Sicily - Itineraries?
 

Hi everybody,

As posted before my kids and I will be traveling Sicily from June 21st to July 14th.
I would like to know who would be in the Island that time and share itineraries to see who may be around. We arrive to Catania and I'm still debating on staying in Ortigia or Taormina for the first 3 days.

I'm also still debating on driving in Sicily as I'm orginally from Chile driving with stick isn't an issue, but the hill roads scare me!

Pookymimi we will be home by the time you arrive.

I guess it depends where you are planning to go, but I don't remember any of the roads being scary, except the one going up to Erice, but that was because the gps we had was out of date and took us up the old road, which is no doubt closed by now, it was that bad.
When we came down, we took the proper road which was no problem.

It is very helpful to link separate postings, or -- of your post's title allows -- to continue with just a single posting. I'll help you out by linking your threads. Here's the earlier thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-many-days.cfm

"debating on staying in Ortigia or Taormina for the first 3 days"

Taormina affords stunning views -- and can be so crammed with daytrippers that you can't even walk, during the day, without being quite literally shoulder-to-shoulder with masses of others.

I loved Ortygia. No ifs, ands, or buts -- except to say that I was there in 2007.

"debating on driving in Sicily"

I only use a rental car when I must do so to see what I want to see / do -- I like to be able to actually see the scenery, which drivers can't necessarily do!

That said, driving in Sicily can have both positive and negative moments. As I noted on previous threads on this question, many roads are easy and well-banked. But many drivers are breathtakingly frightening.

I had no worries about driving with a stick -- and was incredibly grateful that I could use it to better control the car in the face of so many reckless drivers! JMO.

Good luck!

I've been reading lots about Taormina and Ortigia and at this moment I have reservations in both places for those first 3 nights. I'm going to jump to the next reservation that I'm still unsure where to go after either. As mentioned to me in the other thread the cruises arrive to Taormina 21-23 so I was thinking maybe Ortigia first then Taormina, but I wonder if the crowds in the weekend will be the same than the ones from those cruises days.

Agree with not driving and missing the scenery, as I don't know logistics yet, not sure if we will be taking trains as we usually do in the mainland. I've been in Italy twice and I know it somewhat well down to Naples, but Sicily to me is like a new country, don't know how to start yet.

" don't know how to start yet."

As already noted -- by consulting guidebooks, trip reports, trip planning threads, rome2rio for transportation, booking.com for lodging...

IMO, you can't plan your time in ONE stop until you plan your ITINERARY. JMO.

Good luck1

Taormina is really busy during the day with tours, and it starts early like around 9 am.
If you are planning something else during the day, beach time or day trips, then you can enjoy Taormina at night when it is more peaceful. We have never been there in June though, so can't say if it's more crowded then.

A car is of no use in Taormina, unless you are planning day trips, but even then there are other options.
In Ortigia too, you will be parking your car in the public lot.

There are several TR's here including kja above, of ones who have toured the island by public transit.

We are renting a car again, but it's what we do. I navigate, my hubby drives, we get along fine. We like to day trip and explore the countryside. The highways are easy to drive, just going into the towns can be a bit hairy, because most have a historical center with narrow streets, not much parking, etc.

In Palermo, though, the traffic is rather terrifying, so if you drive, drop your car when you arrive. We arrived in Palermo and picked up the car on the way out.

Again, whatever your itinerary is will have an effect on whether you would want to drive or take transit.
Maybe a combo of train, bus and car rental would suit you, for example, take transit to Taormina, and or Ortigia, pick up a car when you are ready to leave the town.

@ pookymimi -- sundriedtopepo is giving you some great info!

@ sundriedtopepo -- thank you for what I take to be an acknowledgement of my contributions over the years to those who plan to visit Sicily! That said, aside from my rather pathetic thread on the restaurants I patronized during my 2007 trip, I didn't write a trip report. :-( Nor did I visit Sicily solely by public transportation:, although there are trip reports on this board by several who did.

BUT I did use public transportation for all but a few days of my time on the island. :-) Specifically, I used a rental car for 3 days:

- I picked the car up about noon when I left Palermo, stopping at Segesta and Selununte before reaching Agrigento in time for a bit of a rest before dinner.

- I visited the ruins of, and museum at, Agrigento before heading to Enna, where I had time to explore a bit before dinner.

- I visited the magnificent Villa Romana del Casala and then went to Castelgirone, where I had sufficient time to see the things I wanted to see (but not the ceramics museum) before dinner.

- And then I drove on to Siracusa, returning the car just outside of Ortygia and well before my noon deadline.

I found driving in Sicily a challenge -- some roads were excellent, others, not so much. And some drivers were absolutely nuts, IMO! Here's a recent thread on the issue:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...icily-help.cfm

Hope that helps!

As long as you avoid city centres (Palermo, Catania, Taormina, Trapani), driving conditions are not so bad. Just think about the freedom it gives you to come and go wherever you want. Public transportation in some parts of the island isn't very well organised (to say the least).

Myriam agree.
I don't know how expensive renting is, but for the looks of the prices online, car rental may be out of my budget :(

Bookmarking

Pookymimi I just looked at Auto Europe and if you book before end of March, they have a special rate.
Just for example, from June 20-30 a midsize alfaromeo Giulietta is $US 324 inc insurance, and that's a Europcar rental. Pickup in Siracusa drop off Palermo

Just go to the Auto Europe website.

Sundried.. great info. I will look into it.