My father's family is from a little town in Sicily called Allessandria della Rocca ( not too far from Agrigento). I have never been there &I am considering traveling there this summer at the end of August for the town's festival. Beside the heat, which I am sure will be unbearable, are is there any tips and/or "must sees"? I can't find much in the Italy tour books. Thanks

There have been SO many good posts regarding Sicily lately, you can do a text search on Sicily so you can start reading through them.

My recent trip report:

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

Some other informative threads:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34431208

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34422392

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34416277

Do you mean that you're trying to find something about that little town in the guidebooks? I know it's not possible that you can't find much on Sicily in the guide books, because they are plenty of good ones just on Sicily (Cadogan, Michelin, Dorling Kindersley, Blue, Rough, Baedeker, and many more).

Thanks, I have found some sites. I could use some advice about the travel part. I don't speak Italian and I am concern about the transfer(prob in Rome) and then the Palermo airport. I am also totally worried about lost luggage. Help :~

Did you book your tickets at the same time through the same airline? If so, then your luggage will be transported to your connecting flight. I speak a little Italian, I bought a Berlitz book/cd and studied it for a few months and found that what I had learned was very helpful. The only luggage problem I had was in Palermo, noone seemed to speak English at the airport and we were waiting for our luggage at the domestic flight luggage area. We were at our wit's end and realized that there was a separate luggage area for luggage that had come from international flights.

Yes, I booked the two flights together. NY-JFK to Rome to Palermo. So you go to international for the luggage? I would assume domestic cus the flight from Rome to Palermo is considered Domestic.
I actually took an Italian class for a semester but I didn't absorb much the teacher talked to fast
Luckily I will be staying with family so I mostly worry about the travel part since I will be doing that solo. Thanks

Powderpuff go to :
http://forums.about.com/ab-italian
Everyone there is very nice and helpful.

Powerpuff,

Relax, you'll have a blast! Rome airport is fine - you'll just have to go through immigration (passport control) there - your luggage will be checked through to Palermo. Don't worry, signs in Rome Fiumicino airport will be in english and people will speak it as well. Here's the airport web site if you'd like to get yourself oriented:
http://www.adr.it/default.asp?L=3

I haven't been to Palermo airport, but was recently in Catania and they had a similar setup: there are 2 luggage claim areas, one for bags from within the European Union and one for the others (suitcases checked in within the EU have green stripes on their tags and can thus be sorted separately). So, even though your last leg was domestic, the luggage handlers will know that you checked in your luggage in the US and must still go through customs. The non-EU luggage area has a customs check at the exit - you might have to put your luggage through an x-ray.

Chances are it will be a little confusing to find your suitcase, but again, I'm sure you'll find someone to help you out if you're having trouble. Certainly not a reason not to take the trip!!!! Here's the web site for Palermo airport:
http://www.gesap.it/inglese/html/index.shtml

I came from NYC too, and transferred in Venice. It will be considered international because the luggage originated internationally.

I had the same problem in the Sicilian airports. The first time it was in Catania three years ago. I waited and waited for my luggage until I was the only person left still waiting. Finally I went to the "trouble" room, where I was told that my foreign luggage was in a separate room. There were NO signs saying so that I could see. The same thing happened last year at the Palermo airport, but I asked after about 5 minutes this time. Again, the signs were not at all obvious. I speak Italian when I'm in Sicily. English is not too widely spoken, but if you look around, you should be able to find some English speakers in the airport. In August there will probably be plenty of English-speaking tourists, some of whom will know Italian. So it should not be too difficult to get some help. Sicily is a friendly place.

Yes, it will probably be very hot. I was in Sicily in August about 30 years ago, and the hottest of all the hot places was Agrigento!

I think it's a great idea to go for the town's festival, even if it is in August. You will probably have a wonderful time, and it will not be the usual tourist experience. (I wish I were going, too.) I spent four days in a little town in Basilicata during its big festival, which was a combination of an ancient traditional spring festival derived from pagan tree worship rites, which somehow became combined with the patron saint's day. Being there for the festival was one of the best travel experiences I've ever had.

If you took a little bit of Italian, you will probably understand quite a bit once you are there a few days, and you may start speaking a little.

For info about your town, try spelling it with one "l" instead of two. I found a few references to it with the double "l" but I think the single "l" is correct.

http://sicilia.indettaglio.it/ita/co...ellarocca.html

http://www.entasis.it/Comuni/Provinc...grigento02.htm

http://www.siciliainvetrina.com/modu...=ag&cid=15

http://www.alessandriadellarocca.com.../Carnevale.htm

http://sicilia.indettaglio.it/ita/co...o/turismo.html

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache...n&ie=UTF-8

I worried too about the luggage coming into the International terminal in Palermo and us landing in the domestic terminal arriving from Milan. DON'T WORRY. These are not "terminals". Everyone lands in the same place...there are two luggage roundabouts...if it is not on the first one just go to the other one...we are talking about a VERY small airport, compared to US airports...my luggage arrived in Palermo about two minutes after I did...from SF.
I too have a SMALL town in Sicily where my family and family name comes from. It is fun to visit, you might be a bit surprised though. My town consisted of a few lean to shacks, a agriturismo, and a lot of very hungry flies...but tons of signs with my family name!!

Thanks for all that great info. The web sites were very helpful. I used freetranslation.com to see what the Italian pages meant.
The town looks much more interesting then I imagined (my father never talks about his birthplace and my grandparents only speak Italian, which unfortunately I do not). I will update any new info; before & after my trip. Thanks again