A Couple Questions on Trip to Italy/Sicily

1. You should check for direct flights either into Palermo or Trapani. Rail is a possibility but will take much longer and go through the strait of Messina, which is way to the east of where you want to be.
2. If Castelvetrano is not served by rail or bus (I would be surprised if it's not - you should confirm this first), then a rental car would be a good option. Just looking on map, perhaps Trapani would be more a bit more logical/closer? That's irrelevant, of course, if you can only fly into Palermo.
   

I did not rent a car in Sicily and managed just fine in the southeast part of the island using trains and buses (cheap, clean, on time but service is inferior on Sundays). A lot of folks here report having no problems with car rentals in Sicily (as well as little traffic in between cities), but advise not to drive them within cities like Palermo which are very hectic.

Castelvetrano is served by rail, but coming from Palermo, for instance, most connections include a leg by bus. There is a Mon-Sat direct bus just before 13:00, according to the DB link at How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online. www.trenitalia.com sells the tickets, but it would be just as easy to buy them on the spot.

Fly into Palermo and rent a car. You can visit Castelvetrano, Selinunte, Agrigento, and other places in the immediate area, but I think you won't have time for more than this. If you can overnight in Palermo, there are several things to see and do there.

I spent three nights at a small B&B in Selinunte (near the sea, with a view of the temples in the distance). It was about 35-40 minutes' drive from Castelvetrano, which is further inland.

There are several airlines that fly from Naples to Palermo (you can use Skyscanner to see all options: http://www.skyscanner.com/). One of them is Alitalia; when looking for this route, look at Alitalia's International website, which often has lower prices than their US website for the exact same flights. The earlier you book, the more likely you can snag the lowest fares. Note that even if Alitalia is more expensive than a "budget" carrier on this route, it includes one checked bag and a more generous carry-on size than budget carriers, so it can work out cheaper in the end.

Thank you for all your replies. They are very helpful and give me a lot to think about. It's good to know there are reliable transportation options. I agree that to not be rushed, I should pick out a couple of destinations in Sicily instead of doing too many. I did kind of have my heart set on getting a glimpse of Mt. Etna and staying in the beautiful town of Taormina, but I realize that is on the other side of Sicily from Castelvetrano. I may have to make some hard choices on our Italy trip to possibly extend our time in Sicily for one or two additional days.

It seems to me if we are going to explore the Castelvetrano area including Selinunte, then a rental car would be so much more convenient for getting around there. But feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.

I'm sure whatever we are able to see in Sicily will blow us away, so it's all good. Thanks again for your help.

I think a rental car would be the best option. Where are you going after Sicilia? If you fly out of Catania, you will see Mount Etna from the airport boarding area. That would re-route some of your trip, but if you can squeeze out two extra days, it might be worth an overnight in Taormina.

After 16 days in Italy including Sicily, my wife and I are going to switch gears and fly to Vienna for 3 nights before heading home. We missed Vienna on our last trip to Europe, so while we are there, we really wanted to do this. So.....maybe the best approach is to fly from Naples to Catania - first - to catch one or two highlights in the east including Taormina, and then make the 4 hour drive via rental car over to Castelvetrano/Selinunte. We could then wrap things up in Sicily by staying one night in the Palermo area and flying out of Palermo to Vienna.

Dan, do you plan on coming back to Europe again? If so, you may think again about totally "switching gears" and going to Vienna. It's a lot easier to tack on Vienna once you're in (mainland) Europe on another trip, than tacking on Sicily which is a bit out of the way. By rerouting your whole trip in Sicily to Catania, I think you're going to shortchange the very brief time you have there. There's no right answer here, as you know what's best, but that itinerary struck me as a bit odd. I would personally just stick to Italy and Sicily and build in more time for the latter. Whatever you do, have a great time visiting the ancestral home town in Sicily!

Agnes, we do plan on coming back to Europe at least one more time, but that would be Ireland, Scotland, England. So a side trip to Vienna on that vacation would be a bit odd as well. So we either do Vienna with this trip or the next trip, or we probably won't ever get there......but, who knows what the future holds. Thanks for your insight.

Skyscanner tells me Easyjet has a nice 12:10 pm departure time out of Naples to Vienna for only $63 for an hour and forty minute flight, so that sounds pretty darn good to me. Of course once you add on luggage and seat charges it will be around $100, but that's still not too shabby. Kinda makes the trip from Sicily to Austria a little less weird! :o)