Hello all, need help planning a trip to Rome, Amalfi and Palermo. More specifically around means of travel along the east coast and to Palermo, (not the hotels and sightseeing etc)
I don't know what are the best options traveling with 2 kids (14 & 10) between the cities?
Flying in or out of Palermo on ITA is this a good option?
Is 10 days enough to explore both cities?
Can you fly IN to Palermo and OUT of Rome?
Or vice versa?
This is called a “multi city” ticket
Not 2 one way flights
That will save you backtracking
10 days or 10 Nights?
Pretty short for those 3 areas
What do you mean by Amalfi? Just the town or the whole coast?
Are you planning to see Pompeii? ( not actually onthe coast)
Ditto all of those questions, but I see it as two separate trips with ten days: either Sicily OR Rome and the AC (plus Pompeii and Naples). No way to envision doing both without flying.
Sorry wasn’t too specific.
Yes ok with flying in to either in or out of Rome or Palermo.
10 days is the total time for all three cities.
We want to see the amalfi coast.
Is this something doable with kids? Or it’s pointless as we will pretty much be on the run traveling the whole 10 days?
I would not do it--I hate traveling within a trip. There are a million things to see and do in just Rome + Amalfi, and with kids in tow it will be much more enjoyable without a flight in the middle. But this is just one opinion--I would write it out day by day and map the travel times, then think about it further.
Thanks, do you feel kids will enjoy Palermo carini more than amalfi coast and Rome?
i see there is a near Palermo called Carini--is that what you are referring to? Do you have family history there/
What do your kids like/
Yes my best friend from childhood is a local there and lives there. He lives right by the beach and has a boat, he is stressing the fact that I need at least 5 days in Palermo-carini
That makes much more sense now--these details are really important!
I would skip Amalfi entirely, and choose between a Sicily only trip (super easy to fill 10 days) or, if you need the ease of flying in to Rome, then Rome + the limited portion of Sicily you can squeeze in. I definitely thinking having a local to show you around (and with a boat!) would make for an amazing trip for the kids! I vote for all Sicily--have you polled the kids? limiting travel gives you more time for fun stuff on the ground, so make sure they realize that.
Kids are fine with anything, wife is stressing the fact that she doesn’t want to only do Sicily.
Want to also see other places if we’re already flying to Italy, so trying to see if possible. I also don’t want to try to sit my ass in 2 chairs and end up being worn up and not relaxing.
If I go to Sicily for 5 days, is there anything to do in Rome for the remaining (4) days with kids? Keep in mind museums and statues are not their forte. Or so we pick the other (4) days for Amalfi coast, Serrento etc?
Month and year of travel?
georgyyg, this is partly an opinion, but what they are trying to tell you is that the Amalfi Coast has, geographically, nothing to do at all with Rome or Sicily. It is a troublesome distraction, because it is relatively hard to get to, and hard to get elsewhere - because it's always crowded, and it's off the regular transportation routes. It is NOT undeveloped or undiscovered, I'm not saying that. The United States has dozens and dozens of beaches that are superior to anything on the Amalfi Coast. The TOWNS are attractive, I'm simply talking about the beach property. I was looking forward to seeing Positano, but I found it a shadow of a luxury for 1950's wealthy folks, with the same high-end fashion and cosmetic boutiques you can visit in Paris, London, or Rome. There are lovely cliff vistas of the ocean, and Ravello still has some charm. But don't try to cram this in-It doesn't pay off for the time spent getting there on your schedule.
Your kids will have another chance to visit the area (especially Pompeii), if they are interested, in the future. If you allocate 5 nights to Sicily, you should spend the rest of the time in Rome. Don't forget to subtract travel days.
Ok I have an update which may now cloud up our planning less.
Wife is good to stay in Sicily. Palermo and catania region. 1 days should be plenty.
Now main question is how to get from east to west? By car 3:30 looks like main road by the water in northern Sicily. How is the driving in Sicily is it easier, straight forward? Or a lot of aggressive drivers on the road?
I have not been to Sicily, but I have about 10 random Italy trips planned at all times, lol. The only warning I see about driving in Sicily is to avoid driving in the large cities (For example, pick up when you leave Palermo and drop on arrival in Catania) and to not leave luggage in the car (ever, even in locked trunk). So, stopovers have to be planned carefully.
You will need an IDP, which you can get at AAA for about $20.
You need to learn about how the rental company is required by the government to provide a basic amount of CDW. This complicates your both proving to the Credit Card company that you declined CDW, and proving to the rental company that your card has full CDW to protect them. It's not a problem lately, but you also have to make sure that your credit card does not exclude CDW for rentals in, say, Italy and Ireland.
You also need to learn about ZTL and how many people got surprise traffic tickets upon returning home, plus a $65 fee from the Car company for looking up who had the car the day of the violation.
Many rental contracts I've had prohibit ferries in black and white, but no one here ever reports a problem driving to Sicily.
Plenty of discussion of this, Search box top center in blue.
It sounds like now you have all your time in Sicily? Flying in to Palermo and out of Catania, or in and out of Palermo?
Assuming the first, I would suggest 4- 5 nights in Palermo as your friend is showing you around. Instead of Catania I would recommend Siracusa, particularly staying on the Island of Ortigia. I think your kids will enjoy walking the ( mostly) traffic free streets, and it has a very different feel from Palermo. It is less than an hour train ride to Catania for the airport.
You could look also at Taormina, much busier and touristy, but probably the closest feel to the Amalfi coast for the beauty of it, and if that was what appealed to you or your wife before. We were there in April and it was not busy, but it will be very busy in summer.
There is a direct bus from Palermo to Siracusa or to Catania. We took train from Taormina and local buses up to the town. If you want to drive you might want to read this blog first
