Need help with Sicily in October, and Malta?
 

We waited too late to book something for September/October, we thought we were going to Scotland, and then we thought we were going to take a cruise northward from Rome, ending in Barcelona, neither worked out :(

So now we are doing a short cruise from Rome south to Amalfi, Capri, Sicily and Malta.

We plan to then rent a car (maybe in Catania, because that is probably where we would start our flights home from?) and spend some more time in Sicily (maybe a week, or a little more?) it's been on our bucket list for a few years. (Tour is stopping in Taormina, Ortigia, and Porto Empedocle for the Valley of the Temples)

So any guidance as to a possible route, prefer to stay somewhere for 2-3 nights and do some day trips

Is Malta worth a post cruise extension, or should we spend that time in Sicily?

Hopefully early October won't be too hot!

Sicily is delightful, but I think you are going to have to make some difficult decisions, as visiting just the highlights can easily take 2.5 or 3 weeks. Too, Sicily doesn’t lend itself as readily to bases as many areas of the world – the distances between locations of interest are simply too great to make bases a good option. The two places that are most dense in sites, and so most likely to merit stays of 3 or more nights, are Ortigia and Palermo.

A good guidebook or two will likely serve you well – I found the Rough Guide particularly helpful for Sicily. And there are a ton of planning threads and trip reports here on Fodor’s.

Hope that helps!

I know we won't have time for everything, but since we will be "in the area" it' s a good place to start

We have been to Ortigia, and will be there again with the Cruise Tour

It looks to me like going from Catania to Cefalu and then counter clockwise around the island adds up to around 500 miles, we just finished driving about 1300 miles in New Zealand not counting day trips, we don't mind driving if the scenery is nice. I would love to hear about people's favorite places.

My personal favorites include the cathedral of Monreale, the Villa Romana del Casale, the Valley of the Temples, Selinunte, Segesta, Palermo, Ortigia, and Noto.

The size of Malta is 17 miles x 9 miles. There are in excess of 350,000 vehicles of all shapes and sizes either on the roads or parked up. Most of the roads weren't built for heavy traffic, but there's plenty of it.

Public buses are fine, but those that cover popular routes are inevitably packed after the first stop or two. Bus drivers are up against the timetable, so don't expect much in the way of passenger comfort.....and be careful of pick-pockets on busy buses.

Road works popping up anywhere without notice are routine, and many alternative routes aren't suitable for the traffic that gets diverted.

Construction work abounds, so plenty more in the way in the way of traffic diversions.

Hotels often take in large Groups, usually teenagers on Sports Tours. So check Trip Advisor Hotel Reviews before booking.

Pastizzi are cheap and very nice though.

The History on the Island still abounds, but it's all about trying to pack a pint into a hal-pint glass these days.

Damn shame.

Where does the cruise end? If it's Malta then you wouldn't have to go back to Sicily to start your flights home, you could start from Malta. In that case it would make Malta the most sensible place to visit for your post cruise extension. I also think Malta makes a better place to have a base. When I visited I spend 7 nights in Valletta and did day trips by bus.



As mentioned above the traffic in Malta is terrible so it takes much longer to get places then you think it will. That's the case on public buses or if you rent a car, at least with buses you don't have to worry about parking. Fortunately, distances are short so it's not terrible to travel around. Even with a week I didn't get to everywhere I wanted to go.
Here is my trip report: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-july-1072392/ The photos are now at: https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p217899981


If you did decide to do Sicily (also wonderful) I would suggest you rent a car. Roads are better and less crowded than Malta, but distances much longer. Our only (so far) trip to Sicily we had 11 nights and most of them were 1-3 night stays as we traveled around the island. I think we hit most of the highlights, but certainly didn't see everything in that amount of time.

I'd definitely advise buying the latest edition of Lonely Planet Guide to Malta & Gozo.

Due to the very small size of the Islands, practically every page in the Guide is useful, particularly the street maps, and the General Information.

Kja, thanks for your list, looked them up on Google Images, will do more reserach soon.
Isabel, which were your favorite places?

Yes the cruises ends in Malta, and I think we will skip the extension and head to Sicily, which would give us 8-10 days.
And yes, we will definitely be renting a car for Sicily probably in Catania

First priority would be a rental for 2-3 nights with a washer and dryer. I'm thinking maybe Cefalu area

Then maybe Monreale or somewhere close to Palermo for day trip(s) into Palermo and area? Palermo itself looks to be a larger city than we like to stay in.

Then Trapani

After that I need guidance for "Temples" We have been to Paestum, loved it but I don't want to overdo the Temple thing. So after Trapani, what is the most special?

We do visit Valley of the Temples with our cruise
"From Porto Empedocle, visit Agrigento’s legendary Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples), a World Heritage sitewhere classical antiquity comes alive. Here, no fewer than eight Doric Greek shrines dating from the 5th century B.C. dot the landscape, including the Temple of Hera, with its graceful northern colonnade, and the Temple of Concordia, a beautifully preserved Greek monument. There are temples dedicated to Zeus and Heracles and the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Divinities, ancient Greek lords of Earth and the underworld. Visit the Archaeological Museum and admire the momentous collection of Greek, Etruscan, Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman artifacts. The ship departs Porto Empedocle this evening for Malta."

BTW we usually go with Nat Geo, so very used to smaller ships. This cruise ship is larger than any we have been on (92 suites and staterooms) however we are going with Smithsonian so our group is limited to about 40 people. Hopefully will be a good experience!

