While this is my first time posting, I have long been following the talk here. Two years ago my husband and I booked a month's trip through southern Italy and Sicily and relied so much on the wisdom of fodorites. We just booked our second trip to Sicily for April. All of our options for returning to the states involved flying out of Palermo at 6:10 am. We plan to spend the last part of our vacation in Trapani but decided it would be best to book the last night near the Palermo Airport. Does anyone have suggestions for where we might stay?

Again thanks for your help in the past.

Here's an old post from GAC, who knows his way around Sicily very well. You could look for the Web sites of the hotels he names and see if any of them suits you.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34483702

Thanks, Eloise. I will look into these options. Since our flight is at 6:10, I think we have no option but to stay near the airport.

You do have the option of taking an early morning taxi out of Palermo. Some of the hotels have arrangements with private transportation operators for reduced fares (such as the Hotel Joli near Piazza Castelnuovo, which advertises private car service for considerably less than the cost of a regular taxi). A regular taxi would cost about 50 Euros.

Even if you stay at one of the hotels near the airport, you'll still need to take a taxi (or make arrangements with the hotel for car service), which will cost about 15 Euros.

So, I myself might be inclined to spend the last night in downtown Palermo in order to enjoy the night life, unless I was contemplating arriving to the hotel late and exhausted after a full day's sightseeing, in which case spending the night close to the airport makes much more sense.

An afterthought: it is ESSENTIAL to book the taxi/private car service to the Palermo airport the evening before departure, as it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to find an unreserved taxi between 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning. This advice pertains especially if staying at one of the properties near the airport. Also, you don't want to hop in the first taxi you manage to hail down at 4:00 a.m. in downtown Palermo!!!

Thanks, GAC. I've looked on the web at some of the hotels from your earlier posting and think we will go with one of them as we will probably not arrive until evening. thanks for the tip about the taxi.