Sicily in the fall
Mar 7th, 2012, 12:33 PM
#22
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I'd recommend Casa Talía in Modica with its fabulous view over the town and also Villa Sogno in Selinunte. An Australian couple we met at Casa Talía (and whose taste seemed compatible with ours), loved these two lodgings:
http://www.mandranova.it
http://www.pensionetranchina.com
Mandranova is an agriturismo on the southern coast and Pension Tranchina is located in the hamlet of Scopello in the west.
Wish we'd had time for the Aeolians.
Here's the link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ecial-trip.cfm
http://www.mandranova.it
http://www.pensionetranchina.com
Mandranova is an agriturismo on the southern coast and Pension Tranchina is located in the hamlet of Scopello in the west.
Wish we'd had time for the Aeolians.
Here's the link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ecial-trip.cfm
Mar 7th, 2012, 07:08 PM
#23
I also loved Casa Talia in Modica.
And Palazzo del Sale in Siracusa/Ortigia.
We drove to Piazza Armerina on a day trip from Modica.
Cannot comment on the weather as we visited late March/early April, but I will second the recommendation of posting questions on the trip advisor Sicily board. I am a longtime Fodor's person, but TA was much better for Sicily advice, especially nuts-and-bolts details.
No disrespect to the other posters here, of course. (I know many of us have benefited from the postings of the wonderful vagabond and Palermo's own biondo.)
And Palazzo del Sale in Siracusa/Ortigia.
We drove to Piazza Armerina on a day trip from Modica.
Cannot comment on the weather as we visited late March/early April, but I will second the recommendation of posting questions on the trip advisor Sicily board. I am a longtime Fodor's person, but TA was much better for Sicily advice, especially nuts-and-bolts details.
No disrespect to the other posters here, of course. (I know many of us have benefited from the postings of the wonderful vagabond and Palermo's own biondo.)
Mar 8th, 2012, 06:32 AM
#24
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Thanks all.
I'm having some difficulty figuring out how long it takes to get places. For example, Leely, you drove to Piazza Armenina from Modica- how long did it take? Would it be better to get there from either Siracusa or Catania. How long does it take to get to Nota or Ragusa from Siracusa? As I said above, I'm still having troubel deciding if we shoudl stay in one or two places.
I'm booking the flights today ot tomorrow. I'll let you know more when I do that.
I'm having some difficulty figuring out how long it takes to get places. For example, Leely, you drove to Piazza Armenina from Modica- how long did it take? Would it be better to get there from either Siracusa or Catania. How long does it take to get to Nota or Ragusa from Siracusa? As I said above, I'm still having troubel deciding if we shoudl stay in one or two places.
I'm booking the flights today ot tomorrow. I'll let you know more when I do that.
Mar 8th, 2012, 06:46 AM
#25
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Have you tried mappy.com or google.com or viamichelin.com to get travel time and distance? You also get driving directions and a map. Any of the sites are great travel planners.
I always add about 25% more time to what any of these sites give you and that has proven to work well for me.
I always add about 25% more time to what any of these sites give you and that has proven to work well for me.
Mar 8th, 2012, 07:38 AM
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I also wanted to add that driving in Sicily can be stressful because the local culture of driving is a bit more risk-taking and "aggressive," so if you have been trained to be a defensive driver, it's not a relaxing scenic spin through the countryside.
Therefore, if staying in more than one place cuts down on the amount of "commuting" you do to make day trips, it is worth the minor hassle of packing up and relocating.
Therefore, if staying in more than one place cuts down on the amount of "commuting" you do to make day trips, it is worth the minor hassle of packing up and relocating.
Mar 8th, 2012, 07:49 AM
#28
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<i>I also wanted to add that driving in Sicily can be stressful because the local culture of driving is a bit more risk-taking and "aggressive," so if you have been trained to be a defensive driver, it's not a relaxing scenic spin through the countryside.</i>
Not my experience except in Palermo and Sciacca. In fact, most of the roads we took were quite free of traffic.
Not my experience except in Palermo and Sciacca. In fact, most of the roads we took were quite free of traffic.
Mar 8th, 2012, 09:35 AM
#30
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Ditto adrienne's rec of viamichelin.com.
The drive from Siracusa/Ortigia to Noto is easy. We drove from Modica to Ragusa Ibla on the scenic somewhat windy road which took us right to the good parking lot below the town.
I found driving on the Sicilian highways less stressful than here at home in SoCal. Similar to Michael's experience, we found the highways uncrowded and typically just two or three lanes across. Followed advice not to drive in Palermo. Driving in towns could be challenging but no more so than any other place built before cars. Moments of sheer terror were restricted to the high windy road before Comiso on the way to Agrigento. The mile high viaduct we could see from Modica that, I think, went to Ragusa would have also given me pause. Our car came with a built-in GPS which worked well, definitely a sanity saver.
