We are going on the RS Sicily tour in late March. Usually, we add on something before the tour starts to acclimated to the time change. We have been to Italy several times, so the obvious places are out. We are thinking about Reggio di Calabrian. Maybe Corsica or Sardinia. We have also thought about stopping in Amsterdam, but we think it might be pretty cold. Anyhow, any suggestions Luke be appreciated.
Posted by
Phoenix, Arizona
79 posts
Malta? Nearby, weather should be similar to Sicily, Knights of Malta sites, archeological sites such as the Hypogeum (book months in advance) and Hal Tarxien, fishing villages, medieval town of Mdina. And if you're brave the local favorite, rabbit stew.
Posted by
Canada
4 posts
We flew directly to Rome, spent 2 days getting over jet lag before flying to Palermo (avoiding the stress and wear & tear of taking connecting flights)…we spent 1.5 days exploring Palermo on our own before the start of our RS tour.
If we were to do it again, we wish we had stayed an extra day at the end of the tour to explore Catania properly…and then travel to Calabria before heading back to Rome.
You are going to love your sicily tour!
Posted by
Washington DC
29616 posts
Sicily is worth considerably more time than the tour gives it. There's lots to see in Palermo and nearby Cefalu is a popular side trip. I think the tour doesn't take you to any of the Baroque villages in the southeast, which can be visited from Siracusa by bus and/or train.
Posted by
Ashburn VA
989 posts
11 days barely scratches the surface of Sicily. Eleven weeks might, so I’d suggest taking a look at some of the places/experiences that the tour omits. You can’t go far wrong anywhere in Sicily.
Posted by
6223 posts
Agree it makes the most sense to spend it in Sicily, but have you scoped out the flights? Tacking on to existing flight paths is going to be easiest. Getting to Corsica, Calabria, and Sardinia is not particularly easy when you want to stay there two weeks, so going for a couple nights will probably not be simple (and it would be a shame to stop by and not see the best of those places). I would pick an area the tour does not cover--easy and satisfying!
Posted by
Germany
15 posts
I agree with adding either Sardinia or Calabria. When we visited Sardinia we went to Sicily for a week (so 1 week in Sardinia, then one to Sicily then Naples to take the train to Rome). We enjoyed it and it was a wise choice. There is a ferry connection between them, we used ferry hopper to check about the itinerary. The boat takes about half a day. As for Calabria, we went during a different visit from Naples, it's a very nice choice too. We rented a car to do so.