Sicily

Susan, I am taking the Naples/Catania ferry next year, but ferries also go to Palermo and the Eolian Islands from Naples or Civittavechia. Siracusa is a good base for the west, and Palermo for the east. Sicily is so special for me, that I spend 3 weeks on the island, with a few bases. I adore Cefalu, an hour or so by train from Palermo. Erice is lovely and the temples engross me for hours and hours. I think that in summer, there are faster day ferries as well as the overnight ferries sailing throughout the year. When do you plan to travel, and for how long?

Sicily is lovely. We have been to Taormina, Agrigento, Palermo, etc. The Valley of the Temples, near Agrigento, is a must.

We have friends who visit the Agadian Islands every year (spelling may be off), especially the island of Marettimo. I have seen photos, and it looks wonderful. You take the ferry from Trapani--no car needed, as no cars on the island.

I envy you your trip!

Susan, I would check out the RS Tour 9 Days in Sicily for suggestions on where to go. My experience has been their tours really pick out the highlights-and some not well known surprises-too. I have signed up for the Sept RS Sicily tour next year. I plan to fly to Milan for a couple days, then fly on to Sicily. After the tour I plan on flying to Rome for a couple days before I come back to the US. My niece took the overnight ferry from Sicily to Naples last June and enjoyed it. She did say though, if you have never been to Italy, Naples is a little 'rougher' than some of the other cities.

Last year we went to Palermo – Agrigento – Syracuse -Taormina – Sorrento – Amalfi – Ravello – Positano – Naples. We took the overnight ferry from Palermo to Naples and saved a day of travel and 1 hotel night by sleeping on the boat. I posted pictures and details in a spreadsheet at our personal blog at http://gadtravel.blogspot.com/

Susan - we were in Sicily for 7 days summer of 2007. We stayed in 3 different places - Palermo, Marsala & Acireale (between Catania & Taormina). If you are only staying in 1 place you just need to choose what it is you want to see. We enjoyed staying in Palermo - enjoyed the city and were also able to see the incredible catherdral at Monreale. From Acireale we saw Etna, Siracusa (baroque city), Taormina (resort city). From Marsala we saw Erice (high on a cliff), Selinute & Segestra (Greek ruins). Great food the whole trip, nice people, fascinating scenery and of course the ruins were fabulous. Personally I wouldn't spend any more time getting to Sicily than I had to. We flew into Milan non stop from Atlanta. Spent 1 night there and then flew Milan to Palermo. I guess if you were going to be in Naples anyway then you might want to take the hydrofoil, but they are not my preferred mode of transportation in any country.