The South of Italy including Sicily
 

Hi everyone--

I am planning a trip for 3...we are all single and in our 30s--we do want to enjoy the nightlife but also the culture too. Instead of doing the whole Northern Italy schedule (which 2 of us have done), we have decided to do Southern Italy. We are flying into Rome for 3 days (we also have 4 friends there at the same time...doing Northern Italy), then traveling to Naples and further south to eventually end up in Sicily. We would love to do 2 days in a beach town....and none of us know much about Sicily. Would the Amalfi Coast or further South in Italy be best for a beach days or are there great beaches in Sicily that someone can recommend? We plan on spending 4-5 days in Sicily.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks so much!!!

When? Makes a difference on beach days.

I just want to warn you that a lot of people will tell you that you can't "do" Sicily without two weeks or one week or whatever. Truth is, you can't "do" Sicily in anything less than 14 weeks -- just like I doubt you did the "whole" Northern Italy -- so try taking a different approach.

In addition to when, you should also specifiy what you mean by a great beach. Not only is the Amalfi all pebbles and rocks, it is also a lot of middle-aged and affluent older people in addition to honeymooners. In general, Italy has little "nightlife" outside its trendy-minded cities (Milano, Torino and Napoli). Along the coast in the peak of summer, you will find some outdoor dancing on the beaches with cover bands and record DJs. Don't spend a lot of money to get there!

You might be better off taking a ferry out of Naples and heading directly to Sicily. You might have fun going to Sicily's islands as part of the mix -- especially within looking distance of the volcano Stromboli -- for something completely different.

But when are you going?

Go to Sicily. Good beach towns you will like are Cefalu, and Letojanni. You can kayak a papyrus river - the Ciane and Anapo. The Aeolian Islands are fantastic. Lipari is a great town. Take a day and climb Stromboli. For some city life, Palermo.
Lipari has so much night life in August, you might want to avoid it. Research Sicily. There is a bit of just about everything there.

There are several Sicily TRs on this site that may help you. Mine is http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ing-sicily.cfm and it links to my TR on Capri and the Amalfi Coast.

I'm not a beach person, but there is a beach at Cefalu, and I believe also one below Taormina, plus there are good beaches in the Zingaro National Park, although you have to walk in.

With just a few days in Sicily you may need to decide between the east and west sides. Tough! My favorite places were Ortigia in the east and Erice in the west.

In addition to the islands and Cefalu, Oliveri is a great beach town and Menfi is also a great beach town. Oliveri is near Messina and you can day trip to too many areas to mention. Menfi is directly south of Palermo on the southern coast. Again, you can day trip to a lot of areas there, too.

You can take quite a few different overnight ferry from Naples. It depends which port you want to go into. We personally prefer the ferry because it adds a mini cruise to our itinerary and you get on the ship in the evening and the next morning when you wake up, you're there. The evening and am views are incredible.

When and how long?

If you are near beautiful Siracusa, nice beaches are Arenella and Fontane Bianche. Arenella has sand, to rocks, to cliffs, to caves. Very interesting.

An easy bus ride from Palermo is Mondello. We were there in March several years ago and kids were playing volleyball on the beach. Check on-line for places but it looked like a summer town to us. Has cool bathhouse.

Here's a site with some good photos of Mondello FYI:

http://realtravel.com/lp-545939-2534...os#browser_top

Thanks everyone for your responses! We are going to be in Sicily the first week of September. I realize that we are not spending a lot of time in Sicily, but we just felt that even spending a few days in Sicily is better than not going at all.

ros

I'm glad that you said early September. I've been waiting to see when your trip was. Any of these good suggestion will be worth your time in early September.

I've seen too many posters here ask about Italy beaches as though Italy had a tropical climate. It doesn't, for the most part, but you have made a good decision for your time of year, if you want a little beach time.

Siracusa is one of the most stunning small cities in Southern Europe and certainly one of the most civilised places on Sicily. There are many good restaurants and an increasing number of small boutique hotels. The nightlife isn't great and is based mainly round the restaurants.

There are no good beaches close to the city. But again it is a question of how you define a good beach. There are a few scruffy resorts within half an hour of Siracusa but the beach at the nature reserve in Vendicari has Flamingos and is very unspoilt, sandy and beautiful.

Taormina is very busy and will have the best nightlife on the east coast. However, the beach here again is not great.

The south if Italy is very different to the north. I think the key phrase is plan carefully is it is a place of extremes.

The weather in early September should still be beach friendly even if you are from Florida!

The good thing about going to Sicily in the beginning of September is that all the vacationers are gone but the hotels are still open for a few weeks. We weren't looking for beaches but when we went twice at the beginning of October the beach hotels were closed.

Good for you. I would concentrate on the Eastern half of the island---Taomina, Siracusa, and maybe Cefalu for the beach.
Here are some pics to get you excited:

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

We stopped off at Tropea on our drive up from Sicily to Campania - it was wonderful and we're dying to go back! The original plan was to stop in Maratea too...but the weather didn't cooperate.

We've booked a week in Cefalu September 12th to 19th. Shouldn't we expect nice weather then? I know that Europe is not tropical but does the weather change quickly in the fall in Sicily?

Lily: You're getting into the "could be hot, could be chilly" time of the year. It definitely won't be cold. You chances are best that it will be warm.