Since we can't do searches I was wondering what people thought of Sicily as a destination. I would like a moderately priced hotel on a beautiful beach, any ideas? Is there enough to do to spend 7 days? I want to plan a relaxing vacation (not hopping place to place) for June 2003. Please post any thoughts!!

Sicily as a destination is fantastic. I'm not sure that Sicily will give you want you want if you are looking for a beach getaway for seven days, but certainly if you are interested in combining a couple of beach days with some historical towns and natural beauty you will probably enjoy Sicily. (Incidentally, it is said that some of the best beaches in Italy are on the Adriatic coast in the region of Puglia and also on the island of Ischia. While Sicily certainly does have plenty of beach space, it would probably be fourth or fifth on a list of Italian beach getaways.)<BR><BR>If this is your first trip, you might try basing yourself in one area for three days and another for the remaining four days (depending of course on whether you have 7 full days in Sicily). This means changing hotels only once. Three days in the environs of Palermo (perhaps the beach resort of Mondello, just several kilometers from the city, might be a place to start). From Mondello, you can always spend a day on the beach, a day in the city, and a day at Cefalu--a seaside town just about 45 minutes from Palermo. In this way, you keep Palermo/Mondello as your base for the first three days.<BR><BR>For the remaining four days, you could move your base to Taormina in the east. Some hotels have private beaches (although you need to take a tram down the cliff to reach them) so you could again satisfy your urge for a beach vacation while still being close enough to the town of Taormina to experience its charms. Day trips are also available to Giardini Naxos and Siracusa, depending again on interests and whether you will be driving or relying on other types of transportation.<BR><BR>Enjoy Sicily--it is a phenomenal location!<BR><BR>M

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Search on Sicily, I wrote a long list of suggestions for someone last week. I love Sicily, my favorite part of Italy and I've been everywhere. <BR><BR>Cheers, <BR><BR>Beth

Hopefully the search function will come back soon!!<BR>Thanks Beth, I look forward to reading it.

Stay in Taormina it's a beautiful place with great people watching and a really nice beach ( Giardini Naxos ) within a ten minute ride by bus. Stay at the Villa Fiorita, a great place to stay with excellent rates. <BR>Say hi to Dona Greta she's a great lady who works there.

<BR>I'm planning a similar trip to Sicily and Beth happened to have graciously replied to one of my many info requests.<BR><BR>Here's what she has to about hotels. Thanks, Beth!<BR><BR>Author: beth ([email protected])<BR>Date: 09/06/2002, 12:26 pm<BR> <BR>Message: Here are the three hotels I would highly, highly recommend!! <BR> <BR>This is my all time favorite hotel! When I was here, I decided to to go here on my hooneymoon since it is so romantic http://www.italyby.com/villaducale/pages/profile.htm<BR> <BR>This is a grand old hotel in Syracusa. Very nice with a great location on the old island. Good price for such a nice place. <BR><BR>http://www.grandhotelsr.it/<BR> <BR>Go to this hotel for the view. It looks out on the a 3000 year old grrek temple that is lit up at night. You need to reserve well in adavance to get a room with a view. This area has 12 Greek Temples and it's a national park and this is the hotel within the park. The other parts of the hotel are just OK, but that view is amazing. <BR> <BR>http://www.jpmoser.com/villa%20athena.html (This is a booking service, but I would work with the hotel directly)<BR> <BR>Have fun!

We were in Sicily last October, ideal conditions for sight seeing. If you like fast & furious, go to Palermo (there are literally thousands of scooters in the main stretch and they drive like maniacs!) but its a fun city. We didn't particularly like Taormina, too commercialised. Although the sights from the hilltop are lovely, simply too many people. I would recommend staying in the south if you want beauty and serenity. And don't forget to try spaghetti norma, gorgeous! Still haven't lost the weight!

Good morning, Are the beaches at Giardini Naxos, sand or pebble. Recall<BR>the ones at the bottom of the funiculare<BR>at Taormina were pebble???<BR>Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..<BR>PS think Mondello and Cefalu are very good choices, recall some area north of<BR>Siracusa also had some nice sand beaches..rjv<BR>