johngerard

We had picked what looked like a great apartment in Trapani, with photos from the balconies & terrace that are fabulous. I checked out the photos on Tripadvisor & they were the same. Before going ahead with the booking I went into street view on google maps. The town looks so diferent. The streets are drab, apartment blocks everywhere & had a desolate look. The trees were bare so maybe it was winter but I could not find any restaurants with table & chairs outside and very few shops looked open although I spotted some stalls near the harbour.
So, what are we to do. Ryanair flights arrive Tuesday afternoon & Friday night. I was hoping to arrive Friday but with it being so late there does not appear to be anywhere close enough that could be used as a base for us for a week that we would look forward to returning to each night.
I am now looking for somewhere further afield which means arriving on Tuesday or reversing our trip to start in Rome & then finish in Sicily.
Can anyone confirm if the street view on google of Trapani is really indicative of what the town is like. If we don’t go to Trapani I will start looking further south – Villaseta, Agrigento is currently looking a better option but would mean a Tuesday arrival.
Any advice would be welcome.

tarquin

We don't know where you are travelling from, but there are cheap flights into Catania on the eastern coast as well, which is convenient for Siracusa, a lovely place with good B&Bs etc. Palermo is well worth a few days, but not so feelgood.

Zerlina

I agree: Catania (for Siracusa and the Baroque Val di Noto) and Palermo (for Palermo, Monreale and even Agrigento) offer more interesting possibilities.

johngerard

Ryanair flight for 4 starts at £140 up to last night, Thomsons - Manchester to Catania wanted £1800 one way. Any other airline is from London.

Pvoyageuse

I didn't find Trapani drab at all. The center of the old town is very pretty and there are lots of shops. It certainly not a big city nor very touristy but it is a very good base to visit the western part of Sicily. You can easily visit Erice, Segeste, Marsala and the salt plans, Mozia and the Egadi islands, Selinunte, Agrigento and the Zingaro Reserve. Even if you don't have a car, public transport is well organized.

GAC

The historic center (old town) of Trapani is interesting and full of character, and is slowly improving as tourism picks up, but some of the outskirts are indeed very, very drab. It all depends where your apartment is located.

stepsbeyond

One thing you don't want to do is give up an apartment in Trapani for one in Catania. If you fly into Catania, stay elsewhere. (And not Agrigento). You might enjoy Sircusa/Ortygia.

What time of year are you going?

Why don't you post the address of the apartment and links to pictures?

bon_voyage

Lot of good advice here. You might also check the Tripadvisor site.

johngerard

I haven't ruled out Trapani yet but am investigating Sciacca as an alternative. This would result in a Tuesday arrival as flights arrive midday then.
Problems so far are in finding apartments with washing machines, within walking distance of the towns, not too far to travel from airport - travel sickness - & checking against tripadvisor photos & street view on google maps. Again google map streetview seems to have been done in winter.

johngerard

Trapani rental was with www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/trapani/88015
We will be going end of July. Have had trouble with launderettes in Italy last year so will do our own. Kids get car sick within half an hour but can last 4 hours at a push.

stepsbeyond

I can see why you find that apartment so appealing. Since I've never been in Trapani, there's not much else I can say except that Sicily by and large has one of the sorriest public-upkeep cultures in all of Italy. Almost everywhere you go everything looks like it is crumbling or needs a paint job except in some of the more boutique-d for tourism towns. Adding to the general gloom (especially near the towns around Etna), is the use of soot-colored volcanic stone in building construction, and then a lot of over-development people blame on the Mafia.

But that doesn't really address your specifics. It only offers some perspective. I quite loved the places I went to in Sicily despite the problems I described. The driving is intense, so don't swap a less favorable base in that sense for a prettier sidewalk.

johngerard

Wife & daughter want to visit Palermo so we have 2 nights in Trapani apartment as detailed above. Arrival is Friday night.
We then move to Taormina - Letojani - for 4 nights. I have Savoca for the Godfather location to visit plus the town of Taormina on my list & I might squeeze in Etna.
Naples for 3 nights for shopping & Pompei and then on to Rome.
I will hire a car for Sicily but intend to get train or bus to Palermo. Drop hire car at Messina, ferry & then train to Naples. I had intended driving to Naples but hire car costs are cheaper if car remains in Sicily.

stepsbeyond

I'm not sure why you are choosing Trapani as a base to visit Palermo if you are willing to stay in Napoli. The usual reason for avoiding Palermo is chaos, buzz, dirt, etc. If you can handle Napoli, why not escape the car sickness problem by staying right in Palermo? If that sounds daunting, how about Mondello? Mondello is the beachy-suburb of Palermo that has a dedicated tram ride into Palermo. (Don't confuse it with Monreale, where there are spectacular mosaics, worth visiting but I don't know if a bus ride their would upset your kids stomachs. I would worry.)

I hope to someday visit Savoca. I hope you will return to post about your experience of it.

markrosy

Stepsbeyond

That seems to some up our experience of Sicily - a few jewels spread around what is essentially a depressing reflection of what happens when social control mechanisms breakdown.

Savoca and Taormina are very touristy and very down market when compared to many Italian destinations. Pienza this ain't.

However, Siracusa is one of the best small cities in Europe with stunning architecture and good food. Strange really as it is one of the few areas that organised crime never get a foothold.

Anyone considering Catania as a base needs to research very carefully some of it is not of Europe more like Sao Paolo