would like to travel with multi generational family, 9 [or more] folks,to sicily for 10-14 days. woudl like to stay in the northeast and travel by car or bus, possibly chauffered, to various locations. we will visit my grandparents birth towns of Bronte, geraci siculo, and agrigento. we may visit the aeolian isles. do you have any suggestion? we may like to rent a villa. we need to limit the expense. can we keep this under 10.000 usd?

Hi, <BR>Try this website. <BR>www.son.it <BR>Riccardo has been great to deal with. He lives in Palermo and has a travel agency there. I used him for my reservations and was very helpful. <BR> <BR>Also take a look at this website. I have never used them, so can't give you first hand knowledge. <BR>web.tin.it/cst/escursio99t.htm#top <BR>

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<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>I don't think you can easily travel by bus from <BR>the northeast to the other two areas you want to <BR>visit, or at least not for daytrips. I was told <BR>that once you're there, it is fairly easy to find <BR>local people who will drive you around for a fee, <BR>but I didn't try it myself. (I can tell you that <BR>it's not easy to find out about these things in <BR>advance from USA.) I discovered that it is not <BR>easy to schedule visits to tiny towns by bus. <BR>For example, I wanted to visit a little town in <BR>the Nebrodi Mts. about an hour inland by good <BR>road from Capo D'Orlando. There was a bus TO the <BR>town in the a.m., but no bus BACK the same day; <BR>the bus back was only in the a.m. as well. So <BR>having a car and driver may be necessary, unless <BR>you stay a few days in EACH of your three towns, <BR>which may really be very enjoyable. <BR> <BR>I don't know too much about public <BR>transportation, but I think depending where in <BR>the NE you stay, you can easily get to Cefalu by <BR>train, and there's probably a bus to Geraci <BR>Siculo from there (probably more than one a day, <BR>since that's a bigger town than the one I <BR>visited). (I don't know anything about bus route <BR>running north/south to Agrigento, but I know <BR>there are routes running AROUND Sicily, but that <BR>would be a really long way to go to Agrigento <BR>area.) <BR> <BR>Re: accommodations that are not too expensive -- <BR>Try agriturismo places. You can search in <BR>www.google.com by putting in the word agriturismo <BR>plus the name of your town (put the name in <BR>quotation marks if the name as more than one word <BR>like Geraci Siculo). You will probably find some <BR>agriturismo places. I stayed in one on the <BR>outskirts of San Salvatore di Fitalia (near <BR>Nebrodi parklands, province of Messina) and found <BR>it an interesting experience. The owner may even <BR>provide driving/touring service for a fee (Mine <BR>did, but I didn't happen to take advantage of <BR>it.) Also, I think Bronte may be in the Nebrodi <BR>Park. There are some good-looking glossy <BR>brochures about the Nebrodi and they include a <BR>list of accommodations in the park. You can <BR>request it by e-mail from the park's website. (If <BR>you can't find it, write to me; I have it <BR>bookmarked at home.) You might also write to the <BR>municipal offices of each of "your" towns and ask <BR>if there are hotels in town. If it's a small <BR>town, some nice person may answer. <BR> <BR>Re traveling with 9+ multigenerational family <BR>members: EEK!!! (but the Sicilians will probably <BR>love you for it). <BR> <BR>The Aeolian islands are beautiful. I stayed in <BR>Lipari, and visited only Salina and Vulcano. <BR>Vulcano smells vile because of the sulphur. I <BR>loved Salina, which is great for <BR>hiking/picnicking and refreshing your lungs with <BR>clean air. Lipari is good for all ages. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> Yellow Pages · more... <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>Privacy Policy- Terms of Service - Guidelines <BR>Copyright © 1994-2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. <BR>

Don't get exceted --didn't mean to "advertise" yahoo <BR> <BR>Fodors didn't work when I tried to post, so I e-mailed the above message, then later tried, successfully, to post the cut and pasted e-mail Forgot to delete Yahoo's parting shot.

thanks jo, and thanks carol for all the links you sent me. we also plan on visiting Giarre. we are actually considering goin in appril, though we havn't made a single connection yet! we're looking into the agriturismo and will probably hire a driver or two... <BR>wish us luck!

thanks again for all your help. we are now planning this trip for next spring. we are focussing on nebrodi or messina area for lodging, and probably hiring drivers on arrival for trips to giarre, g. siculo, and bronte. if you have anything further we are eager for more info! thanks.