zebec

Hi Air Balloon,

If you visit Noto from Ragusa, then maybe try the Best Gelato on the Planet @ Costanzos---better than their more high-profile, Bourdain-endorsed competitor nearby. Better than most, as good quality as in other gelato capitals like Polignano, Rome or Florence.
I am done. The end.
(sound of SLAP for trying to sneak a taste of wife's different gelato flavour)

Huitres

Your Italy itinerary stops all are great. While in the Napoli area, do try to get out to Caserta to see the Palazzo Reale di Caserta - the fabulous Baroque palace with awesome gardens and fountains. It's modeled after Versailles and is a beautiful place to see off the beaten path. Also nearby Caserta is Santa Maria Capua Vetere, which has the Capua Amphitheater where Spartacus led his famous slave rebellion with his fellow gladiators in 73 BC. The Capua Amphitheater was built before the Colosseum in Rome and is second in size compared to it. Both of these towns are about a 40-50 min train ride from Napoli Centrale and easy to access. Also, in Napoli, i Campi Flegrei are wonderful Roman ruins (ruins above and villas submerged in the bay) to visit near Pozzuoli. I've taken the local train out there many times from Napoli Piazza Garibaldi station to Pozzuoli Solfatara. Enroute you could stop at the Piedigrotta area (near the Mergillina station) to see the poet Virgil's grave - if that interests you! I'm a Roman historian so everywhere in Italia is fascinating to me!

Traveling down the coast of Italia towards Sicilia, definitely visit Tropea if you can. We went there about 5 years ago and loved it, it's just beautiful. In Sicilia, we especially loved Siracusa (in Ortigia). They have a fun Teatro dei Pupi (theater of puppets) that was worth seeing. We bought tickets and joined the locals in a small, cramped theater and watched a marionette-style show. We also liked Agrigento and Cefalu, Palermo not so much (very gritty city). But each place will have different experiences and you may end up loving everything! Buon viaggio!

zebec

AirBalloon, regarding the islands, maybe check out Brit food writer Matthew Fort's new book. This one is titled 'Summer in the Islands (an Italian Odyssey)'. He describes his time traveling around various islands large and small, famous and obscure. By the end of one year, he'd been to every last one.
I am done. The end.

phillyboy

>>>In Ragusa, should we stay in the historic Ibla area or just outside (about a 15 minute walk).<<<

Hi Air Balloon. We spent four nights in Ragusa last October, and stayed here. https://www.sanmaurizio1619.com/pages/relaisanticabadia?locale=it

It is on the fringes of the old town, directly across the street from the cathedral. Beside and behind the cathedral are a ton of very nice restaurants and cafes. The hotel is in a beautiful 300+ year-old palace. The rooms are large, comfortable, and very clean; the staff is friendly and helpful, and the there is a great breakfast spread.

You should know that, though it is just a 15 -20 minute walk to Ibla, that is just to the outskirts of that part of town. To reach the center, you go down and down and down …. literally hundreds of steps … and it takes another 15 – 20 minutes to reach the center of the action. When we were there, a festival was going on, with great food and music happening until the wee hours. It was really fun! But to get back to our hotel, rather than climbing what seemed like Mt Etna, we opted for a cab … who, because he was apparently the only one working at that time of night, decided to charge a ridiculous fare.

Though we loved the hotel, I think we’d choose to stay in Ibla if we had it to do over.

You have a great itinerary, have a wonderful trip!

AirBalloon

Hi all,

Thank you so very much for your help and advice. So much great and useful information and it has really helped us narrow our focus and plan a very diversified and interesting trip.

When we were in Naples a few years ago, we stayed for 4 nights which was not nearly enough time. We found it exciting, raw, historical, real and mesmerizing and vowed we would go back when it made sense. And the pizza (the real reason) And now with your advice, we have some new places in Naples that we must go visit.

We have reserved a hotel/B&B in Ragusa Ibla, not on the outkirts. Although it may be a little easier to stay on the outskirts, we think that enjoying Ragusa from the inside makes sense. We looked at the Relais Antica Badia, but we chose to stay in the historical center. We will not have time to visit Noto, as we will have more than enough to do visiting Ragusa/Modica/Scicli/Ortgia/Syracusa for those 6 nights. Hopefully, we can find a gelateria as good as the one you propose, zebec.

We are now staying 3 nights in Naples, then driving down the coast and spending 3 nights in Tropea, then 3 nights in Ragusa, 3 nights in Ortigia, 4 nights in __________ and finally 4 nights in Palermo. We were going to stay 3 nights in Palermo, but we think it would be really interesting to take a day trip to either Cefalu or Monreal (or both).

