We are spending 5 nights and 5.5 days in Sicily. Our flight to Palermo gets in at around 8 PM. We will be staying two nights in Palermo at the Hotel Garibaldi. We plan on spending the next night in Cefalu. Any recommendations for places to stay there? The next two nights we plan on spending in Taormina. Any advice for places to stay there? And Where should we rent a car from? Also would it be possible to do one of the Aeolian islands as a day trip? Worth it? Thanks guys! Also we have three days to parcel between Florence and Siena? Where should we sleep? Thanks!
Posted by
Toledo
653 posts
Jared, Cefalu is one of my favorite places! You have a choice of staying near the beach, or closer to the Cathedral. I stayed at B&B Palazzo Villelmi, which has rooms with views of the Cathedral, but it's a very modest place, plenty of stairs. In Taormina I stayed at Hotel Isola Bella by the beach. Very good breakfast, nice rooms, many with balconies facing the sea.
Posted by
Cesena, Italy
791 posts
I'm assuming you'll be picking up the car when you land in Palermo. My suggestion would be to get one at the airport but after your time in Palermo. Traffic is nuts, parking hard to find and the majority of things to see are within walking distance of each other. The Prestia buses can get you to/from the airport for 6 euro and takes about an hour. They have 8/9 stops around town.
Driving in Taormina is'nt exactly fun either but they do have parking garages below town. I don't recall exactly but don't remember it being too expensive.
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, United States
174 posts
If you have a car you can get from Agrigento westward a brief drive to Selinunte, which a beautiful site of Greek ruins: they have reconstructed one of the temples (and when you look at the jigsaw puzzle mess of the other two you'll wonder how they did it!) and it is deserted and lovely. In Taormina a few years back we stayed at the Villa Fiorita, which had gorgeous views and was in walking distance from everything. On your other question my preference would be to stay in Florence and do a day trip to Siena by bus. Easy trip, with plenty of time to see the Campo, the Duomo and its museum, and whatever else you like.