dreamon

If you have 7 weeks you could add time to the places you've chosen. I would skip Corsica if you only have 3 days, except if you crossed to Bonafacio for those 3 days. It isn't enough time to see much else of the island, which incidentally is beautiful. Buses and trains on Corsica are not terribly frequent. If it were my holiday - which of course it isn't - I'd cut time in Cinque Terre, Pisa and Florence to focus on your main destinations of the islands and Amalfi coast. That would be a brilliant holiday. The circuit described by neckervd would be good, starting in Milan and flying home from Rome. One alternative would be to stay in Lucca instead of Florence and Pisa and then take the ferry to Bastia (think it goes from Livorno but not certain all services do). Lastly, if you could defer your holiday to September I think the weather would be kinder.

KayF

Hi, we are Australians too and have been to all the places on your list, though we only did a day trip to Corsica from Sardinia. We absolutely loved Malta and Gozo. It's very dry and will be hot in August. We had a week on Malta, then flew to Sicily for I think 10 days, then flew back to Malta and stayed on Gozo for 4 days, then back to Malta for a couple of days before flying home. There is a lot to see and do on the islands and we found people very friendly. There are loads of Maltese in Australia and the locals seemed thrilled we had come so far to their island. We used the buses on Malta and hired a jeep on Gozo.

In Sicily we only saw a small part of the island and enjoyed it but liked Malta more. We stayed in Ortigia (Siracusa), Taormina and on Lipari, one of the Aeolian islands. Taormina was good and we loved Lipari. The mosaics at Piazza Armerina were amazing, we did a day trip by bus to get there. In Sicily we used the trains and buses which was a bit hard to research as each area had their own bus company.

Your time on Corsica and Sardinia is quite short, maybe combine the time and visit only one island? We really liked Santa Teresa Gallura in northern Sardinia and caught the ferry from there to Bonifacio for the day. The views of Bonifacio are spectacular, it was a brilliant day. Ferry took about 40 minutes, don't forget your passport!

I haven't checked the map but maybe fly into Milan and out of Malta and return via Dubai? This was a while ago but we flew to Malta with Emirates and from Malta to Catania with Air Malta.

I did a trip report on our Malta and Gozo trip, you can search on my name. It was a while ago. Don't forget to factor in travel time to your planning. Every time you move from one place to another you lose most of a day, even if it's a one hour flight.

Kay

margsan

Thank you it gives us more confidence we do prefer to travel i dependently by public transport.

PalenQ

No need to book Scilian trains ahead of time (or buses) as they are mainly regional trains with no seat reservations possible and dirt-cheap walk-up fare. Just buy as go along.

kja

Two trip reports on visiting Sicily by public transportation:
Circling Sicily by Public Transportation
Bruce and Marija: Carless in Sicily in November

I used a car for only 3 days of my time in Sicily -- and then only because I wanted to save time, not because having a car was critical.

willit

Everybody has different opinions, but if I had 17 days to allocate between Sicily and Malta, I'd probably drop Malta.

To me, there is little on the Malta that would be comparable to what is available on Sicily. I could have comfortably have seen everything I wanted to see in Malta in 3 days. I've spent a Month in Sicily and there are large areas of it I've not yet seen.
As far as the rest of your trip, I'd consider dropping Pisa (spend 5 days in Florence and visit Pisa/Lucca/Siena from there)

bvlenci

> Does anyone else thing an organized would be a good idea.

You won't find an organized tour that takes more than three weeks, and it wouldn't allow you to see many of the places you want to see. Public transportation is slow in many places, but it's also very interesting. You see a slice of local life. I've visited Ireland twice with public transportation and twice with a car. The car definitely less you see more in a short amount of time, but you have plenty of time, as long as you don't try to cram too much in. I would probably skip Malta myself, partly because it's almost guaranteed to be beastly hot. Also, I once had a housemate from Malta, and even he couldn't manage to make it sound enticing. He told me that almost all the earth there has been imported, because the earth was so intensely exploited that it lost all its earth-like properties. I don't know if he was exaggerating.

I just thought I should add, even though you probably know this, that Sicily and Sardegna are part of Italy. Your topic title makes it sound as if they're separate countries.

PalenQ

All the earth in Malta imported? In the words of Carl Sagan: 'extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proofs' - just kidding - probably some truth in that.

bvlenci

I don't know. Maybe someone from Malta can enlighten us.

PalenQ

Yes any Maltese who can unearth the truth?

margsan

Can anyone suggest where to stay in the Cinque de Terra area.
Thanks

dreamon

We stayed in Levanto and it was a pleasant town - not picture postcard like the Cinque Terre villages but with good facilities and a short train ride away.

kja

Italy: Lodging recommendations on the Cinque Terre for the second half of April

margsan

Thank you very helpful.

kja

DaveJJ

I have been to Malta three times and would not hesitate to return. We stay at the Grand Hotel Excelsior just below Republic Street. Wonderful place especially if you have a balcony overlooking the harbour.

Republic Street in Valetta has a number of interesting places to visit. You should not miss the Grand Master's Palace, and the Co-Cathedral of St. John. Do venture down the side streets too. We attended mass at the St. Paul the Shipwreck church.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoy exploring ancient sites in Europe. On Malta there are a number of sites that should not be missed. The Hagar Qim Temple and the nearby Mnajdra Temple are worth your time. I would highly recommend the Hypogeum. There is limited access so you must request your tickets well in advance. When we visited there was no access times for next 3 weeks. The Tarxien Temple site is nearby.

Don't forget to visit the 'silent city' of Mdina. If you can be sure to enter St. Paul's Cathedral. Nearby is the town/suburb of Rabat. We found St. Paul Catacombs quite interesting as well as St. Agatha's Historical Museum and Catacomb.

Gozo is about a half hour drive from the airport. We arranged a transfer (35 Euro) through our hotel. The driver drops you off at the ferry terminal for the 20 minute excursion to Gozo. The Grand Hotel shuttle driver met us at the terminal for a short 5 minute drive to the hotel. Lovely hotel with a nice quiet outdoor pool on the 4th floor. We used the hop-on/hop-off bus to tour around. The Ggantija Temple site was of particular interest to us but we also enjoyed Victoria. It was unfortunate that the Azure Window had collapsed before we got to Gozo.