We have been to Italy twice before, and want to go back and travel the countryside of Tuscany. My 19year old has always wanted to go to Sicily as well. I am struggling planning it. We are an active family with a 19, 16 year old. They can do the city history, they have toured Milan and Florence, but I don't want that to be the basis of the trip. I am frustrated trying to plan Sicily, because my daughter really wants to tie in some Godfather stuff because she loves that movie series. However, I am a bit overwhelmed. I think I would like to only spend 4 days in Sicily, and fly out of Milan, and then take the Train to Florence where we will rent a car in Florence to travel around Tuscany. We really enjoy hikes, guided small group tours, and a combination of history, exercise and taking in the culture. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We would be traveling in late June for 10-14 days.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11181 posts
Milan, Florence, Sicily -- 10-14 days ( how many nights?)
The mental picture I get is someone trying to get their size 9 foot into a size 8 shoe
You plan to fly out of Milan.... where do you plan to be your entry point to Italy?
With 14 nights and an open jaw flight plan it could work, and be something other than a mad dash from place to place.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15187 posts
You can split your stay one week each region. I don’t know if you need to go to Milan for whatever reason, but you could fly to Catania, stay a few days in Siracusa and Taormina both located near Catania airport. While in Taormina you could do your godfather tour (the movie was shot in Savoca, not far from Taormina). Then you could fly from Catania to Florence (Tuscany) do your thing in Tuscany, then fly out of Florence to come back home. Neither Catania nor Florence have direct flights to the US so you will need a layover somewhere else in Europe.
Posted by
11159 posts
I think you realize that you will be shortchanging both places. Four days in Sicily is not worth the trip there and the film “ Godfather” is a very tiny part of Sicily and not representative of what this wonderful island offers.. You need more time.
Choose Tuscany or Sicily.
Posted by
Seattle
142 posts
14 days is plenty of time if you are focused on two regions (Sicily and Tuscany). If you’re trying to see everything in Tuscany (which it sounds like a no if you’ve already visited Florence) then this wouldn’t be as good. You’ll have ample time to explore the Tuscan countryside even with 5 nights in Sicily.
I can’t tell from your post if you need to fly via Milan or if that was just an initial thought. As Roberto suggests, this would work best as an open jaw routing into Sicily and out of Florence or vice-versa, and flying the Sicily-Florence leg. Several of the big European airlines (Lufthansa, for example) fly to Palermo and Catania.
Posted by
Washington DC
27138 posts
I always recommend at least 2 weeks in Sicily (more if you don't rent a car), and that requires hard choices. However, if you must, think of it as a trip to the east coast of Sicily, and the trip will be manageable. I'd want to have some time for the Baroque towns outside Siracusa, but that might not be possible on your schedule.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
We’ll we were thinking of flying into Milan because it’s cheaper than Rome, we are coming from Boston. We could split the time 7 days in each location. I had read that Palermo is. Better airport to fly into because Catalina gets canceled a lot, is that not accurate? Maybe we just stay in two places Syracuse and Taormina in the outskirts so it’s quieter and explore day trips from there? Thoughts?
Posted by
Washington DC
27138 posts
It's true that if Etna blows its top, flights into and out of Catania may be affected. I have no idea whether that happens at all frequently. I haven't seen it mentioned here very often. However, you have a good point--when you are short on time and an entire family is involved, you want to minimize the possibility of disruptions.
There are train and bus connections from Palermo to Taormina and Siracusa (trains, at least, may require a connection), but neither will be fast, so that's a disadvantage of flying into or out of Palermo if you want to focus on eastern Sicily.
I've just now realized that this is to be a June trip. Sicily will be very hot. The heat is bad enough to affect how much outdoor sightseeing you will accomplish. Check lodging reviews carefully for complaints about air conditioning.
I recommend laying out the weather facts to your family. For a June trip, I'd suggest the Dolomites rather than Sicily.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15187 posts
Flying cancellations at the CTA airport are not common events. The latest was caused by a major fire inside Terminal A last month, but otherwise it is the Mt Etna volcano’s eruptions that cause the majority of those disruptions. However, although Mt. Etna and nearby Stromboli are two of the top 5 most active volcanoes on Earth, however few eruptions are large enough to cause the closure of the airport. If you intend to go to the Ionian coast of Sicily (Eastern Sicily) I would definitely fly to/from Catania rather than Palermo. CTA is also the larger airport with more flights, as the possibility of a major eruption is remote.
If you fly out of BOS, you will have plenty of opportunities to fly pretty much to any European major airport and from there to both Catania and Florence. I realize that flying to Milan may be cheaper, but that will add extra time to your trip and time costs money, in addition to high speed trains not being at all free. If you don’t need to go to Milan for other reasons, I would pay more for the airfare and fly where I really want to be.