Welcome back Bob. How was your holiday?

Hope you had a great time!

Steve

Is it too hot/crowded to visit Siciiy in July? We are late starting to plan our summer vacation and Sicily has been high on our list of places to visit. We could postpone it a year or 2 when we will be free to travel in the spring. Thanks for the advice.

Wow, great information - thanks

We are a family of seven going to Cefalu for two weeks in May. My mother in law is from Lascari, small town 10 minutes west of Cefaul. We are looking for housing near town so my children? (ages 26,22,& 20) could walk to and from town when they wish

As of today we are reserved with accomodations through solemar in Cefaul, it's holiday flat 20 minute walk to town center

Would appreciate any feedback or advice

Grazie

Sicily is VERY hot in July and not too crowded. It's not crowded because it's hot! The only places you can really expect crowds are at some of the beach resorts like Cefalu and the Aeolians. Of course Taormina will be crowded. Any place the cruise ships dock for the day will be crowded, but thankfully they leave before 6PM

TTT for request

Bob,
Love your report. We will spend 15 days in Sicily in October 2007, starting in Palermo, and flying home out of Catania. Any thoughts on where to spend the 1st & last nights of our trip? For the majority of the trip, we have booked small rental houses in 3 locations, including Pozzallo. Any recommendations for the latter? Grazie!

What time is your flight?
I would end the trip in Taormina and go to Catania from there unless the flight is too early.

Bob, We leave quite early Monday morning, Oct 15, so we thought we would stay near the Catania airport for the last night. Thx, Susan

We had a very early flight out of Catania to Rome (around 630am if I remember correctly) so we stayed in downtown Catania at a Best Western and cabbed it 15 minutes that morning. It was fun to see all the activity of the markets setting up while on the way there.

TOP...

Bob,

Thanks for such a great report! I was wondering if you ever visited the little hill towns, such as Caltabellotta, and its little suburb of Sant' Anna, close to Agrigento? Also, Villalba, Valledolma, etc. are little towns to the north near Palermo? These are towns of my ancestors, and one day I would like to visit them. However, I don't think I would be able to stay for the length of time that you did.

Hi princess, We started up to Caltabellota but ran out of time and never made it. My wife liked Noto and promises to return someday. We also bought ceramics in Caltigirone.

ttt -- thanks Bob

Prego Ted !

bkmk

Bob,

I am planning a trip to Sicily and keep tweaking it...Flying into Catania, going to Siracusa 2 nights, then train to Taormina 3 nights, then Aeolian Islands 4 nights, back to fly out of Catania (hoping I can get flight that gives me time to leave out of Catania same morning I leave Aeolian). It is worth the trip to Siracusa or better to go straight to Taormina and take a day trip to Siracusa?? Thanks!

Hi Bob,
I loved your trip report and photos. They really do Sicily justice!
You may have "heard" me say that Sicily is one of my favorite places in the world. All of these Sicily threads have made me think about returning there next spring, and your report added a lot to that!

I also enjoyed your report on Puglia and I've incorporated your suggestions from my Puglia thread into my itinerary. Thanks for your help.

Hi Lisa, I think you've done a good job of tweaking your Sicily trip and confining it to the east coast in limited time. Have you considered doing Taormina as your last stop? There is a bus that goes from Taormina directly to the Catania airport, which would probably work for you.
Also, IMO, Siracusa is worth more than a day trip.

Hi Bob -

After all these years, I'd think I'd know the answer to this - but how do I find your photos?

LaDona

Lisa, I like your plan as is--have fun !

La Bella, here are my Sicily photos--in May 2005.
You can always find my several galleries at slowphotos.com http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

hi bob,

i loved your itinerary and i'm off to sicily with my boyfriend on wednesday morning! we're so excited and have driven a lot in Italy before. My boyfriend is a sensible driver and used to European roads but is all the scaremongering about Sicilian drivers true? Is it totally mad and dangerous or is it perfectly okay if you're not a timid driver? I'd like to relax on this holiday and not be nervous! We're flying into Palermo, staying two nights exploring the surrounding areas, then driving down to Agrigento and staying in Modica for two nights and then up to Sycracuse and staying outside Taormina for two nights. We thought the best thing was getting a car but now i'm hearing all these worrying stories about totally absurd driving conditions - i'd rather not take the risk if it's just mental but if you think it's fine it'll reassure me!

