I am trying to choose between Sicily and Malta (and maybe Capri and Sardinia) for a 6-day trip in mid-April. I am primarily looking for a relaxed island setting. I will be leaving from and returning back to Rome and I prefer a short flight/ferry ride. My other considerations are:

1. Natural beauty/spectacular scenery. I am an avid photographer and I am looking to fill up my camera's memory card.
2. Many options for side trips. I like exploring small villages and towns with lots of charm.
3. Transportation. I will not be renting a car so I would need a permanent base for the full 6 days (or 2 base towns for 3 days each) from which I could take public transportation (trains/busses) or hire a driver to reach my side trip destinations.
4. Good hotel options. I usually stay in 4-5* hotels/resorts. I am not a backpacker. But I could certainly go for a BB-type place to overnight on an occasional side trip.
5. Uniqueness of the place. Kinda hard to reach, not a tourist mecca.
6. Truly relaxing place. Even on days when you do nothing and choose to stay around the hotel, you don't feel like you are wasting time.
7. Nightlife. Yet, As a single 30-year old male, I wouldn't mind checking out some local bars/clubs in close proximity to my "base", especially since I will be staying through the weekend.

Has anyone been to Malta, Sicily or both? What were your impressions? How would you compare the two? If I go to Sicily or Malta, what would you recommend to be my "base" and what are the good hotel options there?

Are there other island destinations a short flight easily reachable from Rome that I may be overlooking? So what about Capri or Sardinia? I would appreciate any feedback.

I've been to Malta once and to Sicily twice, and frankly, I could not suggest anything that would satisfy all your requirements.

For one thing, four- and five-star hotels are rarely to be found in hard-to-reach places that are not visited by tourists. For another, if you do find a four- or five-star hotel in the countryside (they do exist in Sicily but are generally listed as agriturismi and not as hotels), you will not find night life in close proximity nor will you be able to reach them without a car.

I've been to Sicily & Sardinia. Sardinia had the most spectacular natural scenery that I have seen thus far in my travels. I took many spectacular pictures there.

There are many options for side trips. I can't speak to the public transport piece, but the poster GAC certainly can. Search "GAC Sardinia" and you should pull up a lot of info. I had a rental car, and imagine that the island may not be so easy to explore without one, but I could be wrong.

I'm thinking April may be difficult in terms of finding open hotels on the island, although they may open after Easter. Sardinia has TONS of 4 & 5 star hotels/resorts.

In mid-April Sardinia will be relaxing. It is mainly in the beach season that it seems to be crazy busy. Nightlife on the island seemed to be concentrated (in the summer anyway) in the built-up resort towns of the Costa Smeralda. Off-season, Cagliari would probably have some nightlife.

Without a car, I would imagine Cagliari and Alghero are your best bases. Alghero is touristy, but still charming.

If you had a car, I would highly recommend the hotel http://www.roccesarde.it/en/
in San Pantoleo. It is in the vicinity of the Costa Smeralda, but situated up a mountain a bit. The area had a lot of charm and character. The grounds of the hotel were amazing.

Check out my trip report here at
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34526714

or on Slowtalk with pictures:

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/TripReport.asp?tripid=555

I've re-read your post twice checking it for all the things you list.
Yes! The answer is Malta!
Since you like 4 to 5 star hotels, stay at the beautiful LeMeridien Phoenicia Hotel at the entrance to Valetta, the old town. The hotel is about a minute's walk from the main bus "terminal" where all the busses come together and disperse to all parts of the main island. So public transportation is colorful (the busses are really unique antiques), cheap, and easy.
You can walk into Valetta, the main city for entertainment or restaurants. Or take a fairly short bus ride to St. Julian's the real nightlife center of the island. There are two more islands to visit while there, one not much more than a couple of grottos you can visit by boat, the other (Gozo) has some of the most amazing ruins you've ever seen.
Take tons of film. It is a photographer's dream especially for the architecture in all the little villages. Surely there will be a patron saint celebration in one of them while you're there which will be a bonus.
Going from Rome, I'd suggest flying.

A few words about Sicily- I felt like it was more site oriented (ruins) as opposed to natural scenery. There IS plenty of natural scenery, and at that time of year there will probably be wildflowers in bloom.

Palermo & Taormina would be your bases there without a car.

For a bit more on Malta, check out http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34569518 and a few (very non-professional) pictures at http://community.webshots.com/user/missalg

Thank you for your responses. Malta would certainly fit the bill but for various reasons I had to excluded it from my choices. I am afraid that Sardinia, while undeniably a scenic place, is quite large an island and is more adept to being explored by car. So I am now choosing between Sicily (which is certainly large but seems to have good public transportation and plenty of historic sites) and Capri/Positano (2/3 day split) with side trips to Pompeii, Amalfi and Procida. Right now I am leaning towards Capri since I have never been south of Rome, and the Capri/Amalfi coast area is compact and can be easily explored without a car. I will probably have to give up on nightlife (not sure I would be too excited about venturing out to Napoli at night) but otherwise it seems like a pretty good choice? I may also be slightly annoyed by the honeymooning couples and families with children but then again April is not a high season for travel so I guess I'll be OK.

Hello, PBT:

Capri/Positano is lovely, but I don't quite see how it fits your criterion of »Uniqueness of the place. Kinda hard to reach, not a tourist mecca«...