Stay in Capri area or go to Palermo
 

Hi, we will be travelling to Italy at the End of September, 2008.

We will be using EURAIL as main transportation between cities and after being in Napole, Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii we should be heading to Palermo.

By train, we need to go back to Rome and then have a 11 hours trip to Palermo.

We were wondering if:

- Should we fly to Palermo from Rome?
- Should we stay in the "Capri area" and enjoy 2 more days?

What would you do?
Thanks!
Pol & Paty

I have no idea as to how to answer your question with out knowing more about your proposed itinerary and what you like to do when you travel. I hope you know that Capri is an island and Palermo is in Sicily.

More information is definitely needed. Do you mean you would be going to Palermo for only two days? That's a very long way to go for such a short time, certainly not worth it. Where are you flying out of? How many days do you have in each place?

Yes, we do know where both Palermo and Capri are, and we do know that Capri is an Island :P..

Our question is more about time.. if it is really worth the long way to Palermo.. or if there is more to see close to Capri, Sorrento, Napoles, etc..

And if Palermo it is really worth it, should we take an airplane to have more time to see it?


We have no special interest.. just little time..

Thanks :)

You still haven't told us how long you have in each location, which makes it difficult to recommend whether you have time to go all the way to Palermo.

hmm.. let's see..

We said that we will visit Naples, Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii.. and we have 2-3 days either to go to Palermo or to explore better the region...

You mentioned that if I have 2 days, it is not worth going to Palermo.. so what would you do around the area? Anywhere else worth to visit.. some secret place.. some little charming town on the way back to home.. don't know.. nothing specific.. just throw ideas if you have.. Any thing is help :)

We just started today to plan our trip and we are totatlly open to listen to experiences.. and suggestions..
Thx again...

No Polpaty, you will not be using EURAIL as main transportation between the various cities. EURAIL is an agency where you can buy a train pass to travel in Europe for a certain amount of days within a certain amount of time.

For train travel in Italy you will no doubt save money by checking out the Italian train website which is:

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

People here are trying to assist you but either English is not your first language or you are playing games as you are not answering questions from those Fodorite's that are trying to help you plan your trip. I suggest that you either get a Travel book regarding Italy, go to the Desinations here on Fodor's or give more information so that Fodorite's can assist you. Personally I find your original post and following answers to confusing to try to figure out what you are attempting to communicate.

You could take an overnight ferry from Naples to Palermo, but I don't really think you have enough time for Sicily. You don't have to go back to Rome to catch a train to Sicily.

If the Amalfi Coast is not already part of your plan, rather than a long trip to Palermo, why not visit Positano, Amalfi, Paestum, etc.?

wow.. "LoveItaly" I think that was rude of you. I am not playing games..

Sure English is not my first language.. but I think I can handle it very well..

If you can't help with the info that I gave, no problem.. but I don't have the answers to the your questions..
As I said, I am just planning and totally opened to suggestions (thanks "kybourbon" and "Sassafrass" - those are the answers that we are looking for).

We don't have a fixed schedule so far.. we're browsing the opportunities and then will make a decision. But that is another phase...

For now, I just realized that maybe it is not worth going all the way down to Sicilia.. and explore Amalfi Coast.. Sounds like a great tip. We will research.. :)

We will buy EURAIL pass.. for 3 countries.. and we checked the timetable and they do not have other option to go to Palermo other than leaving from ROME. Or maybe I don't know how it works.

(That would be another tip that we are looking for)

Thanks to all :).. and stay cool :P

According to www.bahn.de, there is a train tonight with couchettes and sleepers, leaving Napoli Centrale at 2210 and getting to Palermo Centrale at 0810.
There are two ships every night from Napoli to Palermo, one run by Tirrenia and one by SNAV (www.tirrenia.it and www.snav.it).

Usually a Eurail pass is not the cheapest choice. Train travel in Italy in particular is inexpensive. And elsewhere in Europe you can get cheap fares by booking ahead. Plus there's a burgeoning number of budget airlines.

But we don't know where else you're traveling in Europe and for how long.

The entire discussion is moot. You do not have time for Palermo---stay on the coast and enjoy. BTW, if you did go to Sicily I would fly from Naples to Palermo, but wait until you have more time.

You do have time to go to Palermo if you take an overnight ship or AirOne has Flights from Naples to Palermo.

www.tirrenia.it is a better shipping line than SNAV. Hopefully SNAV will get their new ships soon. It leave in the evening and arrives early in the morning. We prefer ships to flying. Trains are brutal. On a ship you have your own room with private bath.

You can even take TTT Lines to Catania after you visit the market take the train to other villages on the way to Palermo. Then leave on a ship from Palermo to either Naples or Rome overnight again.

It's like spending a night in a hotel and waking up right inside another city. Just remember to have a taxi waiting for you when you arrive in Palermo or Catania. They don't usually hang around when ferries come in.

Great! I loved the tips and definitely you gave the answers that I was looking for.

Now I will
- Search more about Amalfi Coast
- If we decide to go to Palermo, we will definitely go on a boat :)

About the other countries...
We will stay a few days with friends in Paris (been there already).. then see another friend in Luxemburg and maybe a day trip to Brugge, from Paris.

For Italy, we are saving 10 days.. but it is not first time either. Been to Rome and Venice before.

See you all around.

Thanks for helping :)