stop offs between Sicily & Rome
 

My wife wants to visit Sicily & Rome but does not like flying at all. She is prepared to fly from Liverpool there & back but not Sicily to Rome.
I am therefore planning to arrive in Sicily at Trapani airport & then work my way up to Rome. We will have less luggage at the start so around Sicily we will spend a week of 2 – 3 nights stops on an either NE or SE route around Sicily to Messina.
Here is where I need help. From Messina the train will take too long to reach Rome so I want to break up the trip. Salermo, Sorrento or Naples will be the last stop so I need 2 other stops in between. Nowhere seems to stand out in particular in Calabria so can anyone recommend 2 places to stop over. A town/port with shops, more than 1 restaurant, not modern looking and pleasant to walk around with some history is all we want to relax before moving on. I would consider driving to Naples if there was anywhere special that is not on the train route as traffic will be less hectic in this area.

Another option would be the overnight ferries with cabins between Sicily/Naples and Sicily/Civitavecchia (Rome's port). Other ferries that aren't overnight operate between Sicily and the Aeolian Islands where you could stop for a day or two before taking a ferry onto Naples.

Looking into the Aeolian islands I am very interested but note that the boats can be cancelled due to rough weather. Any cancellation would put back our schedule but worse is the 5 hours on a boat to Naples when I would be sure to be seasick ordrugged up from anti seasick tablets.
I will investigate the land route further before commiting to a sea trip. I note there is another query running on this route & will watch responses to that if there is no advice on mine.

Your question confuses me. Unless I'm mistaken, it takes about 5 hours to get from Messina to Salerno. If you want to stop there for the night -- or more -- you can visit Capri and Positano by ferry, or Pompeii by train, or take a bus up the Amalfi coast.

Am I missing something? Am I wrong about the length of the train ride?

We stayed in Tropea for a night on our way from Sicily to Tuscany. It was a very nice beach town - we relaxed, walked around, can't remember distinct historic sights but it was a good stop for us.

hi john,

i have no desire to stop you taking the slow way from Sicily to rome. but I'm a bit confused when you say that the train takes too long - according to trenitalia it takes between 7 and 9 hours depending on which train you take.

there is a direct one taking 7.75 hours which leaves at 10.50am, costing €48 2nd class. I put in 17th Feb as the date as I didn't know when you are travelling].

this is a lot cheaper than stopping off on the way and will take less than a day.

regards, ann

PS << I would consider driving to Naples if there was anywhere special that is not on the train route as traffic will be less hectic in this area. >>

I don't think so, chuck.

4 hours on a train is about the limit for us. That is why we want to break up the trip to Rome.
We will spend about a week in Sicily & a week in Rome with a few days allowed for travelling in between.
Just watched Jamie Oliver last night who travelled from Sicily in his camper van & some of the towns squeezed into the hillside where he stopped looked fantastic.