linda828

I have to travel during the dates of 8/10-21. Traveling with 9 family members including 88 year old father. We were think of staying in 2 locations. Looking for guidance.I want to pick the right choices to make our trip as easy as possible. i.e. getting to beach and restaurants. Taormina & cefalu was suggested. My head is spinning form all the reviews on travel advisor. Cannot figure out how to do this trip easily and which hotels or towns to stay in. This is a once in a lifetime trip for my father. He can get around but has trouble w his knees. I have not been able to find a travel agent to help. Is 5 days in Taormina & 5 days in Cefalu a good plan? Is Taormina too touristy. We are from NY/NJ and would like nice accommodations.

kja

I'm sure you know that Sicily will be unpleasantly hot during August? If that's when you can travel, be prepared!

Sicily is, IMO, not well suited to just two bases, and for that matter, with the time you have for this trip, you might want to choose EITHER the eastern half OR the western half, as you can't see the highlights of both sides in that amount of time.

Taormina would NOT be my choice. Although it is beautiful, it can be so jammed with daytrippers as to be decidedly uncomfortable. (I was once caught up between people, lifted into the air by the pressure of their bodies, and was unable to get "free" for nearly a block. NOT an experience I would readily go through again.) Moreover, it is not a good base for seeing much of anything.

For the east of Sicily, I would definitely recommend Ortygia (part of Siracusa).

If you decide on the western part of Sicily, I'm a fan of Palermo -- I love its dynamic, energetic, vibrancy. But not everyone wants to be in a very lively, and somewhat gritty, city.

I think it would be a good idea to get a really good guidebook or two -- perhaps the Michelin Green Guide or Rough Guide -- and decide which half of the island you want to see and which of Sicily's treasures are your highest priorities.

Once you have a better sense of your priorities, I'm sure you will get a lot of great input from Fodorites.

thursdaysd

Are you locked into Sicily? Because I agree with kja that it sounds like a bad match.

First: Southern Italy (actually MOST) of Italy will be VERY hot in August. (That's why everything shuts down in the afternoon.)

Second: Sicily is not a good place for hub and day trip type vacations, and it is not really a good place for beach vacations. That's not why people go to Sicily. (The food is good, though.)

Third: It is not a good destination for someone with mobility issues. It's hilly, and the pavements aren't necessarily in good shape.

Personally, there is no way I would sign up for more than one night in Taormina, which will be mobbed with cruise ship passengers and is touristy at any time (although the Greek theater is worth seeing and the views are excellent.)

If you are locked into Sicily you might consider spending time on one of the Aeolian islands.

How are you planning to move all these people?

Forget Tripadvisor (I assume that is what you mean). It is useful for hotel reviews and sometimes restaurants if you know how to filter the information, but you will much better off with actual guidebooks as kja suggests.

michelhuebeli

Question: Hot hot superhot - can everybody in your large party stand it? If one or two wilt, the trip falls apart.

Question: You don't say why you go to Sicily, and what it is you want to do there?

Lots of people go to Sicily to see the Greek temple ruins - most importantly those in the vicinity of the hilltop city of Agrigento. There are other great remnants of the Greek occupation - like Segesta.

Lots of people go to Palermo for the museums (incl. the fabulous marionette museum) and the historic buildings. Some like Palermo with is gritty unkempt appearance, others consider it too much "third-world". A matter of taste and sense of adventure.

There are many other attractions of course, incl. food and wine, all around the island, and in the center (right now the volcano is having a word or two to say about that...).

Have you thought through the transportation question? If you rent two cars, will you have easy communication between drivers to stay in sync?

