Thinking of traveling to Sicily after Sorrento.

It's a great idea. You could make the trip to Sicily by car, boat, train, or plane. With a packed picnic lunch and a good book, the train makes a comfortable and relaxing way to enjoy the scenery. The train crosses into Sicily by ferry. From there, I'd suggest a rental car so you can easily travel around the island. The roads are well-maintained and the distances are fairly short. Basically, make a loop so that you see Taormina, Mt. Etna, Siracusa, Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Selinunte, Segesta, Erice, Monreale,and end in Palermo. You can then fly to your next destination. Fell free to write if you have any specific questions.

The best ways to travel to Sicily from Sorrento are the following: 1. Sorrento to NAP airport by Curreri airport bus; 2. NAP to PMO or CTA on Alitalia or Air Italy; OR OR OR 1. Sorrento Port to Naples Port by hydrofoil 2a. Naples Port to Palermo Port by SNAV Lines or Tirrenia Lines; or
2b. Naples Port to Catania Port by TTT Lines NOTE: The ferries travel overnight and arrive in Sicily early the next morning. You save one night's hotel. You can book either a sleeping cabin with private facilities OR a reclining seat.

I traveled by train from Sorrento to Cefalu in Sicily last fall. It was an all-day trip. The most interesting part was getting the train onto the ferry and crossing to Messina, then getting back off the ferry. When the train is on the ferry passengers can exit the train and climb up to the upper decks of the ferry. Great view.

Go. Sicily is great.

Go....I took Rick's Sicily tour in 2009 and loved it. The tour has changed a little since, but the intinerary is basically the same, just the opposite direction. My favorite places were Taormina, the pottery town of Caltigirone, Villa Casale, Agrigento and Monreale. It was still hot in late September. When are you going?

The best ways to travel to Sicily from Sorrento is to fly NAP to PMO or CTA on Alitalia or Air Italy. Sicily has it all from historic ruins to beaches, wineries to volcanoes.

Now is a great time to go. The infrastructure is there, not as many tourists as the mainland and there's tons to see. It's like how mainland Italy was 20 years ago. It won't be long before Sicily is inundated too (for good reason)

We are planning on being in Italy for the first 2 weeks in September. I love the idea of renting a car and driving around the island. I'm guessing that it would be safe and just staying in whatever town we happen to stop in for the day. I think we are going to really think about doing this. Thanks everyone.

September is one of the best months to visit Sicily. Book your hotels or risk disappointment.

I did the overnight ferry from Naples and liked it. You also get a view of the Eolian islands, if you're with the die-hard sunrise worshiping people on deck early in the morning! Driving around Sicily is easy. Good & reasonably-priced accommodation is best booked in advance. Sicily is popular with European tourists (Germans, etc.) and September is beautiful! The sea is warm and there are lots of places where you can just park and go for a quick swim or a leg stretch along the beach. Make sure though that you rent a car with a big enough trunk to hide ALL of your stuff out of sight. Car break-ins are common, like elsewhere. I have driven different cars in Sicily and my favorite was a Passat. (all stick-shift, of course) Enjoy Sicily! The food is glorious!!

You can watch Rick's show on Sicily. Just click on "Rick on TV" and go to Hulu. Great towns to visit, etc. Not much info on accommodations. You can also try Trip Advisor's Sicily forum. There is a destination expert, Vagabonda, and she gives great info. Will be going to Sicily in September. Can't wait!

Villa Romana will partially reopen next month.

Thanks Diane & Camille for the info. Sicily sure does sound great.

Ron we love Sicily. we have done the train...too long. Take Gac's advice.....plane or overnight ferry out of Naples. We missed the ferry and ended up on the train. We like the plane much more! Rent a car and bring your GPS. Use the Lonely Planet guidebook to plan your stays and areas that you will visit. You can't see it all in one trip. Look at staying in Agritourisimos...what fun! And yes, book ahead! There are some awesome Sicily experts on Trip Advisor. Check them out...they can be of great help. But most of all...enjoy your trip!

Ron, in another Sicily thread, I mentioned the following recs: Some Sicilian must-dos (in no particular order): - the Greek temples complex in Agrigento - the Roman villa & its mosaics in Piazza Armerina (closed for conservation/renovations?) - the hilltop town of Erice (near Trapani) - at least an overnight or two in Taormina - staying in an agriturismo in Scopello (Tenute Plaia) and swimming at an old tonnara - visiting a couple of wineries (i.e. Donnafugata) in Marsala - going up (not down) the ceramic steps in Caltagirone - eating the best pasta "frutta di mare" at Da Alfredo's near San Vito lo Capo
- going up Etna! Pick up any of Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano books. No one can give you the "taste" of Sicily quite like he can, IMO!

If you can, plan on at least a week...

Wow. Thanks everyone for your great replys. I will go to Tripadvisor later today to study up. Sicily sounds awesome. Thanks again Ron.

Another B&B rec: Tra i Frutti, near Agrigento

I'm doing Sorrento to Catania (or possibly Sorrento to Pompeii to Catania) in a few weeks and wanted to remind you to look at plane times. Air Italy was REALLY cheap (110 euro for two tickets one way and they don't charge for checked luggage) but the flight leaves at 9. I've been having a horrible time deciding how to get from Sorrento to the airport without spending $150 on cab fare or taking an insanely early train to downtown Naples and then catching a bus to the airport. It's the details that get tricky!

My wife and I took the ferry from Naples to Palermo a year and a half ago. The roundtrip cost for a cabin with 2 beds and our rental car was about the same as a roundtrip airfare. That was one of our better decisions. The overnight trip left us rested and ready to go when we arrived. We rented an apt for a week in Cefalu` and toured the central island, then spent 3 days in hotels and convents and toured the far western portion. NOTE: We spent 10 days and did not get to the eastern part, which we left until our next trip. Sicily is a BIG island. Unless you can endure a lot of travel time in a car, don't plan on doing the whole island in a week. Sicily is a beautiful place to be enjoyed at a reasonable pace. The people, the food, the countryside, the sea, the ruins will captivate you!

We are going to take 5 days for Sicily. Now we need to get busy and book some places to stay.