The drive from Siracusa/Ortigia to Noto is easy. We drove from Modica to Ragusa Ibla on the scenic somewhat windy road which took us right to the good parking lot below the town.
I found driving on the Sicilian highways less stressful than here at home in SoCal. Similar to Michael's experience, we found the highways uncrowded and typically just two or three lanes across. Followed advice not to drive in Palermo. Driving in towns could be challenging but no more so than any other place built before cars. Moments of sheer terror were restricted to the high windy road before Comiso on the way to Agrigento. The mile high viaduct we could see from Modica that, I think, went to Ragusa would have also given me pause. Our car came with a built-in GPS which worked well, definitely a sanity saver.
Mar 8th, 2012, 11:31 AM
#31
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I would give my whole heart in agreement with zeppole for once.
It is the only place in the world which we have visited and would hesitate to hire a car again. The driving at times was appalling. On two occasions over a week I have absolutely no idea how we survived. On one occasion two 90 old year olds were approaching us on the road outside Noto on both sides of the road. One just didn't have the speed to overtake the other and we had to pull into a ditch to get out of way. We must have had at least 10 "what!!!!" moments.
If you have visited other areas of Italy, Sicily can be a shock to the system as it differs hugely from the mainland. We swore we wouldn't return but it has a certain romantic, charismatic draw to it.
I think we will try again this October following encouragement from our old friend Inspector Montalbano and the BBC series which Annhig refers to above.
Do some thorough research as some areas are stunning, whilst others resemble the rougher areas of Sao Paolo. Below Noto there is a beautiful coastal nature reserve at Vendicari with resident flamingos.
The issue of heat has been hard to tie down over the past 2 years in Southern Europe. Seville has pretty consistently retained summer temperatures of 40oC but we were in Sardinia last late July and it was cold at night. Too cold to sit out. Sicily can easily hit 40oC in September but 30 was more the norm last year. We were in Siracusa the year before in late October with 18oC and frequent rain.
We stayed here just outside Siracusa, it has the huge benefit of a very quiet, incredible garden which was an oasis from the rest of Sicily which at times was a little "mad". The property is a converted mansion with very helpful staff but you would need a car.
http://www.hotelilparco.net/
It is the only place in the world which we have visited and would hesitate to hire a car again. The driving at times was appalling. On two occasions over a week I have absolutely no idea how we survived. On one occasion two 90 old year olds were approaching us on the road outside Noto on both sides of the road. One just didn't have the speed to overtake the other and we had to pull into a ditch to get out of way. We must have had at least 10 "what!!!!" moments.
If you have visited other areas of Italy, Sicily can be a shock to the system as it differs hugely from the mainland. We swore we wouldn't return but it has a certain romantic, charismatic draw to it.
I think we will try again this October following encouragement from our old friend Inspector Montalbano and the BBC series which Annhig refers to above.
Do some thorough research as some areas are stunning, whilst others resemble the rougher areas of Sao Paolo. Below Noto there is a beautiful coastal nature reserve at Vendicari with resident flamingos.
The issue of heat has been hard to tie down over the past 2 years in Southern Europe. Seville has pretty consistently retained summer temperatures of 40oC but we were in Sardinia last late July and it was cold at night. Too cold to sit out. Sicily can easily hit 40oC in September but 30 was more the norm last year. We were in Siracusa the year before in late October with 18oC and frequent rain.
We stayed here just outside Siracusa, it has the huge benefit of a very quiet, incredible garden which was an oasis from the rest of Sicily which at times was a little "mad". The property is a converted mansion with very helpful staff but you would need a car.
http://www.hotelilparco.net/
Mar 8th, 2012, 11:51 AM
#32
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We stayed in both Ortigia and Taormina. The latter was at the end of our trip and more for relaxation. Loved the views of the Med and the coast from there. Our hotel was the Villa Schuler (www.hotelvillaschuler.com), which was ideally located with the great views and easy access to the main pedestrian shopping street. We then flew home from Catania.
We had dropped our car in Siracusa and took the train from Siracusa to Taormina, a very comfortable ride.
Ortigia was a very nice place to stay also, mostly pedestrian and surrounded by water, with lots of shops and restaurants. It's the center of old Siracusa, attached by 2 bridges to the mainland part of the city. We can also recommend our B&B there, L'Approdo delle Sirene (www.apprododellesirene.com). Comfortable, modern, a great view from the top floor breakfast room -- and the loan of a free notebook computer.
We started our trip from Palermo, where we stayed at the Hotel Ambasciatori. If you look them up on TripAdvisor, you'll find rave reviews, with which we concur. The rooftop terrace view is fabulous.
