Onehottamale

I am planning a trip to Italy in Sept of 2008 with my fiancee. We are going to get married there in a civil ceremony. I would love to stay and get married in Taormina, and do most of my touring in Sicily (would love to see my moms birthplace of Miselmeri) but would also love to see Rome, Tuscany and Florence. Does this seem possible with a 8 day trip? Im having difficulty mapping it out. I would perfer to stay at one hotel and do day trips... ANY help would be very much appreciated...

daveesl

Well, you could do it, but you'd spend much of your time travelling between places.

It would be enjoyable to do like 4 days in Sicily, 4 days in Rome.

dave

caroline_edinburgh

Wow, this must be the most extreme example of "trying to fit it all in" I've ever seen, but I'll try to be constructive.

With 8 days, I personally would just stay in Sicily - maybe 3-4 days in Taormina after 4-5 days either

a) in Palermo (from where you could do a day trip to Miselmeri),

b) touring other parts of the island, or

c) at one base in the Aeolian islands, visiting the other islands.

Sicily is probably bigger than you think, Taormina is right at one end & I wouldn't recommend visiting places like Palermo or Agrigento as day trips from Taormina. Siracusa maybe.

And are you seriously thinking of flying to Rome and Florence as day trips ?? It would be physically possible, I suppose, at a cost, but it would be mad.

If you must fit Sicily and somewhere else into 8 days, how about 4 days in Taormina and 4 days in Florence, taking one or two day trips out into the Tuscan countryside ?

On a practical note - don't you have to stay in Taormina for a minimum period of time before you can be married there ? That's what happens in most countries.

Onehottamale

What useful information. But when it comes down to it, it seems that I should just stay the entire trip in Sicily , or the entire trip in Rome. I am getting married there so I wanted it to be as romantic as possible. If any of you were in my position, what would you do.... just curious? I want to start planning the trip now, but cant until I figure out where I want the final destination to be... Thanks guys

baldrick

If you can say today that you will NEVER EVER come back to Italy for the rest of your life, then squeeze maybe some Rome in your trip. But it would still be a travel splurge, which will in the end not add to the quality of your trip.
Do envisage to stay 8 days in Sicily.
I would suggest to stay in 2 places, one in the eastern part of the island (Taormina, if this is your choice, or Syracuse on Ortygia), and one in the western part of the island (maybe Palermo) and daytrip from there. And don't forget you are on your honeymoon!

I'm planning our trip for October this year to Sicily and have difficulties fitting it all in a 2 week period.

Onehottamale

Thanks Baldrick. I wish we can stay longer, I might be able to do 10 days (maybe). But your idea was a great one. I do plan on going back with my children who at this time are too young to enjoy Italy. One more question, the abundance of tour books is astonishing can you reccommend one of the best for Sicily?

sjj

You sound young, you have roots in Italy, and I'm sure you'll go back there, probably more than once. Every minute you spend waiting at airports and train stations, traveling from place to place in Italy, and checking into hotels is one minute taken away from seeing the stuff you want to see. If I were you I'd split my time on this trip between Sicily and Rome, and save Florence and the rest of Italy for the future.

baldrick

1HaM, I use a very general guide book (Michelin guide) for the general organisation. Once the outline is set, I go to more in-depth books of all kinds, be it guides, webstuff,... and so on. It takes a lot of copying, printing out,... but it is part of the fun. For lodging, I look for positive experiences from other travellers in B&B's or hotels, and I book personally by email.

caroline_edinburgh

I've already suggested what you might do, given that you seemed to want to see a lot, plus your connection with Miselmeri.

Now I'll tell you what I actually did for my honeymoon - although bear in mind that we'd had a few days of festivities in Edinburgh first so were very tired when we arrived. We had 3 nights in Taormina (San Domenico Palace), 8 nights on Panarea (Hotel Raya) and 3 nights back in Taormina (SDP).

It was very romantic - we basically just relaxed, enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, ate and drank.

bobthenavigator

In 8 days I would pick 2 destinations---you pick it. In Sep I would consider Rome and Tuscany and save Sicily for when you have more time.

suze

I would pick either Sicily or Rome and spend the entire trip in either. 8 days is not sufficient to do so much moving around as the 4 places you originally mention imo.

sessa

I agree with the posters who recommend doing 4 & 4. We are the "see-everything-because-we-might-not-come-back-for-a-while" type and did 6 cities in Italy in 2 weeks for our honeymoon. While I think it was more than worth it, it was also VERY exhausting and our route was even planned so that the train trips were no more than 3 hours.

No matter what you decide, I hope you enjoy every minute!

Onehottamale

What great advice everybody. Like one of the posts had mentioned, I dont want to get there, unpack, then before you know if pack again and move on to somewhere else. My ultimate goal is to ENJOY my wedding/honeymoon, relax, see some beautiful sights and eat until I gain back the 15 lbs Ill be losing BEFORE the wedding ha ha

ira

Hi O,

>get married in Taormina, .. do most of my touring in Sicily ... would also love to see Rome, Tuscany and Florence. Does this seem possible with a 8 day trip?<

Probably possible, but utterly foolish.

Stay is Sicily this time. You will go back to Italy.

Happy wedding.

Onehottamale

Ok so I think I have come to a decision. I will elongate the trip giving us 10 days. Spend 5 in Taormina and 5 in Rome. Now I need some advice on hotels. Since its my wedding/honeymoon I would like to stay in a hotel room with a majestic view from my room. Im working on a budget (sort-of) and dont want to go to crazy on price. 200-300 per night would be ok. Any advice would help.. thanks all

gb944

Majestic view.
Budget price.

Pick one.

Onehottamale

I would go with majestic view

rex

Welcome to Fodor's Europe Travel Talk.

I am always accused of being the wet blanket when I say this - - but all the responses did you, and the board a disservice. If I had seen this post first, I would have offered sincere, but stern advice - - to <b>Pleeeeeease</b> re-post with a meaningful title, Titles like &quot;Help!&quot; do everyone a disservice. Many who might be knowledgeable about your question will never open it, and many will open it, and find out they have no interest and nothing to contribute.

It contributes to general frustration at using this forum, especially for newbies who are in their first phases of &quot;just browsing&quot;.

It's actually not too late.

&quot;Need advice on seeing some of the rest of Italy after our wedding in Sicily&quot; would be a good start.

Regardless, congratulations on your new life in marriage... and...

Best wishes,

Rex

Onehottamale

Hi Rex Well forgive me for my &quot;blog&quot; or &quot;forum&quot; heading. The Pleeeeease help title was not meant to upset and or do a disserve to the site. The Pleeeease was out of desperation for the multitude of of information that I have been coming up with and being a &quot;newbie&quot; I felt that &quot;browsing&quot; your site. I might be able to get some straight and insightful information (which I did) thanks to all of you that responded. I have a while before the actual trip so I know I will frequent her again Im sure with some questions in which I will be certain to watch my titles and avoid the &quot;disservice&quot; of which you speak.

Onehottamale

Oh... forgot to say Sorry