An Extra Night in Taormina?

Are you flying out from Catania? The first train from Cefalu to Catania Centrale leaves at 6:07 am and arrives after 9 am with one change. You would still have to get to the airport. The last train leaves Cefalu at 19:07 and gets to Catania after 11 pm. From Cefalu to Taormina, last train leaves Cefalu at 19:07 and arrives in Taormina after 10 pm. Either way it looks like you would miss the dinner.

Can someone at the RS tour office suggest something? I doubt that you are the only person on the tour leaving the next morning.

The tour office said that the train and bus would not leave enough time to get my flight. They suggested the extra day in Taormina but I am hesitant about missing the farewell dinner, and Cefalu looks so pretty!

We visited Sicily in 2012 for a quick week on our own, not on a RS Tour, and drove thru Catania on the way to Taormina, and didn't make it to Cefalu, but three thoughts that are maybe a little out of the box:

If it turns out you aren't the only tour participant with an early flight out of Catania that next morning, perhaps the others could share the private ride with you, splitting the cost? You all could have your own mini farewell dinner! Would the RS Tour staff pass on your situation to the other participants, to see whether any of them might take you up on it?

Is renting a car even a possibility worth considering?

IF you opted to skip Cefalu, an alternative to an extra day in Taormina could be backtracking for an extra day in Catania. I see the RS Tour includes a winery visit on the slopes of Mt. Etna, but perhaps you'd want more time on the volcano the next day, or another activity in Catania? Have a great time - we'd really like to return to Sicily again.

The 6:07 departure from Cefalu to Catania also doesn't run on weekends; 7:00 is the earliest train if your tour ends on a Saturday morning.

Any chance that you could change your return flight for a fee similar to the private transfer price?

Your guide would certainly try to match up anyone else in the same boat, but I think the odds are not high. If you go ahead and reserve now for another hotel night in Taormina, then note any deadline to cancel that reservation.

It's common for about half the tour members to leave early in the morning, but most will probably fly from Palermo.

To anybody taking Rick's Sicily tour who has not yet selected a flight home, I suggest spending an extra night in the last town of Cefalu, since group time there is not a full day.

Thanks for the ideas! I will certainly check with the other tour members and hopefully there will be someone to share the taxi.
I am flying to Amsterdam and the only non-stop is from Catania, the other flights take a LONG time!
Will I miss a lot by not going to Cefalu?

Cefalu is one of my favorite places. By not going to Cefalu, you will miss perhaps the most beautiful mosaic of Christ Pantocrator in the world, although there are similar ones in Palermo's Palatine Chapel and in Monreale. Cefalu has some nice beaches, a gorgeous setting, and great food.

If you had an extra day in Taormina, you might want to contact Sicily Life tours and contract a driver to take you to the Sicilian villages of Savoca, Forza D'Agro & Castelmola about 15 km up the mountain from Taormina. It's a half day tour & we thoroughly enjoyed it when we took it 5 years ago. It included a trip to the catacombs (creepy but very cool) and also the areas in Savoca and Forza D'Agro where Francis Ford Coppola filmed the movie The Godfather. We had a caffe at Bar Vitelli, where Michael Corleone meets Apollonia's father and asks him for her hand in marriage. Fantastic scenery in these medieval hilltowns!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I will stay with the tour as I don't want to miss the farewell dinner and Cefalu looks amazing. The hotel in Cefalu put me in touch with a taxi service and by the time I added up the cost of the taxi from Taormina to the airport plus a hotel for a night, it's a wash.