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