In Palermo, what area should we be staying in? We want to be in an area that has historical sights, museums, bars, cafes, restaurants and an area where we can walk around in the evening.

As well, we still have not decided on where to spend those 4 nights between Ortigia and Palermo. We were at first thinking Favignana, but although it looks wonderful, we think we may be bored after a day, so then were considering basing ourselves in the west just outside Trapani so we can take day trips to Erice and/or Favignana and/or Scopello. The other idea would be to spend just 3 nights in Palermo and go to Lipari for 5 nights or split the time between Taormina for 2 nights then Cefalu for 3 nights. What would you do? Please help as this is the last piece of the puzzle we are missing.

Thank you very much.

Andrea

AirBalloon

Hi,

We have decided to spend five nights in western Sicily at a resort between Trapani and Erice, a few km from the sea.

Just a few questions:

- As we drive from Ragusa to Trapani, would we be able to stop in Agrigento to see the Valley of the Temples? How long do we need there?

- As we drive from Tropea to Ortigia towards the beginning of our trip, would we have enough time to stop in Taormina for lunch and to stroll the village so we can at least get a feel for it?

Thank you very much.

Andrea

whitehall

I think the answer in both cases is how well do you endure day-long drives? We could handle it. We would probably get on the road by 8 a.m.from Tropea which should put you in Taormina close to noon. I would not stop for lunch without planning about three hours in Taormina. Mid-day, however, be prepared for crowds. There are several parking garages. If you leave by 3 pm or so, you should be in Ortigia by 5 or 6. When in Ortigia, visit the Mercato where there is a showman who makes the biggest and best sandwiches in the world. He and his son are performers, worth the visit and you can see them on you tube.

I recall spending a few hours in Agrigento. This will be an even longer day.

AirBalloon

Thanks whitehall,

We enjoy long drives so both are doable for us.

- We were planning to leave Tropea around 9 so I guess we will have lunch at 1 in Taormina and also have about an hour walk around town before continuing to Ortigia.

- We thought it would a few hours so we will allocate two for Agrigento.

We will go and see them perform and have a sandwich in Ortigia.

Thanks for the info.

rosetravels

Such a great trip and I hesitate to weigh in so late in your planning, but here's a few thoughts and one suggestion:
~ Scicli has a great gelato shop called Nivera. Find that. We spent a night in Scicli, four in Modica, and visited Ragusa. That entire area is beautiful and Scicli was our favorite because people were so friendly.
~ Two hours for Agrigento is fine. We parked near the museum and walked through fields to several temples and it was lovely.
~ That sandwich place by the market in Ortigia is wonderful.
~ We've driven from Naples to Altomonte, Calabria and then over to Matera. I agree with visiting Matera another time.
~ My recommendation is that you take the coastal road along the Cilento coast as you head south to Tropea. We've driven the coastal road, though not all the way to Tropea, and the interior road (E45), and if you like road trips the slight additional time along the coast is well worth it. We much prefer the Cilento to the Amalfi coast for the scenery and the nearly complete lack of English speaking tourists. Pisciotta, a medieval fishing village perched above the Tyrrhenian Sea, is a great overnight place. There are good restaurants, Hotel Marulivo is lovely and the sunset from there is worth an overnight. We've been twice. We drove the coast as far south as Cetraro Marina and it wasn't too slow, just one beautiful curve after another. There isn't that much development to slow you down and trucks take the interior highway. I'd consider a day less elsewhere to have a great drive down the coast with an overnight in an untouristed fishing village with good food and wine.

You're visiting some of our favorite places. Enjoy!

AirBalloon

Hi rosetravels,

Thanks so much for your help and advice. We have been to other areas of Italy but have always wanted to visit Tropea and travel through Sicily.

We thought the drive along the Amalfi coast was splendid so if this drive is even nicer, we are really looking forward to it. We may stop in Pisciotta for lunch as we just do not have the time to spend an overnight.

We will take your advice and drive down the coast as we travel from Naples to Tropea. We also love those areas of Italy less traveled, where you really feel the local Italian way of life. As well, we may not have enough time to visit Ragusa, Modica and Scicli. With the two nights in Ragusa, we will have the time to see both Ragusa and Modica, which is known for its chocolates. Finally, two hours sounds about right for Agrigento and will be a nice stop as we drive west through Sicily. `

Thanks again and if you have any other recommendations for us, please let us know.

Andrea