Everyone,

Thank you so much for your comments. Drive times and holiday traffic patterns much appreciated! This is the stuff you really need to know in advance.

I will continue to check out your hotel recommendations. I am also considering moving my trip up by a week to avoid the rental car pick up and traffic complications on the holiday. I would like to be somewhere without a planned driving day trip on 5/1.

I have been planning for end of April and being on Lipari by mid May for weather purposes. Would it be better to move the trip back by a week? I do really want to see Sicily in spring time bloom!

Thanks again for this great discussion.

I arrived mid-April and stayed until mid-May. I thought the weather was fine in April, always provided you didn't want to swim. It was definitely getting hot by mid-May.

bookmarking

Thanks thursdaysd,
I do remember your trip report. You are the one who got me interested in Erice.

I don't need to do a lot of swimming, but do want warm enough weather to enjoy the islands and be able to get there! Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just order up perfect weather for all our travels!

Happy travelling, Dayle. Btw, Hotel Taodomus is in Taormina, forgot to say.

Leely2,

I was just about to book the Palazzo de Sale (Ortygia) when I noticed they have a "communal cooking facility" which really put me off. I recently had an unpleasant experience at an Oregon B&B where they had this type of set up. Is the "communal kitchen" on a different floor than the guest rooms? Did you have noise from the kitchen?

Thanks for any additional details!

Vespacurves,

I am open to staying in Castelmola, but am having troube finding lodging listings. Any you know of or would recommend?

Thanks!

Dayle, Castelmola has a beautiful view if it's not shrouded in fog. It's also a bit of a steep drive up there.

Villa Sonia -- but I only wished I stayed there, never have. You need to track down reviews.

http://www.hotelvillasonia.com/uk/

It is a steep drive to both Taormina and Castelmola. Once you are parked, there is a shuttle bus up and down the hill to Castelmola, and also taxis. But most people can do the walk and a lot of people prefer not being in the tourist swarm of Taormina all the time.

Fog also obscures views in Taormina if it is foggy. You have less chance of fog as the year progresses, but usually by mid-April, Sicily is having clear skies.

vespacurves,

I think Hotel Sonia looks just perfect! I booked it. I will be traveling by train at this point in my trip so I assume there is some way to get up there from the station with a small roller!

Thanks so much! I got the view minus the crowds and for less $$. Perfect!

How do you find all these great hotels? I use mostly venere.com and tripadvisor.com and recos from the Fodorites.

I mainly use booking.com.

Dayle, I didn't see any communal cooking facility at Palazzo del Sale. Maybe it's new? There is a place off the breakfast room where the staff puts together what they are serving that morning. A butler's pantry, sort of. It didn't seem like the kind of place where guests would cook. Maybe they're allowed to store food in a refrigerator there?

I'd write to them and ask them. There was nothing very b-and-b like about it when we were here. Breakfast is served in the breakfast room. There may be a coffee maker and a bowl of fruit in the lounge, but I'm having a hard time picturing anything more involved than that. A box of cookies on the coffee table. Tea or coffee making items.

I can send you a picture of the lounge. Don't want to post it--I feature heavily. :)

Thanks again vespacurves!

Leely2, good to know! I'll re-check their website. Maybe it's just one of those Italian = English translations that don't really work.

I'm just about booked everywhere. Any additional feedback on the itinerary at this point will be greatly appreciated:

Arrival night
Cinisa - B&B Kunesias, good reviews, close to airport if I have to pick up my car there the next morning. My flight (at least the one I'm planning on) will get in too late to take a bus to Scopello. Just have dinner and crash.

Nts 2 & 3 - Scopello - Hotel Torre Bennistra. No reply received from Pensione Tranchina so far. Plan to hike thru Zingaro park.

Nts 4 & 5 - Erice - trying for Hotel San Domenico. On line booking is telling me they are not available for both nights. Have a res at Hotel Moderno in case. Plan to visit Erice, Trapani. Pick up car preferably at Trapani town location.

Nts 6 & 7 - Agrigento - waiting for reply from Camera con Vista (vespacurves reco). Also trying to decide if I need 2 nts here driving from Erice, and visiting Segesta and Selinute enroute. Visit temples and museum. Might go on to Villa Casale and Catalgirone and stay 1 nt there rather than 2nd nt in Agrigento.

Nts 8,9, & 10 - Scicli - Hotel Novecento. Looks great and town is small & looks "real life". Visit Ragusa, Modica and Villa Casale & Catalgrione from here if needed. Visit Reserva Vendicari on the way to Siracusa.

Nts 11 & 12 - Ortygia & Siracusa. Return car. No traveling on May 1 holiday.

Nt 13 - Castelmola - Hotel Sirena w/ a terrace and view of Etna - yeah! Visit theater & gardens in Taormina & stroll.

Nts 14 - 18 - Lipari. Deciding between 3 vacation rentals.

Nt 19 - 21 - Palermo - Hotel Ambasciatori. Visit Monreale and city.

Fly home day 22.

Ok -- but I see in your itinerary that you are staying in Hotel Sirena in Castelmola, not Villa Sonia -- or is that just a typo? I've nothing against Hotel Sirena if you chose it on the basis of reviews (never heard of it), but I've never heard of it.

Regarding Agrigento, I felt I only needed one day/night there.

Yes, typo! Villa Sonia. It does look very nice. Thanks for the hint on that one vespacurves. I had been hoping to stay in Castelmola rather than Taormina so I am very happy to have this reservation.

So far, I'm having trouble finding Lipari rentals that are non-smoking. Only one so far, but it does look very nice.

I've never been to Lipari, but have you checked the BBplanet website for apartment rentals?

http://www.bbplanet.com/accommodations/lipari/

I've found in the past BBplanet often lists places other websites don't have.

Also, booking.com shows this place with kitchens and amenities. You might check about no-smoking policies there

http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/resi...lipari.en.html

LIPARI has just been devastated by a flood. this has been widely overlooked by media. this may affect your travel there.

Yes, it sounds terrible.

http://sicilyscene.blogspot.it/2012/...-by-flood.html

You probably cannot get through to book hotels right now, but perhaps things will be more back to normal by April or May of next year. The people of le Cinque Terre were able to recover from terrible floods in just about the same amount of time, and re-open their restaurants and hotels, so don't put it off your list.

Thanks for this information about Lipari. What a shame. The Aeolian Islands are a wonderful place. Plenty of hard work will be needed to clean up from this one.

> Nts 6 & 7 - Agrigento - waiting for reply from Camera con Vista

Is it still open? I enjoyed my stay there in 2007, but was under the impression that it had closed.