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Advice for 1 Month Trip to Western Med

Posted by (Victoria, BC, Canada) on

Hi all!

My wife and I are planning a 1 month trip to Italy and France with our 9 year old daughter end of August to end of September 2024. I am wondering if anyone has any advice or tips for this plan. My wife and I honeymooned in Central Italy for 2 weeks in 2013.

Tentative plan:
- 7 days in Marseille exploring south France (Arles, Avignon, St Tropez, etc)
- 3 days relaxing in Sardinia
- 7 days in Sicily
- 3 days relaxing in Ischia, Italy (Pompeii visit on travel day to/from Rome)
- 7 Days in Rome

We are thinking flying in one city and out another. Open to any order. Willing to modify destinations but Rome and Sicily are a must. Our thinking is with the above long/short stays is we will be tired from sightseeing so would like to just relax on a beach for a few days to recover. We are not high energy people, but we can do long days/lots of walking for 2-3 days at a time. We recall when we went to Rome in 2013 we were really exhausted after 5 full days of sightseeing. Wanting to balance seeing lots with not moving around too much.

Also, do you think the Paris 2024 Olympics will affect this plan?

Other destinations we have considered:
- East coast of Spain and Beleric Islands
- Puglia, Italy
- Pretty open to anything in the Western Med

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Mike & Katherine

Posted by
27142 posts

Are you planning to depend on public transportation, or will you be driving for part of the trip?

Southern Italy can be very hot in September. I recommend doing some research on actual, recent weather conditions for that month. I see that you have a school-age child, but I have to say September wouldn't be a month I'd plan to spend a lot of time in southern Italy, though if you're fortunate it could turn out fine. I like to look at the actual, day-by-day weather statistics provided by the website timeanddate.com. I usually check the most recent five years' data, because conditions can vary a lot from year to year. Use the pull-down box at the right, just above the graph, to change the month and year displayed. Use the Search box at the upper right to change the location.

Rome weather -- September 2023

Palermo weather -- September 2023

As you can see, Palermo was generally not too bad in September this year; Rome was a great deal hotter.

Have you had time to really dig into info on Sicily's sights yet? Rick has a guidebook covering just Sicily. Seven days will not be sufficient to see the entire island, so you'll probably need to choose between eastern Sicily and western Sicily. I loved Sicily, but after 17-18 days I need to go back to see things I missed. Outside the coastal cities, a car can be very helpful in getting around Sicily efficiently, because the trains aren't fast and you sometimes need to use buses.

If seeing just part of Sicily doesn't sound like something you want to do, Puglia is an option. Seven days is a better fit for that area than for Sicily, in my view. However, Puglia can also be really hot in September.

Lecce (Puglia) weather -- September 2022; 2023 has some data missing

I don't think Marseille is a good base for the side trips you list. St.-Tropez is well to the east, actually on the Riviera, and it has no rail station at all. For visiting Arles/Avignon and some of the pretty Provencal villages, one of those two cities (or St-Remy if you'll have a car) would be more convenient. Some folks like to stay in one of the small villages.

I was disappointed in the museums in Marseille, and parts of the central city just aren't very attractive. Select your lodging location carefully if it's important for you to stay there. The Old Port area is nice, and there are boat trips to the Calanques.

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