sicily
 

hey travellers!<BR>i will be staying in palermo for two weeks. i found a hotel called hotel del centro over on via roma 72... in the section of old town centre. does anyone know what kind of neighborhood this is... ? any and all feedback is welcomed!!!<BR>r

This is the southern part of Via Roma very close to the central rail station: lots of traffic and noise. Not a great area at night, although not dangerous if you stay on the main, lighted streets (such as Via Roma itself). You will be within walking distance of many of the sites in the &quot;Old Town&quot; (some of which are very, very dilapidated).

aw, too bad. price was decent and i thought i lucked out... any suggestions for hotels.... i'll be travelling through italy for three months, so i'm on a budget... but i'm not a &quot;hostel&quot; kinda girl. (do you think i should stay in palermo for two weeks or is that too much time?) i'm starting to get freaked out with all the warnings! ack!<BR><BR>

If you want to stay in an area of town which is easier to navigate after dark, consider the Hotel Gardenia on Via Mariano Stabile, in the &quot;newer&quot; part of town. Check out their website. I spent 10 days in Palermo and did several day trips to outlying areas (Mondello, Monreale, Erice/Trapani, Solunto/Santa Flavia, Cefalu), so I think you can keep yourself occupied for up to two weeks in Palermo. Maybe you could cut a couple of days, however!

sounds good. maybe i'll delay arriving by a day or two. i just sent that hotel an email... thanks for the recommendation. i might p/u a travel book tonight for sicily. do you know of any websites that give hotel listings by area... and also what is this area called? are there lots of shops and cafes? just wondering. thanks!<BR>r

You might find my notes on Sicily with URLs useful. I'll send them if you e-mail me.<BR> [email protected]

You might also do a search here for my reports on Sicily and Palermo.

I'm in the process of planning an 8 day trip to Sicily in May. I've posted some links to sites I've found helpful on my website if you're interested.<BR>http://www.wired2theworld.com<BR>Click on the &quot;Sicily&quot; link at the top of the page.<BR>By the way, I've also been considering the Del Centro, the Gardenia, and the Hotel Joli.

Look in www.venere.com

hey-thanks everyone.... i have been on so many different websites, emailing places, faxing, etc... it's hard to guess what areas are best for a single woman travelling though... GAC- i took your recommendation and called the gardenia... they are charging over 60E per night and i'm on a budget... though i found a bunch of other places IN the same building. i guess a different floor.... they are HOTEL TONIC, ELITE, BOSTON - and i faxed them today... i'm assuming if gardenia was in a nice 'hood then how bad can these be - in same building - has anyone heard of these smaller hotels? i've heard Hotel POSTA is cool too...

We stayed at the Gardenia last April. The neighborhood is good and very convenient for walking throughout the city center, opera house, etc. There are multiple hotels in the building--Gardenia on the uppermost. Hotel Posta is also convenient but was more expensive at the time. I would stay at Posta if the rate is cheaper than Gardenia.<BR>If you are interested in transportation at a reasonable price, we used [email protected] for 10 days over the island.

The other hotels in the building with the Gardenia are likely of similar quality and price. It is generally a safe neighborhoodT and very convenient to the Teatro Massimo Opera House, Ferry Port, Airporter Bus (from Piazza Castelnuovo) and Archeological Museum. The highrise building is drab, but who cares? By contrast, the areas around the train station (southern parts of Via Roma and Via Maqueda) are VERY atmospheric (i.e. dilapidated), and might appear to amny to be somewhat intimidating at night, particularly for solo travelers. Also, there is very little to do at night in that part of town, so it's better to stay well north of Corso Vittorio Emanuele.