Thanks,

Louise

Sorry, but have been gone for 5 days.
We did not find the driving bad at all. Have a good navigator and study the map in advance. You really need a car to see Sicily well. Have fun !

thanks Bob! we're off tomorrow morning! will let you know how we get on!

Bob, your photos are wonderful!

LouiseG6- SAFE TRIP TO SICILY.
I leave next week!

Lisaannmack:
Please report back on your visit to THE AEOLIAN islands...........they sound wonderful.
Will you visit Panerea Island?
We had thought about "squeezing in" a visit to 1 of the Aeolian Islands, as a day trip, but decided it was just not to be included on this trip, due to not enough time.

ciao
Trend Girl

Grazie !
Yes, I too hope to hit the Aeolians some time.

Hi Bob:

I've enjoyed this report a couple of times!

I wonder if you did a report here on your visit(s) to Puglia? I noticed that you wrote a report on SlowTrav,but the Lecce section appeared to be missing! (I was interested in the hotel you stayed at in that city).

On another post here you mention a week-long stay in Puglia but I cannot find anything..is there a link about that trip that I could read?

Many thanks!!

Here it is--I had almost forgotten it. We were on the cheap this trip ---2 guys moving fast:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=104

Thanks! I did see it, but was hoping that there was some info about Lecce! That section may have been left out(??)..

Did you like the Lecce hotel you stayed at?

It was OK---good location. I did like Lecce--not like most of Italy.

Bob: Can you elaborate about that a bit? (the "not like most of Italy" part)??

I am sorry to tag it to this thread, but was not sure how to "find" you.

Lecce and the Salento remind me more of Sicily and Greece than Italy. More arid land--rocky landscapes, and the people in Leccce look more " earthy"--not unlike Sicily. It just has a different feel to it--does that make sense?

Yes! Thank you! I am trying to formulate a rough plan so any and all information/opinions are very helpful.

Bob, I'm just beginning to plan our trip for next year to Sicily. We're just back from Portugal but I need to begin planning next year's holiday already!

I'm thinking that we would actually start in Naples for 2 nights then Sorrento for 3 nights then head to Sicily. We would have still 11 days for Sicily. Would you suggest flying from Naples to Taormina? And then I would like to follow your itinerary but would need to lop off 3 days. Would you suggest staying North? Thanks for your expertise Bob, always much appreciated.

Lily, Bob is navigating Lake Como and environs right now. I think he'll be home in about a week.

Thanks Ms Go. I hope he's having a great trip.

bookmarking

Bob,

reading your report to plan our trip in Sicily. When you say 2 hours to Agrigento, that is from ...? Thanks.

That was from the agriturismo in the middle of Sicily near Piazza Amerina. We enjoyed Selinunte more than the ruins at Agrigento.

Bob,
DH and I are planning our 6th trip to Italy, this time Sicily is our focus. However, we are traveling with another couple who have never been to Italy so, of our 16 nights, we will spend the first three in Rome. That leaves us with 13. We have considered renting a car in Rome and driving down the coast stopping for one night south of the Amalfi coast, then continuing on the next day hoping to reach Taormina. For the return trip we would drive from Palermo to Rome (all in one long day) and stay the night in Rome before flying home the next day. The 3 nights in Rome are not negotiable. DH and I have seen the Amalfi coast, but have not seen the coast from there south. Would you recommend we simply fly between Rome and Sicily, picking up our car on the island and returning it there, rather than trying to make the drive down the coast? If we fly, we have 13 nights in Sicily, if we drive, we have 11. If we end up with 11, which three places would you pick (of the five from your trip)? Taormina seems to be one -- judging from your posts. I am curious, given the tourist hub it has become, why this would be so. We have tentatively talked of just one night there before going on to Syracuse and using that as one of our three bases.
Other pertinent information: our trip will be in May. DH has driven many times in Italy and will likely be doing all of the driving at least until we reach the island.

And last, but not least, I'd love to hear opinions from any others who have traveled to Sicily.

Hello Marta, I would start in Sicily and end in Rome, and I would fly between them. Fly via Rome and bite the bullet and fly into Palermo that same day. You will not want nor need a car in Palermo. Give it perhaps 3 days.
I would end your Sicily time in either Taormina or Siracusa since either is close enough to Catania airport for a flight back to Rome. These flights should not cost you more than 130E or so--maybe less. What to see on Sicily is another topic--set your itinerary and timing first.
We loved May on Sicily---as will you. I trust you have seen my photo gallery---love those spring flowers.

Loved Sicily--here's the link to my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ecial-trip.cfm