We are still debating whether to go to Sicily <BR>(my children saw a video of the Cappuchin crypt in Palermo...) I thought Taormina sounded beautiful...is it easy to rent a car? Could anyone who has been there give me their feelings about Sicily in general? <BR>Thanks <BR>Jane

We were in Sicily in September of 1996. We had rented a car at the Rome airport (Fiumicino) and drove down the coast to Sicily. Our stops included Cefalu (with a trip out to Lipari), Isnello, Palermo, Selinunte, Erice, Agrigento and finally Taormina. We love Sicily and all the above spots are worth a visit. We used Frommer's Touring Guide to Sicily as our main reference.

We were in Sicily in '94 and loved. Sicily has a very "untamed" feeling that the rest of Italy, except perhaps Puglia, has - by this I mean so much Greek antiquity with that blowing wind - it's haunting. We loved it. <BR> <BR>Landed in Palermo - stayed there 2 days - one in the city and the next, we rented a car and drove to Monreale (with a stop at the Cappuchin crypt - which was really something!. <BR> <BR>Drove South to Agrigento for a night - where there are fabulous greek temples. On to Siracusa where there is also fabulous Greek/Roman antiquity (a bit more to see in Siracusa than Agrigento). The up to Taormina for a few days. <BR> <BR>We went to the top of Mt. Aetna which was certainly a high point (no pun intended) of the trip! <BR> <BR>I love Sicily and would love to go back to explore the islands and west coast! <BR> <BR>Dona

Dona, Do you have any hotel suggestions for your stay in Sicily? Also, is 3 days too much in Palermo if we wanted to do a day trip to Erice and Trapani as well. Must we rent a car to go to Monreale? Any suggestions appreciated.

Spent a little over a week last June in Sicily and loved it. We took the train down from Rome, a nice trip, and stayed at Taormina for three nights --which we enjoyed even more than Positano or Portofino. Then took the train to Siracusa for a couple of nights. Had planned to take a train to Agrigento, but the man at the desk of the hotel told us there was no way we should do that --just too complicated and undependable, so we rented a car from Avis, delivered to our hotel the next morning and drove, turning it in at Agrigento the next day and taking a train to Palermo. Monreale is an easy bus trip (about a half hour) from Palermo. We spent a day by train and bus going to Trapani and Erice.It was pretty involved and took a lot of waiting for the bus. To do it over again, we would have planned an earlier start in the morning to Trapani, or rented a car for the day, but that drive up to Erice would be a little scarier than the Amalfi drive. Our only regret of the trip was not going up to Etna, we were just too busy in Taormina enjoying ourselves and doing a full day hike up to Castle Molla (?) a great little town perched on the mountain even higher than Taormina.