I recently purchased Steves' new Italy book, and unfortunately, there is nothing regarding Sicily and places to stay there.
Is it possible to get some itenerary suggestions (I assume I will be in Palermo, Toarmina, Cefalu, and possible Syracuse for two days in each) and even more important, some accomodation recommendations for seven-nine days in Sicily? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
John Wilson
Hi John,
I was looking into a possible Sicily trip for late this year, and found the same problem as you--Rick just doesn't cover Sicily. I would suggest searching on TripAdvisor for accomodations, and especially check out the forum. There are one or two 'destination experts' for Sicily over there, and lots of information on itineraries, transport, etc.
For itinerary help, go to the tours tab here on the website. Rick has a Sicily tour which I took last Sept. and really enjoyed. Since Rick doesn't cover it in his Italy guide, I used the Lonely Planet Sicily guide and it is excellent. I stayed several days before the tour at the Hotel Continental in Taormina and can recommend it. If you want to know the other hotels the tour stayed at, send me a private message. I would also recommend TripAdvisor for hotel guidance. I looked all the tour hotels up on TripAdvisor as soon as I got the list and my experience was similar to what folks had posted on TA.
We've been to Sicily twice (2006, 2007) - loved it. In Palermo, we stayed at Albergo Ariston (aristonpalermo.it). Small room, but the AC in mid-May was heavenly! And we're happy to put up with small rooms to save money. Stayed at Hotel La Giara in Cefalu. Fine, good location, nothing special but nothing wrong either - our room had a balcony, which we always enjoy. Don't miss Siracusa - it was probably our favorite. I would definitely recommend staying on Ortigia. We were at Acropoli B&B and it was great (siracusa-hotels.it). We were on public transportation. If you'll have a car, that may change where you'd need to stay. When I return to Taormina, I'll consider staying at beach below the town near Isola Bella. It would depend on the month (NOT in July or August!). Have fun!
John - another good site, similar to this, is the Fodor's website - go to their travel boards for Europe, Italy. I got LOTS of great advice from them, samples of what other's itineraries looked like, etc.
We were in Sicily for 7 nights a few years ago. Our itin was:
Flew into Palermo, 2 nights at Hotel Principe de Villafranca - walked around on our own (must have had some guidebook but can't remember which one exactly). Don't skip Monreale - it was fabulous
Hired a drive to take us to Corleone where my family is from, just for the day. He drove us back to Palermo where we picked up our rental car.
Drove to Trapani (near Marsala), 2 nights at Baglio Spano - used this as our base to see Erice, Selinunte and Segestra.
Drove to Stazzo (near Acireale - half way between Taormina and Catania), 3 nights at Palazzo Giovanni - our favorite B&B. Used this as the base for day trip to Siracusa, day trip to Mt. Etna, dinner in Taormina.
Loved Sicily - SO interesting, great food, nice people, wonderful Greek ruins, very different from the rest of Italy that we have seen!
