annhig

Ireynold - that sounds like a terrific start to a trip and taking the train/using a transfer are very good ideas for getting to Taormina and then Siracusa. The Villa Schuler is probably as good a place to stay as there in in Taormina by all accounts and Ortigia is just lovely. Where are you staying there?

I hope you do avoid the worst driving pitfalls [and potholes] but take comfort from the fact that we encountered virtually everything that driving in Sicily could throw at us, and we [and our car] lived to tell the tale.

lreynold1

Hi, annhig,
Our reservation in Ortygia is at L'approdo delle Sirene. I got the recommendation from several people here. I went around and around on this one, and finally decided to take on the minor inconvenience of having to change rooms -- first two nights with a water view, third night move to a room with balcony but no water view. Since we travel with carryons and essentially two sets of clothes the room switch is not a big deal. And of course there´s always the chance that there will be a cancellation and we won't have to move. Getting excited!

Fra_Diavolo

Hmm . . . two engrossing trip reports at once. Well, nothing going on a work anyway. On, on!

Waldo

I'm reluctant to say this, but what the heck--My wife and I went to Italy every year, sometimes two or three times a year, from 1987 to 2010. My wife's brothers and sisters live in Naples. They're Neapolitans, while my wife is a natural born American. In any event, we've been to practically every place in Italy, including Sardinia, we've been to Germany, Malta, Switzerland and France. BUT BELIEVE IT OR NOT, NEVER BEEN TO SICILY! As a descendant of Sicilians, I'm really ashamed, but somehow or other, we never got the real urge. What a shame! My maternal grandparents came from Capo D'Orlando, and I remember them always saying how lovely it was. My big mistake.

annhig

lreynolds - I looked up the location of your hotel and it's right on the harbour, which is a very convenient place to be, both for exploring Ortigia, and Siracuse as well. We had further to go to see Siracuse as we were further down into Ortigia, and we ended up having to walk quite a long way before we found the bus stop for the Necropolis.

You OTOH are much closer - just cross the bridge into Siracuse proper and walk about one block along the Corso Umberto, and the bus stops are by a little cafe on the right hand side of the street [it's one way, anyway]. There is either the ordinary bus, or the HOHO bus, but they don't seem to run very often.

Waldo - it's not too late, is it? you could fly into either Palermo or Catania and be in Capo D'Orlando in a day or two.

EYWandBTV

lreynold1: We stayed at L'Approdo delle Sirene and loved it. Run by a very welcoming family. Outstanding breakfast coffee in a room overlooking the harbor. Close to the bridge to the main city. Just a block or two over the bridge are a couple of interesting, non-monument places: La Pecora Negra, a locals restaurant serving "volcano pizzas" which are sort of pizza envelopes loaded with deliciousness, and also Wash-and-Dry Siracusa, a small laundry place run by a young Italian guy and his American girlfriend. Fun to chat with.

Waldo

Annhig- I'm afraid it is too late. My wife is not with us any longer, and it's not the same without her. I guess my Italian travel days are over. The great thing is that I have a storehouse of some really unbelievable stories concerning our travels around Italy, some of which could only happen in Naples.

kja

As the first person to have recommended L'Approdo delle Sirene on lreynold's thread (and having been recommending it since I stayed there in 2007), I can attest that it is extremely well-located and warmly run. And that it's worth waiting until one leaves Siracusa to pick up a rental car. I think lreynolds has chosen well.

sundriedtopepo

lreynold just a suggestion, but it might be better to take the bus from Taormina to Syracusa, since you can board the bus in Taormina, whereas the train station is a Euro 15 taxi ride from the top of town. Ask at the front desk at Villa Schuler, staff there is very helpful and accommodating.

annhig

waldo - I'm so sorry to read that and understand I think how you feel about going there now without your DW. It's good that you have so many happy memories of your travels and loads of stories to tell about them. I can well believe that about Naples as I've only been there twice and have twice as many stories about it than about anywhere else.

tuscanlifeedit

sundriedtopepo: Do you know how long the bus ride from Taormina to Syracusa takes? I'm piggybacking while waiting for annhig's next installment. Thanks.

Huggy

annhig: Glad you are finally making it to Sicily. Looking forward to your recap.

Waldo: Please do not stop your European travels. I just returned from a 17 day convoluted Europe visit where I visited Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany. I do not suggest this for everyone, in fact my wife stayed home and I missed traveling with her but this was a trip of revisiting places, new places and just a great time.

Huggy

annhig

tuscan - I just googled buses in Sicily and it seems that there are direct buses with no changes from Taormina to Siracusa, which take just over 2 ½ hours.

The one I found left at 8.45 am and arrived at 11.25 am, leaving from the bus terminus in Taormina [your hotel should be able to tell you where that is] and arriving at the Corso Umberto [the main street] in Siracusa.

I'm sure that there are later ones, but here's the bus website, anyway:

http://www.buscenter.it/en/our-routes-within-sicily/

lreynold1

Thanks for the heads up -- I had just assumed the train would be easier and quicker. The 8:45 bus sounds great, I will report back in a few weeks. Only one more thing for me to do in the trip planning department -- I will spend several hours the next few days going back over all the many trip reports and planning threads, with my own itinerary in hand, scribbling down pearls of wisdom from all you wonderfully helpful forum members. Thanks to all.

annhig

lreynold - your hotel should be able to help you with deciding whether to use the bus or the train, getting tickets [if necessary], etc .etc.

BTW, in case I don't get to it before you go, one of the best things we did in Ortigia was to go to a performance at the Teatro dei pupi [the puppet theatre]. Although the story wasn't that easy to follow, the puppets are charming and it was a lot of fun to watch.

The theatre is on the left at the top of the Via Giudecca [as you are coming from the Siracuse end] and performances last about an hour. From the timetable, it looks as if there are performances more or less every day in October, starting at 5.30 pm.

http://www.teatrodeipupisiracusa.it/calendario/

The only problem we had was actually buying the tickets - when we walked past in the early afternoon it was closed, and no indication about how to get them. When we found a tourist office we asked them and they didn't know, but suggested we go round to the theatre at about 5 and see if anything was happening [the performance we were really interested in was at 9.30 pm the next day]. Fortunately when we got there at about 4.45 they were open and we reserved our tickets, and paid for them, which meant that we only had to turn up about 5 minutes before it was due to start, and still found ourselves in the second row.

if you can book on line before you go, or while you're in Taormina, that might be the best idea.

Hope you have a great trip and I look forward to reading your TR!

Nonconformist

This should be interesting. I have Sicily in mind for a someday-trip, but not while I'm travelling with my parents, which I want to do while they still can, because my mum's afraid of the Mafia. (Direct quote.)

annhig

oh dear, non-conformist, that probably means that the rest of Italy is out too. Shame.

Seriously, we asked the guide we had for our day on Etna about this, and he said that they are operating mostly in the north of Italy now, because that is where the money is. Sicily is too poor to be of interest to them any more.

So far as tourists are concerned, there is no issue with them at all. None.

The traffic now...

Nonconformist

No, the rest of Italy is fine with her (in fact we're going to Lake Como next year), it's just Sicily

I know it's irrational, my dad knows it's irrational, but it's an immoveable position.

annhig

my point was, nonconformist, that the Mafia [aka la Camorra or Ndrangheta] are just as prevalent in the rest of Italy, if not more so.

Probably better not tell your mum that though.

Nonconformist

My lips are sealed