HI:
Doing Rick's Southern Italy tour then Sicily tour. Should I spend an extra day or so in Catania? Is it worth it?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
407 posts
We enjoyed the day we spent before the tour in Palermo. And one other couple quite enjoyed a day before the tour in Cefalu, which is not part of the RS tour at all.
The extra day we spent in Catania at the end did not add much. So, maybe add time at front end in Sicily.
(After Catania, we then went on to Puglia for another 11 days and then Campania for six more.)
Posted by
Tennessee
442 posts
I did the RS Sicily tour several weeks ago. Superb tour!!! I was happy with the choices I made about pre and post tour nights: 2 nights pre-tour in Palermo and 0 nights post-tour in Catania. I liked the central square that we saw in Catania as part of the tour as well as the WW2 museum. However, I don't think there's tons to see in Catania. Also, if you read RS Sicily reviews, people never (or almost never) mention Catania being a highlight of the tour.
Some posters to the Travel Forum have pointed out that other tour companies add another day in Taormina and skip Catania altogether. Our tour guide explained that ending the tour in Taormina would require VERY early morning transfers from Taormina to the Catania airport for some tour members when the tour ends. "Bottom line" - the message I got was that part of the reason for RS ending the Sicily tour in Catania is that an airport is there.
I don't think it's worth spending an extra day in Catania.