Italy - unusually so
 

Hey guys,

My name is Santosh. My wife and I (both in our early 30s) will be traveling to Italy for couple of weeks around mid to late May 2015.

One of the main reasons for choosing Italy is my love for its cuisine (I'm also a decent cook when it comes to Italian, so yes, a short cooking class would be awesome).

Now, we are determined to stay off the typical first time trail. No Florence, Venice, etc. We are planning to fly in and out of Rome (more cause of budgetary considerations, we're flying from India btw). We also like to take things easy, i.e. we'd rather skip places than try to jam too many things in.

I'm thinking couple of days in Rome followed by a good 8 odd days in Sicily (I love how they call it chi-chilia). I would totally appreciate any advice on best places to visit/things to do there. Not too crazy about ruins but if on the way then by all means we'd love to check it out.

Also, while anything goes for me, my wife's a vegetarian, how much of a problem is it going to be?

Much appreciated.

Cheers,

We love to stay away from the crowds in Italy...we have fallen in love with Le Marche and also live food.

We have done 5 weeks in the last two years at this place www.latavolamarche.com

You would need a car.

You can click my name to read our trip reports and you can see our photos here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7634528008046/

It is more like "See-chee-lya" with acent on the chee.

It's pronounced "Si-chilia".

If you don't like ruins, you will be missing some of Sicily's great attractions, b/c they have better Greek temples than Greece - Agrigento, Selinunte, the Greek theater in Taormina.

Eight days is not much in Sicily, but you can see some of the highlights during that time.

You should definitely see Palermo, Monreale(day trip from Palermo), Cefalu, Siracusa, Taormina. Many people think Taormina is too touristy but it is very beautiful and should not be missed. In May it will probably be less crowded than in the heart of the summer.

If you prefer not to stay in a big city like Palermo, you can choose to stay in Cefalu, which is less than an hour away. On the east coast, you might choose Siracusa as a base.

Sicilian cuisine is unique and a wonderful blend of all the foreign influences that invaded the island over its history.

Based on geography, "first time trail" cities such as Venice and Florence are not feasible on this trip, but don't eschew them forever. There are reasons why they are so popular with tourists.

Sassafras, I didn't see your post before I posted. I was correcting the OP's pronunciation, not yours.

Or you could consider going north, to Bologna, where there are more university students than tourists, a vigorous dining scene (no, not based on the spaghetti sauce), plenty of history including centuries of strife with the Vatican, and at least 40 kilometres of collonaded walkways. Also within easy reach are centres for Parma cheese, Modena balsamic vinegar, and the Ferrari plant and museum.
Even coming from India, it is worth checking whether a multi-destination ticket, flying into one city and home from another, is competitively priced. The time and expensive of backtracking to Rome should be part of your equation.

Your wife should be ok as vegi is what the poor people of Italy used to eat, so there should be plenty of bean based stews around. If in any doubt you should ask.

Click on my name above to find my trip report in Sicily.

Also, here are the images from that trip.
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

> we are determined to stay off the typical first time trail. No Florence, Venice, etc.<

You are making a very big mistake.

Would you recommend that a first time visitor to India not visit the major tourist attractions?

((I))

Thank you all for the prompt replies.

I certainly respect every places' significance and beauty including the touristy ones. My choice of Sicily was more from my fascination of its varied history and influences.

Even in Sicily I recognize that given the time I have I can either have Palermo/Cefalu as my base and explore nearby things or use Siracusa as by base for few things around. I guess doing both would be tad difficult and I might spend most of the time traveling. (Isn't it?) Im trying to figure which i should choose given couple of days of Rome as well.

Finally, is it better to hire a car or vespa for within Sicily as I hear the local transport isn't as connected as other major places.

Thanks again.

Come on Ira, few of us are ever going to get to see Everything. Is Sicily really that big of a letdown compared with the big three? They will be there in the future, after all.
Three trips to Italy down, none of the big three visited yet, but many happy memories.

And of course thanks for the lessons in pronunciation folks.

So I'm guessing it's si-chilia.

Grazie.