margsan

We are looking at going to Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta & Corsica in August for approx 7 weeks. We are looking at the following places to visit. We are independent travellers and like to use public transport as we don't drive in Europe.
Cinque de Terre (3 days)
Florence (3 days)
Pisa (2 days)
Amalfi Coast ( 4 days)
Sicily (7 days)
Malta/Gozo (10 days)
Sardinia (5 days)
Cosica (3 days)

This is just a rough draft. We will be flying from Sydney. Are there any suggestions what city we should fly in and out of in Italy?
We are open to any suggestions regarding our places of interest and transport. If anybody has any suggestions on websites it would be appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance.
Sandra & Margaret

kja

Should be a geat trip – but some adjustments might be in order.

7 days is VERY little for Sicily. With one week, you could visit only a small number of its highlights and would probably want to focus on either the east or west side of the island. One can make a rushed tour of the island's highlights in 2 weeks – if using a car. If using public transportation, seeing the island's highlights could easily take 2.5 to 3 weeks, or more!

I would also suggest that 4 days is on the short side for the Amalfi Coast, but that depends on what you want to see and experience there. A rather rushed visit to include Pompeii and/or Herculaneum, the archeological museum in Naples, Capri, Ravello, Amalfi, and Paestum would generally require at least 5 days, more if you want any time to relax or visit underrated Salerno. And Naples itself easily merits 4 days or more -- depending on your interests.

3 days is high for the Cinque Terre (2 days generally works), 2 days is a LOT for Pisa (most people spend just a few hours), and whether 3 days works for you for Florence really depends on what you want to see and experience. I wanted 5 full days just to savor some of its art and architecture; other people find a day sufficient.

I haven’t visited Malta, Sardinia, or Corsica yet, and so can't comment on them

If you don’t already have it, I strongly recommend the Rough Guide to Italy. There are things one can learn from a guidebook that one can never learn from the web because you can’t search for what you don’t know – but all of it will be mentioned in a good guidebook.

For transportation options, consult rome2rio.com

Hope that helps!

margsan

Thanks for your quick reply we found it most helpful and gives us something to think about.

neckervd

" Are there any suggestions what city we should fly in and out of in Italy?"

All depends on your airline preferences. If you fly via Dubai, I would say fly into Milan (if 5Terre is a must, otherwises to Rome) and back from Malta.

As to the itinerary, everything is possible. May be you will check:
Rome - train - Florence - train - Pisa/Livorno - train- 5Terre and back (the least interesting leg IMO) - ferry - Bastia (Corsica) - train - Ajaccio - bus - Propriano (close to menhirs and dolmen of Filitosa) - Bonifacio - ferry - Sta Teresa (Sardinia) - bus - Sassari (Alghero) - train - Oristano (punic ruins of Tharros) -train - Sanluri (Nuraghe of Barumini) - train - Cagliari - ferry - Palermo - tour around Sicily with train and bus - Pozzallo - ferry - Valetta (Malta).
Thre are also some flights between Cagliari and Sicily.

If Amalfi Coast is a must, you may reach Naples from Cagliari by plane or ferry and go on from Salerno to Sicily by train or ferry.

TDudette

I can only help with Florence and Pisa. You can stay in Florence and easily take a train from there to Pisa and have a nice day trip. Make reservations to climb the tower. If possible, take a tour of the duomo--fabulous history and art therein. DH and I trained to CT from Pisa for a day trip and I also agree that 3 nights might be too much.

Oh, Sicily--also I'd add 2 or 3 days there--depending upon what you have in mind to visit.

PalenQ

Book Italian train tickets far in advance to get limited in number discounted tickets - Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia or www.italotreno.it/en - two competing rail systems using same tracks and stations/ Check www.seat61.com for great advice on booking own tickets online - general train info - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. You may want to fly Naples-Sicily or take night train there from Salerno - as day trains take a long time.

menachem

10 days is a lot for Malta. It's very small and it isn't that pretty. Up to a week would be enough imo, you'll be able to allocate more time to Sicily.

annhig

Of course dotting around all those islands may be deliberate, in which case ignore this, but I think that I might reconsider visiting so many of them, none of which you'll be able to see properly in the time allocated. Ditto the CT and the Amalfi coast. I have been to both Malta and Sicily and I would certainly prioritise Sicily, and i would also suggest choosing between Sardinia and Corsica, so you get a decent amount of time on one or the other.

To help us work out a route, where are you flying into and out of? Have you been to Italy before?

panecott

Sorry, but your post says "approximately 7 weeks". Is that a typo? Did you mean 5 weeks?
In any event, I agree with annhig that it is a lot of hopping around and that you should spend more time in Sicily. Is there a particular reason for spending more time in Malta than other places?
I agree with kja that 2 days is way too much for Pisa. Spend those days in Florence and do a day trip to Pisa from there.
I'm not a big fan of 5T. While the villages are very picturesque it is overrun with tourists, and will be especially so in August.

margsan

Thank you we will consider all your ideas. We are hoping to leave about 22nd August and we aren't sure of our arrival back in Sydney either 4th October or 11th October.

