My daughter and I have only two weeks to play in May 2015. We have decided on Sicily for a week and Spain for the second week. I have traveled on several RS tours and on my own in Europe. Been to Rome three times and Naples, so only want to go to Sicily in Southern Italy before heading to Spain. Also, wonder which city to fly into Catania or Palermo? We want to see Agrigento, Villa Romana del Casale, Siricusa. Not sure about Taormina or Cefalu. I have been to Greece and Morraco and am really looking forward to the culture and ancient architecture in Sicily.
Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
Of course you know that Sicily is a separate island. If it's ancient ruins, Taormina has a beautifully preserved Greek Theatre. Also has breathtaking views. Siracusa also also has fabulous Greek ruins. Taormina is a beautiful little town. You may want to fly into Palermo and out of Catania in order to accomplish all of this in one week. I used legendofsicily.com for seeing pretty much the entire East side of the Island: based in Taormina, saw Mt. Etna, Syracuse, Catania, Wine Tour, etc. Trained to Palermo, stopped in Cefalu (No ruins, you may want to just go direct to Palermo) and from there to Agrigento for the Valley of the Temples. If you're planning on driving, buy an inexpensive TomTom in the U.S., and load maps here before you leave. I understand from the locals that TomTom does a better job in Sicily than a Garmin. I've posted a rather lengthy recommendation to someone else on this page regarding my trip, so you can take a look. You can also PM me if you wish.
Posted by
San Diego
1540 posts
Here is a link I used to plan my travels in Sicily.
Lots of links within this site and lots of good info.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Cefalu has a gorgeous modaic in its cathedral, a pretty old town and a beach. I would fly into Catania, visit Taormina, Siracusa, Villa Romana del Casale, Agrigento, Palermo with a daytrip to Cefalu. Other daytrips from Palermo could include Monreale, Erice, Segesta. I think it needs more than a week to do this. I would consider saving Spain for another trip. Spain is big.
Posted by
OP
Nevada
39 posts
Thanks for the advice. I have been to Spain before and have schedule set for that part of the trip. Madrid, two nights, Sevilla, two nights, Granada, one night, then night train to Barcelona for two nights, fly back to Las Vegas. It sounds like I need to rent a car for Sicily? I have found cars get very expensive with fuel costs, toll roads and insurance. I will check out that website. Maybe flying into catania and out of palermo is the best idea for what we want to see. But, my daughter HATES one night stays, so trying to avoid that. We would prefer a couple three nights stays and day trip from where we are at if possible or see a site on our way to the next city. In reading about the island it's hard to figure out best place to stay to achieve our goals? We don't care about beaches, been to plenty of amazing beach resorts all over the world.
Also, I wonder how long we will have to wait at FCO after 20 hour flight from Vegas to get on a flight to Catania or Palermo? We don't want to leave airport to drag all our stuff to a hotel in Roma for one night , then go back to airport next day.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
There are several flights per day to/from Palermo or Catania to/from Rome. Shouldn't be a problem if you arrive in Rome in the morning or early afternoon. Check Alitalia for flight times.
For a week in Sicily, you could spend a few nights in Palermo and a few nights in Taormina, with a one-night in Piazza Armerina. Or, substitute Siracusa for Taormina. You can do all of this on public transportation. I've done it many times, but you need to pay attention to schedules, some rail and bus connections are infrequent, especially on Sundays/holidays. I just booked a flight from Detroit to Palermo with a change in Rome, the layover is 2.5 hours.