (2) nights, Cefalu (2) nights, Taormina (4) nights, Siracusa (4) nights, Modica (4) nights, Agrigento (3) nights, and were not sure of the last 5 nights. We were thinking of (5) nights in Castellammare del Golfo. Is that too many days there? Or should we stay in Erice, Trapani, Segesta..... We want to explore the western region of Sicily, and are looking for the best city to base out of. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ciao, Louie & Vera.

here are some of hotels and B&B i have stayed at that i can recommend.:
Palmermo http://www.bed-breakfast-palermo.com/ nice and clean, great location. good price.
Agrigento :http://www.hotelvillaathena.it/ location location location
Ragusa : http://www.anticabadia.com/home_eng.php
Segesta: http://www.angimbe.it/
Menfi : http://www.planetaestate.it/?lang=en Love the wine , magical place.
Taormina stayed at all of these, hard to choose which one was my favorite, althougth Francesca and Pino at Casa Turchetti make that my favorite : http://www.villaducale.com/ , http://www.casaturchetti.com/en/main.php , http://www.hotelvillacarlottataormin...taormina-villa

i have been looking at this for trip next month, but itis not right in Taormina http://www.luxuryresidencetaormina.i...ents-eolie.htm

ciao, louie and vera,

you are very lucky to have so long for your trip - nearly a month. Sadly we have less than half that. I can see the attraction of Palermo - my problem is that I can see the attraction of the rest of Sicily as well!

Umo - thank you for all of those links. A plan is sort of forming, but flying into Catania and working back to Palermo, on the basis that we are likely to be doing most of our driving in the mornings, so we would have the sun at our backs most of the time.

I have in mind to stay 3 nights in Ortegya, spend 3-4 nights exploring the interior ending at Cefalu, and then ending with 3 nights in Palermo before flying home.

comments anyone? [louie and vera, sorry to hijack your thread, but our interests overlap, i think!]

Annhig,

Don't worry about hijacking the Sicily thread. We all can gain valuable information from all your questions. We are also going to stay in Ortegya during our time in Saricusa. We are looking for a nice B&B to stay at. Some are already booked...
Ciao, Louie & Vera.

We are also going to stay in Ortegya during our time in Saricusa. We are looking for a nice B&B to stay at. Some are already booked...>>

are they booked or are they not taking bookings yet? some websites that I've looked at are saying that they have no vacancies at all in April, which I think is unlikely. Even so, we won't be booking anything until we get back from our autumn trip to Sri lanka, so if they're booked, they're booked!

annhig, Louie and Vera,

I am finding some of the same, but I agree it's most likely because they are not taking reservations this far out on booking sites like venere.com.

If you contact the B&B or hotel directly via e mail, you should get a response in a few days. Remember, they are still busy with current guests and Italian hotels/B&Bs don't always respond immediately :-) anyway.

Sicily is incredible--you will love it! In Modica we stayed at B&B Le Lumie, right in town. It was lovely. Great location, super nice host, beautiful view from the garden.

annhig and rescue - it would be nice to allocate a couple of days close to the eastern coast, in either Taormina, or Giardini Naxos or Letojanni, in this area you would also be close to Mt. Etna area - but if it were me, I would choose Taormina (that is if you do not mind the tourists and lively atmosphere - even going up to this town is an experience in itself, and the scenery is really lovely).

The Madonie mountains close to Cefalu' is a really nice area, as is also the wine country of the very north west. Erice is a lovely town. Monreale (close to Palermo), would also make a nice visit. I also like Messina as a city a visit to the clock tower which has statuettes that move mechanically at noon every day woulod be nice. This small city is relatively much quieter than Catania or Palermo - I am not sure whether it would be worth a trip is time is limited, but in the case of Rescue, I would certainly consider a visit to this city.

Just in case anyone of you is interested, there is also an airport in Trapani, Ryanair does flights to Trapani airport.

Avoid driving at all costs in the centre of Catania and Palermo, and be extra careful of pickpocketers if you visit the centre of these cities, also be careful of drivers on scooters driving past you. Saying that, Sicilians are extremely friendly, helpful, and loud people - you will see a marked difference from Italians of northern Italy (and the men real womenizers, lol. In my younger days one funny incident I remember, (on that particular holiday I was travelling with another female friend), was that after landing near the ferries and started walking to our hotel (the harbour of Catania is quite close to its centre) a police car stopped by and two policemen in uniform called us over. We were wondering what we had done wrong - they simply asked us which hotel we were staying in, then told us to get into the police car so that they give us a lift to the hotel!! So we were given a ride right to the entrance of the hotel!! My friend and myself were laughing all the time during this short ride, and imagining what anyone we know would think if they saw us in the police car - so many Maltese in the 80s used to go to Sicily for short breaks!!

I also recall strolling with friends down the main street of Catania, and we used to get literally a whole trail of men following us like in a procession, and the closest to us trying to chat us up. But at the same time they were harmless. So funny!! Of course that was when I was in my prime in my younger days, lol.

Enjoy it in Sqallija (Sicily in my language, lol)

anna, thank you again for taking the time to share all your invaluable experience. having watched the dramatisations of Commissario Montalbano on TV [another episode tonight, goody] I can well believe that you were picked up by Sicilian police in the way you describe.

my trip planning is going to be on hold for a couple of weeks or so, as we are off to Sri Lanka on holiday tomorrow, but when I come back, I'm going to be desperate to be working on our NEXT trip!

Enjoy your trip to Sri Lanka - wow - that will prove to be a really lovely, unique and unusual trip for sure. If I am not mistaken, that is where teas come from.

Have fun, and please tell us about this beautiful island when you come back.

Ciao all,

My wife and I have almost completed our itinerary for our first trip to Sicily. We need help with a nice Hotel or B&B in Erice that has parking nearby. Here is our travel plans. Fly into Palermo April 28TH, and rent a car and drive to Cefalu.

April 28-May1, Cefalu, stay at Hotel Kalura.

May 2-5, Taormina, stay at Panoramic Hotel.

May 6-9, Siracusa, stay at B&B La Via Della Giudecca.

May 10-12, Modica, stay at Hotel Grana Barocca.

May 13-15, Agrigento, stay at Colleverde Park Hotel.

May 16-18, Erice, no hotel yet???????

May 19-22, Palermo, stay at Hotel Ambasciatori.

We are open for suggestions on lodging in Erice. Also, any help with fun things to do Hiking trails, Historical sites, ceramics shopping, unique towns to visit etc at all our cites we are visiting. Also, we contacted each Hotel-B&B by email and requested a nice room, and had great success with booking each Hotel-B&B.

Thank you, Louie & Vera.

Very close to Erice town not Erice itself, (approximately 4km away) there is a brand new hotel/B&B called Ericemare in Pizzolungo (www.ericemare.it) newly-consructed and brand new, and on its site it says that it offers free parking. It is quite close to the sea, and is in the provence of Erice - since it is so close. The rates are really really affordable.

On Tripadvisor, it has only 3 reviews, probably because it is brand new, written in Italian (probably Italians were their first customers), and all of them gave it a 5 out of 5 score. Maybe you would like to take a look at it.

Have a look at TA or booking.com for Erice hotels that are in the centre. I am glad that you emailed hotels/B&B by email, I prefer to do that as well.

Are you planning to visit the eastern coast from Taormina? A visit to/near Etna mountain would make a nice day-trip.

And a day-trip to Messina from Cefalu' would also be nice (about 1hr30mins drive each way). Make sure you are there at noon as the clock tower of the church has statuettes that move mechanically at the stroke of noon.

If you prefer accommodation in the very centre of Erice, I will gladly help in researching.