It looks like we will stay about two weeks in Sicily and less in Malta. We also hope to see Gozo while staying in Malta. We have been to Italy before staying a few days in Rome, Venice, Verena on Lake Como, Padua and had a day trip down the Amalfi Coast whilst on a cruise in the Meditherean. There is a lot we have still to discover.

menachem

Malta/Gozo are very small. It's a matter of allocating a day to it, and taking the ferry. OTOH, you actually want to base on Gozo and not on Malta itself.

thursdaysd

Even two weeks is a bit short for Sicily. Suggest you borrow some guidebooks and list everything you want to see there, then work out an itinerary and see how long it takes.

LancasterLad

Malta will be very busy and very hot in August.

It's only 17 miles long and 9 miles wide, yet there are almost 400,000 vehicles on the Island. If you plan on using public transport [no trains], there are plenty of public buses, but on the popular routes they'll inevitably be full, uncomfortable, and stuck in traffic.

It's a shame, but you can't fit a pint of water into an half pint glass, but that's the case with Malta.

kja

I agree with thursdaysd -- particularly since you are planning to use public transportation, which can definitely be used in Sicily, but connections aren't great and so you will need more time than those who drive. (And 2 weeks is not much for those who drive.)

PalenQ

You do not have to see all of Sicily -I spent two weeks taking trains and buses and saw so much - Palermo, Segusta, Taormina, Mt Vesuvius circumnavigation by train; Syracuse, Agrigento and Catania. You can see a lot by public transit but a car would be nicer but to me cars are isolating and I'd rather mix with locals on public transit - that said I'm a solo traveler - if I were with someone else I'd probably drive.

But 2 weeks is enough to see enough of Sicily.

thursdaysd

That's your opinion. It is not mine, and, I would suggest, not that of several other Fodorites who have visited Sicily. Better than one week, not as good as three.

isabel

I spent 7 days in Malta based in Valletta and planned to also visit Gozo and never got there as I found enough interesting stuff to see and do on Malta main island. Used public transportation. Here is my trip report - Malta in July

I spent about 11 days in Sicily, saw most of what we wanted to, could have spent more time and plan to go back. That was with a car, by public transportation it would take longer.

Amalfi Coast could definitely use more time, but I wouldn't not go even if that all the time you decide to allocate. You can still see some of it. But I've spent two week long trips plus some shorter trips and haven't been bored. Here's one of the trip reports - July in The Mezzogiorno – 3 weeks in Southern Italy: Amalfi Coast & Puglia

The CT itself can be seen in a full day, but there is much more in the region. You could easily do a whole week in the area (though in that case I would not base in a CT village, but rather Rapallo or Camogli, etc.) Here's a trip report that includes that area - Photo Safari to the south of France, the Italian Rivera and the Swiss Alps

Agree with previous comments about Florence and Pisa. I'd base in Florence and do Pisa as a day trip.

Haven't been to Sardinia or Corsica but have begun researching a future trip and looks like each could easily take up close to a week or more.

So all in all I'd suggest cutting a few places - or extending the whole trip. Although if you really have 7 weeks you could get in most of it.

margsan

Thanks to everyone it's givens us a lot to think about. We don't drive in Europe so other than catching public transport, it was suggested going on a organized tour of Italy. Does anyone else thing an organized would be a good idea.

kja

If that's what you want, go for it -- but there's really no need. There might be a rare place or two you want to go that's not convenient by public transportation, but then you can almost always join a tour for just a day.

And not to beat a dead horse, but I certainly did NOT see "ALL" of Sicily in the more than 2 weeks I had there -- I didn't even see all of its highlights.

PalenQ

Most here would admonish you to go on your own easily by train - have trains booked and accommodations booked and get off train and take taxi or public transit to lodging. The the basics are covered. You can even book timed entries to major sights. Many here disdain group tours and have never taken any probably - myself included - but most also will not diss group tours for folks who just don't want to go alone - and bask in the comfort of just getting up and get on the bus. Period. Day all falls into place.

And most folks who go to Europe - at least Americans, overwhelmngly do so on such tours. There is no shame in doing that and you may even save money. And there are so many different tyes of tours - the typical bus tour that tries to fit as much as possible into their day (in order to advertise as many places as possible sometimes).

But, there are also other tours that build in much more free time - and move slower - like the original Rick Steves' tours. So certain tours may appeal more to you than others.

So, IMO don't take a group tour because you think it would be too hard to do on your own but take one for other reasons - you can see more on a tour - to have company of others - save money,etc/