Please tell us more so that we may come up with useful suggestions?

linda828

We had good intentions but did not think this through. We wanted my soon to be 89 year old father to see Sicily( his family is from Prizzi). We thought August would be good and got locked into those dates as my nephew can not change his vacation dates.
I think my father would be happy with any area of Italy or Sicily. How can we salvage this? We have not booked anything at this point as our travel agent is having a somewhat hard time & I'm reluctant to just book something out of desperation.
I'd like this to be memorable trip for my father and family members. We would like some site seeing,shopping, beach, food & wine..To be in an area that is easy to get around.
Any advise is welcome.

kja

Just to be clear -- the only thing that is fixed is the dates? You don't have airline reservations yet? And you are open to visiting other parts of Italy?

janisj

I'm sorry but in August I would not take my 88/89 yo parents <u>anywhere</u> in Italy except maybe the Lakes in the far north. It will be horribly hot and many older folks cannot take that sort of weather -- especially for two whole weeks.

You say your nephew's dates are unchangeable -- what about the rest of the family? Not that you would want to, but this may be a case where the best thing is to change the time of year.

Or - if it must be August, travel to somewhere like Lake Como and/or the Alps.

linda828

@kja Yes the dates are firm. I am willing to visit other parts of Italy. I did not let the agent book the air with out a firm plan.

linda828

@kja My dad tolerates the heat well as he was a mason and worked every summer in the humidity of NJ. How do most people go about booking a trip in Sicily? Traveling from one area to another? Organized tours?

linda828

@kja I will look into Lake Como. Thank you fro the suggestion!

thursdaysd

For Sicily I combined a tour with public transport (click on my name for my TR). But with your group you might need a private tour.

I agree with janisj - Lake Como or Lake Maggiore (I think I prefer the latter), and the Dolomites - maybe Bolzano plus Castlerotto.

Dayle

Linda,

Ive had a few trips to Italy, including Sicily, but never during the summer. If I HAD to go in the summer, I would be going to the lakes and the Dolomiti. Gorgeous scenery.

Getting lodging for 9 people and getting around with a group that size will be a challenge. are you willing to drive? If not you will need to book a private driver or stay somewhere with excellent public trans.

The less you move around the easier this trip will be.

kja

I'm so glad you have some flexibility!

While janisj and thursdaysd deserve the credit ;-) , I agree with them -- and with Dayle -- that looking into your options for the Italian lakes or the Dolomites makes a lot of sense. I loved Lake Maggiore, although I visited it on the Swiss side; I haven't yet visited Lake Como or the Dolomites, but certainly not for lack of interest!

You have some wonderful options! I'd encourage you -- and your relatives -- to buy or consult some of the guidebooks with really high quality photographs at your local library or bookstores to get a sense of your options. Most guidebooks have a section on "when to go" and on historical climate data; be sure to check those sections! Then, once you have a better idea of the options that you and your family think might be of interest, get one (or better, more!) of the guidebooks that are a bit better suited to planning the logistics -- those that cover sites of potential interest in some detail, along with information about when they are open and how to get to them. You might want to check those details on-line before finalizing your plans, but a good guidebook or two should give you the basic outlines of what your family needs to know to make a workable plan. (And good guidebooks cover things you don't even know you need to ask!)


As for your question about booking trips to Sicily -- or, for that matter, anywhere else! -- it really depends on the traveler. For those of us who prefer to travel independently (rather than with a tour), the number of people involved really makes a difference. I'm a solo traveler, which is quite different than anything you will encounter in organizing this incredible opportunity for your family. And some places are easier to use as a base than Sicily -- places where there are more sites of interest within easy distance, whether by car or public transport. (Sicily has an incredible wealth of glorious sites, but they are too widely scattered to see easily from even a few bases. And even if your father tolerates heat well, I think he might find the heat in Sicily a bit different than the heat in NJ because of differences in how much it cools off at night, the directness of the sun, etc.)

As Dayle suggested, with a family of 9, transportation can be a bit tricky. Remember that you'll need to move not just people, but also their luggage.

If you go by public transportation, you might want to agree on places to meet up, rather than trying to all travel together, which can cause a lot of stress. (Or at least make sure everyone knows "the plan" and agree that you won't worry if separated.)