This trip was in early October. The weather was good except for a un seasonable rainstorm at the beginning.
We had dropped our car in Siracusa and took the train from Siracusa to Taormina, a very comfortable ride.
Ortigia was a very nice place to stay also, mostly pedestrian and surrounded by water, with lots of shops and restaurants. It's the center of old Siracusa, attached by 2 bridges to the mainland part of the city. We can also recommend our B&B there, L'Approdo delle Sirene (www.apprododellesirene.com). Comfortable, modern, a great view from the top floor breakfast room -- and the loan of a free notebook computer.
We started our trip from Palermo, where we stayed at the Hotel Ambasciatori. If you look them up on TripAdvisor, you'll find rave reviews, with which we concur. The rooftop terrace view is fabulous.
This trip was in early October. The weather was good except for a un seasonable rainstorm at the beginning.
Mar 8th, 2012, 05:07 PM
#33
I didn't find the driving bad at all (I did not drive in Palermo), not even those mile-high bridges bon_voyage mentioned, but we did manage to get lost frequently, so getting from point A to point B generally took about 25% longer than viamichelin had estimated. I cannot remember how long it took from Modica to Piazza Armerina, but it was an easy day trip. And we never had early starts, especially not at Casa Talia with such beautiful breakfasts outside on the lawn.
Don't shortchange Palermo, a fascinating city with lots to see, do and eat. And I would definitely include Modica or Ragusa Ibla for several days.
But you're sure to have a genuine Sicilian adventure no matter what your itinerary.
Don't shortchange Palermo, a fascinating city with lots to see, do and eat. And I would definitely include Modica or Ragusa Ibla for several days.
But you're sure to have a genuine Sicilian adventure no matter what your itinerary.
Mar 8th, 2012, 05:36 PM
#34
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I think a day is more than enough for Ragusa Ibla. There are some great places to eat and it's a pleasant town to stroll but there's not much there. Based on our bus ride through Modica and Noto it seemed like there was more activity in those towns. (We didn't venture to the "new" Ragusa, since it wasn't walking distance so there may have been interesting stuff up there.)
Mar 8th, 2012, 07:27 PM
#35
Oh, to clarify, I wasn't specifically recommending Ragusa Ibla; I meant stay in one of the Baroque towns for a few days and visit a few places from there. We stayed in Modica and with visiting Piazza Armerina, Modica itself, some long meals, chocolate shopping and general relaxing, we never even made it to Ragusa.
Mar 8th, 2012, 07:42 PM
#36
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Mar 8th, 2012, 08:48 PM
#37
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Just for giggles, I googled a pensione where we stayed many years in Scopello called Tranchino. The hosts were incredibly gracious and by the reviews which were basically by Italians the place seems even better.
You might want to take a look at it, as it was well-placed for visiting the western part of island.
You might want to take a look at it, as it was well-placed for visiting the western part of island.
Mar 9th, 2012, 01:41 AM
#38
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I would not stay in Siracusa for a week, it is too south of Sicily. North west Sicily has the loveliest scenary. Cefalu is lovely and so is Trapani in the north west. How about staying in one of these places for some of the days and do a day trip to Palermo from there? From Catania provence - check out outskirts of Catania, believe me, it is chaos in centre of Catania, and many pickpocketers - consider smally lovely seacoast towns of Aci, Acireale or Acicastello. From there you can visit Catania centre, Taormina, Mount Etna, and Temples. September might still be very hot, October is a better option if you do not like very warm weather. End of October, beginning of November in Catania there will be a huge fair called Fiera dei Morti, with countless stands of clothes, shoes, toys etc, a unique experience.
Mar 11th, 2012, 03:33 AM
#39
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Zeppole is right about driving in Sicily, especially in cities like Catania!!! Believe me there are no regulations at all, scooters all the time crossing in front of you, people everywhere, and traffic jams!!! But it is getting better on the main roads, but they do drive like crazy. But of course, if you are an experienced driver it should not deter you from driving. Avoid centre of cities, like Catania and Palermo.
Mar 11th, 2012, 03:51 AM
#40
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Anna Galeta's description is spot on. And I would add to that, if a car is leaving the curb, it is your responsibility to be clairvoyant, anticipate it, and act accordingly.
My suggestion is to embrace it and not fight. It can be quite liberating to drive like a loony. I picked up my niece at the Palermo airport and accidently took off someone's side view mirror. She screamed at what I had done and I told her this is Sicily and you never know who owns that car.
My suggestion is to embrace it and not fight. It can be quite liberating to drive like a loony. I picked up my niece at the Palermo airport and accidently took off someone's side view mirror. She screamed at what I had done and I told her this is Sicily and you never know who owns that car.