Valley of the Temples appears to be well covered by your cruise stop. It is a fabulous site.
Segesta only has one temple and a Greek theater but it’s setting is beautiful. It is near Trapani. Selinunte is a large area situated next to the sea adjacent to the town of Marinella de Selinunte . It is about halfway from Trapani to Agrigento. We visited every archeological site in Sicily we could and each one was so different from the other.You have several interesting choices.
In Trapani, make sure you orderNorth African inspired Fish Couscous, delicious.

Also, the weather in Sicily was wonderful in October. It was so hot in late September, an earlier trip.

More info ~ we are 65 and 72, take about 3-4 trips a year, fairly comfortable driving anywhere, but prefer not to drive in big cities.

We love countryside and scenery, but also religious sites and history. We like to walk/easy hiking, DH is in excellent shape, my hips and back complain after about a 3 miles RT on a hike.

We like staying in nice places with gorgeous views, we don't need a pool, spa etc, love nice B&Bs Agriturisimos, self catering.

I had Cefalu on previous notes, but somewhere that I was reading called it a "resort" ?

Regarding Temples, would stop at any along our route, but not sure we want to go out of the way for every site.

It will be early October when we are there so I will have to keep my fingers crossed!

Traffic in Malta is right crazy. I'd skip Malta and opt for Sicily.

Wrenwood: October will be a perfect month to travel! Sicily is nice, I have traveled there 2x, the first time when my daughter was 3 years old (she is now 18!) and managed quite well as a single traveler taking public transportation. I never once rented a car and took trains between cities and buses when needed. One of my favorite places we stayed in was Siracusa (Syracuse). It looks like you will be stopping/staying in Ortigia too. Siracusa is a beautiful place with so much historical charm (like everything in Italia!) and the amazing Greek ruins. Siracusa has a wonderful marionette-style puppet theater (Teatro dei pupi) with lots of locals attending that we thoroughly enjoyed. When we were down in Siracusa, I really wanted to go to Malta from there since the ferry crossings are only 1 hr 45 mins but it didn't work out. Malta is still on my bucket list to see and I regret not going there when we were so close! IMO, I think you should add Malta on to your trip if you have the time. Back in Sicilia, we also loved Agrigento. We stayed in the city center and walked to the ruins. We also took public transportation out to see the Villa Romana del Casale, the large and elaborate Roman villa located near the town of Piazza Armerina. The fabulous mosaics and tiles were worth the visit. We also stayed a few days in Palermo in the old city center. I personally am not a fan of Palermo and the mayhem and craziness of that city, but to each his own. Happy planning and enjoy yourselves on your trip!

I know everyone has different views but after a trip to Malta and Sicily we found we much preferred Malta. The history is fascinating, there's a lot to see in a small area, fabulous views, the people are friendly and speak English, weather was beautiful. We stayed in Valletta for about a week and also on Gozo. On Malta we just used public buses and found them fine, though often crowded. On Gozo we hired a jeep (as you do!). We had about 10 days in Sicily and enjoyed Taormina and the walk uphill to Castelmola and also our stay on Lipari, one of the Aeolian islands, the best. The mosaics at Piazza Armerina were also fabulous. I do have a trip report on Fodors if you want to find it, it's getting a bit old now but might be worth reading (just click where it says KayF). It covers both Sicily and Malta.

Kay

Another negative about Malta. If you're there when a couple of those mega cruise ship are berthed then...

- Expect Valletta to be absolutely mobbed.

- Ditto with all the popular must-see sights.

If it were me, and Cruise Sips were berthed, I'd get an early public bus up to the north of Malta to the Gozo Ferry Terminal at Cirkewwa. Then hop across to Gozo for the day. The bus takes an hour, and the ferries are about every 45 minutes, and cheap. The main draw on Gozo is The Citadel at Victoria, which is easily reached by public bus from the Gozo Fery Terminal.

Question about our first 3 nights in a self catering being near Taormina............

From the ship when in Taormina we visit the Greco-Roman Theater, the 14th-century Corvaia Palace, the medieval baroque portal of the Cathedral of St. Nicola; and the Roman Odeon, known as the “small theater.” Stroll along Taormina’s famous Corso Umberto, the bustling shopping thoroughfare with a distinctive Mediterranean flair.

Should we stay in that area again?

I like the self catering I found north of Taormina, NW of the E45 in a residential area.

What other day trips could we do from thhere if we didn't go back to Taormina?

If you're seeing all those things from your ship, the only reason I can think to go to Taormina for time beyond that is because it is only pleasant, IME, after day trippers have left. For me, that would not be sufficient justification; YMMV.

A good day out in Malta, and one that avoids the traffic, is a cruise round both Islands with Captain Morgan Cruises.

They run from Sliema waterfront, easy to reach by bus.

Re Malta - since you are already going to be there it seems a shame to not add a few days. Perhaps you can extend your trip by two or three days so as not to take away from time in Sicily. I think there were cruise ships there many of the days I was there and I didn't really notice the crowds from them as much as some places where the cruisers really ruin the place when they are there. And I totally agree with LancasterLad about the Captain Morgan Cruise around the islands. It was a wonderful day.

We have pretty much decided not to do the Malta extension ~ we will get a taste of Malta and know if we want to go back sometime

We were in Ortigia for several days and have always wanted to go back to Sicily.

Right now we are thinking 10 days in Sicily on our own (MAYBE a day or two more)

Once the cruise ends in Malta (after 1 day exploring Malta) we will fly from Malta to Catania, and then the plan is to head to just outside Cefalu for 3 nights ~ somewhere with a washing machine (I have found dryers are hard to find!)

After that we would drive counterclockwise concentrating on pretty villages, archelogical sites, landscapes, wine, spectacular churches ~ maybe one more 3~nighter base, and some other 1-2 nighters before we fly from Catania back to FCO, and back to the US

So please keep sending your favorite spots in those areas!