If you use rental cars, be sure to give yourselves a few days in the city in which you arrive to get over jet lag before trying to drive at all -- although many people don't realize it, driving with jet lag is just as dangerous, to oneself and others, as driving drunk, and there is nothing one can do to reduce the risk. If you decide to use rental cars, then once you've recovered, you'll probably want to rent several vehicles, not just to be able to manage the roads and cities and villages with manageably sized vehicles (large vehicles can be challenging, to say the least!), but also so that subgroups of you can come and go in ways that work for your group.

You have a variety of options for lodging, including everything from renting several rooms in the same or nearby hotels or renting vacation homes. You can get some ideas about your options on booking.com -- which can also be a good place to actually make your reservations, depending on what you end up deciding to do.

I think your father is very fortunate that you are willing to help make this dream come true for him, and am confident that you will be able to come up with a plan that works.

If you end up deciding on a location other than Sicily, please be sure to start a separate thread here on Fodor's, so that you get responses from those who have comments to offer.

Good luck!

michelhuebeli

Linda, if Prizzi is really really dear to the heart of your father, arrange the trip so that one or two of you go to Prizzi with your father and the others go elsewhere and you all catch up a few days later.

You all fly to wherever you'll end up staying together - plenty of good suggestions in post above.

Then your father and whoever accompanies him - fly to Palermo, take an air-conditioned car at the airport and drive to Prizzi. It's less than two hours.

Get back to Palermo, stay at a nice place near the airport, like for example a B+B we stayed at last year, www.kunesias.com/en/, and fly out the next day to catch up with everybody. Or stay another day - whatever you think works for your father, since this is all about him.

kja

@ michelhuebeli: Great idea! (Making sure no one drives on the day you arrive in Italy after a transatlantic flight -- so perhaps staying in / near Palermo for a night first. It is a fascinating city with much to offer!)

And Linda, if this suggestion makes sense to you, also consider stopping briefly in Monreale, just outside of Palermo -- the cathedral there (and its cloister) are extraordinary. Truly one of Sicily's MOST remarkable sites.

michelhuebeli

Sure, don't drive on the day of arrival, the lack of sleep and the fatigue from the trip speak against it. That's why I said "You all fly to wherever you'll end up staying together - plenty of good suggestions in post above." So you spend a night or two, then take your father to Palermo while the others in your party do their thing.

kja

@ michelhuebeli: I'm glad you agree, since your words, "fly to Palermo, take an air-conditioned car at the airport and drive to Prizzi," could easily have been read to suggest that you were saying to rent the car upon arrival. There are LOTS of ways to arrange a side trip safely, and again, I think your idea of making sure Linda's father gets to Prizzi, if that's his priority, is brilliant.

sundriedtopepo

If your father's family came from Sicily, then I don't think he is going to get the same connection from visiting the lakes, even though it would be cooler there.

There are definitely some nice beach areas around Sicily. Google best beaches of Sicily and you can get some ideas. Near Syracuse, Selinunte, and not too far from Palermo is Castellamare del Golfo, which is close to Segesta, and Trapani and Erice.

I believe that you could choose two bases and have a very nice time, but you would not be able to see everything that Sicily offers. On the other hand, you may not feel that seeing all 3 temple sites, for example, is absolutely necessary. Pick a couple of areas and then see the sites around those places.

I know some 89 year olds who are still very mobile, and others who are not so much, so the places you choose should depend somewhat on your dad's mobility.

Mimar

Also a group of 9 family members have differing interests and stamina. Staying in a city like Palermo or Siracusa/Ortygia gives lots of options. Be sure to get a central hotel. Maybe plan to meet up together for dinner after splitting up for the day.

If you pick Palermo and Siracusa as your 2 bases, you could fly into Palermo and out of Catania or vice versa. (Open jaws/multi-city tickets on airline web sites.)

As for moving from place to place, you could hire 3 cars or 1 car and a passenger van. You need to have room for bags as well as people. Do you have 3 people willing to drive? Can they drive manual transmission cars? (Automatics are rare and best found at airports.) Otherwise you may need to rent a small shuttle bus with driver.

You need a better travel agent, somebody who's familiar with group travel in Italy.

Marsh

Travel insurance for those of you traveling would be a good investment, in my opinion! Good luck!