Hi there -

I posted a question a while back regarding an itinerary for a June 2009 trip to Italy/Sicily. Since then I've spent HOURS reviewing past posts on the board. So please know that I have investigated this question prior to posting!

Basically, although opinions are across the board (no pun intended), it seems that either Cefalu or Ortygia would be good spots for my family of 6 to plop in a villa for a week and enjoy the scenery and make some day trips. I'm wondering if: 1) I'm correct in this idea and 2) Would anyone who's stayed in either of these places have any good recommendations on villas to check out. I know my mom would like a house vs. staying in a hotel.

In case you're wondering, the group will be 2 50 something parents who enjoy history/walking, but would also like to relax and 4 twenty somethings who would enjoy sight seeing but also some beach/pool time and some serious eating and wine drinking time as well. We're ambitious, but we definitely do not want to come home more exhausted then when we left.

And if you think I've unfairly eliminated other cities from the running, PLEASE, make your case! I'd love to hear it. Thanks in advance Fodorites - the past posts and trip reports have already been very helpful and gotten me excited for our trip!

Nancy

There's little chance of getting a villa on Ortigia - its mainly old town houses. You might do better with one or two apartments.
Another option would be to see if you could take over this lovely B&B: http://www.ilcortiletto.com/

The rooms here are suites that include living and kitchen areas.

There are more villa options at Cefalu, but I don't know of any to recommend.

Oooooooooh I faint at the idea of even going back to Ortygia. Please, please go to Cefalu. Ortygia is best as a day trip. We stayed there for a week and we were disgusted. It's up and coming for sure, but it's NOT there yet. It's a beautiful place to visit and see the sights of the island and of Siracusa, but please do NOT home base there. I will try to find my 2005 post for you about our lovely apartment. Cefalu is exquisite. We stayed there for 10 days on 3 different occassions and I was sorry to leave. Rent an apartment from Massimo at Sicilian Break. All of his properties are stellar, beautifully kept, and super high quality. The apartment we took had a gorgeous terrace overlooking the sea and it was inexpensive. Cefalu has so much to do and see and Ortygia is very limited. Additionally, there is a dog poop problem on the island, every where you go there are dogs leaving deposits on the pedestrian sidewalks. I love Sicily, my heart is in Sicily way, way over the main land, but this is soooooo not the place you want to be! Please, please email me and I will tell you zillions of fun things to do and places to eat in Cefalu, it's one of my absolute favorite towns. Sorry to be so strongly opinionated, I'm sure someone out there who loves Ortygia is going to flame me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't see it, you must see it, it's got neat things to offer, just save yourself and don't base camp there!

Here's the apartment we rented. Massimo is awesome and really takes care of you the minute you get into town.

http://www.cefalu.it/strscheda.php?id=413&lingua=en

Massimo also handles many villas as well. I'm not trying to overly plug this guy, but he did make our vacation great by making it easy, having great places to choose from, and no BS if you know what I mean!

http://www.cefalu.it/strelenco.php?a...&lingua=en

Having stayed in both I have found Cefalu to be a far better base. It is absolutely beautiful (especially if you can find accommodation high in the hills above town with stupendous views). Whenever I return to Sicily I always make a point of staying in Cefalu and would not consider staying in Ortygia again (not that there is anything wrong with it at all - it is lovely).

I haven't been to Cefalu, so I can't offer advice on which to choose. I have been to Ortygia and loved it, and am happy to report that I encountered absolutely no problems with dog poop there. Sicily is wonderful - enjoy!

My vote is for Cefalu. Great town with several great restaurants on the water. Convenient for day trips.

Thank you everyone! This makes my decision a lot easier!

Been to both and Cefalu wins hands down for a longer stay. Very relaxed,beautiful atmosphere. You will love Sicily.

Does anyone have good advice on day trips from Cefalu?

Giulia: can you tell us exactly where the train station in Cefalu is located on the map in your 1st apartment link?

As a place to stay, I far prefer Cefalú to Ortygia, although the latter has some excellent restaurants. The Roman and Greek theatres, Ear of Dionysus, Archaeological museum and Duomo are all well worth seeing

Daytrips to Noto, Ragusa, Modica and Taormina are far easier from Siracusa.

Cefalú has the advantages of great beach, lovely scenery. It is in an easy trip to Palermo by rail. Monreale would be a short bus trip from there.

Similarly Agrigento is possible by train. If you have a car Selinunte, Segeste are possible.

The Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina are about equal distance from both.

Holly_uncasdewar: If you go back to that map and click the zoom out button once or twice you can see the train tracks. The station is just south of that Via Aldo Moro. If you follow that street north it turns into Corso Ruggero that's the main passeggiata through town. We had backpacks that had wheels so we were easily able to walk from the train station. It's about 3 minutes by car, so maybe 10 minute walk?

nkluedke: We went to Palermo a lot on day trips, you can't see it all in one day and it's only 45 minutes give or take by train. Lot's to see and do and eat in Palermo! Also, the mosaics of Monreale nearby as well as little villages in the Madonie mountain preserve. http://www.parks.it/parco.madonie/Epun.html Massimo from Sicilian Break is great at offering suggestions for things to do, day trips, etc. I just thought he was a doll, I swear I don't work for him, LOL!

Hi,

Good to see so many good things said about Cefalu. My Partner and I live just outside Cefalu and agree that it is a great place to base yourself for visiting Sicily. All the other posts have echo'd what I would have said and Massimo is a good guy. We run a very small travel agency on the web www.siciliangems.com and promote a lot of the villas / accommodation in Cefalu with Massimo and others to the english / american market. We can offer accomodation, car hire, excursions and anything else you need for your holiday in Sicily. Again it's great to see the good comments about Cefalu as we often struggle against our big sister of Taormina. Please check out our site and contact us if you need any info to plan you itinerary.
Rob.

Rob, I was happy to find your site but you do know that advertising is a no no on this forum.

Cefalu is quite the beaitiful town. We visited it with our niece who was a student in Italy and a male classmate. The friend was walking down the street proposing to every young woman with 10 years his age.

We all has fun with his obesssion, and since we paid for his expenses, we affrctionally called him the Sponge.

My wife had the most adddictive home made limoncello there are well.

We hope in our retirement we will be able to spend extended time many places with Cefalu high on the list.

That's also my dream, to spend some months in Cefalu when we retire. I could easily stay a few months there with the proximity to Palermo, there's so much to do and see. Plus the seafood is TDF.