thursdaysd

OK, I’ve revised the Sicily part of my upcoming S. Italy trip. A good part of the time is with a tour group, and fixed, but I thought I’d post it for comments anyway. Anything wonderful I should really add, or any fabulous restaurants you’d love to return to?

Apr 18 - Train from Naples to Siracusa. 3 nights at the Ortigia Sea View B&B.
Apr 19 - Day trip to Noto
Apr 20 - Explore Ortigia, maybe take a boat trip on the Ciane River
Apr 21 - Train or bus to Taormina to join tour group (Rick Steves). 2 nights at Vello d'Oro.
Apr 23 - Visit Mt. Etna on the way to Siracusa. 2 nights. Visit Archaeological Park and museum.
Apr 25 - Drive to agriturismo near Piazza Armerina. 2 nights. Visit Villa Casale.
Apr 27 - Visit Agrigento on the way to Scopello. 2 nights. Day cruise.
Apr 29 - Visit Monreale on the way to Cefalu. 2 nights.
May 1 - Palermo. 1 night, Hotel Tonic. End of tour. Note, this is a holiday.
May 2 - Train and bus to Erice via Trapani. 2 nights, Hotel Moderno. Maybe visit Segesta on the way? Is there a bag drop? Figure this will be a slow weekend, so will spend it somewhere I want to chill out and admire the views.
May 4 – Bus and ferry to Favignana. 3 nights, Albergo Egadi. Hiking. Day trips to the other Egadi islands for more hiking.
May 7 – Ferry to Trapani. 2 nights, Ai Lumi. Daytrip to Marsala for museum and wine. (Trapani seems to have better places to sleep and eat.) Does anyone know whether there’s a winery I can reach without a car?
May 9 – Train to Palermo. 2 nights, Sky Sleeping B&B. See all the museums and markets I didn’t see May 1.
May 11 – late afternoon flight to Naples.

Zerlina

Donnafugata, one of the larger wineries in Sicily, seems to be quite close to the train station in Marsala.

http://www.donnafugata.net/eng/page/home.html

Enter "marsala" in the second box, "via lipari" in the third, and "18" in the fourth box here:

www.visual.paginegialle.it

thursdaysd

Wow, grazie, Zerlina! Love the mapping site, and that winery is definitely closer to the station than the one in the guide books! I'm so looking forward to trying marsala at its home site, and I hear there's a good dessert wine out of Pantelleria, too.

Zerlina

I don't think Donnafugata makes Marsala, which is a fortified wine and requires a different process.

thursdaysd

Oops - you're right. This - www.marcodebartoli.com - looks like a better bet for Marsala wine, and seems to be in the center of town.

JQReports

Hello thursdaysd,

Donnafugata make a Passito di Pantelleria, Ben Ryé, that is one of my all time favourite sweet wines from anywhere. If I remember correctly, Carlo Pellegrino is quite central and they have a tasting room. We took a tour of Florio (in Italian), but they did not have any tastings. (This was all 2001).

Hope you get to Marettimo for some hiking. I loved it. Here is a link to my description of one of our hikes, with pictures.

http://www.infohub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6477

JQ

Zerlina

Thursdaysd, What the visual.paginegialle map actually shows for the winery you mention is that a) it does not recognize the street name, b) it is showing you the center of town.

As far as I can tell from maps.google.com, Contrada Fornara 292 is way outside Marsala.

thursdaysd

Thanks for the link JQ - fabulous pix and gorgeous coastline! I'll be hiking alone, doubt I'll make the "tricky bit", but maybe I should take my hiking stick along.