We have family living near Heidelburg, and we plan to visit them for Christmas and New Year's. We're contemplating doing the RS Best of Sicily Tour December 7-17 ending in Catania. That gives us 4-5 days before we join our family in Germany. I'm thinking of several possible options.
Do you have any recommendations for traveling from Sicily, on the way to the Frankfurt hub?
Thank you.
If you go to Prague expect freezing temperatures in the morning and late afternoon. This means you must wear layers and invest in a warm coat and hat. I also suggest wearing hand warmers and your COVID mask for additional coverage. The same with Munich if visiting friends there.
If you’ve never been to Rome, take a direct overnight train from the Central Catania station to the Roma (Rome) Termini station (11h) but you’ll want to rent a sleeper car. It’s not the smoothest ride but I would do it again. This way you kill two birds with one stone since you have to sleep somewhere and wouldn’t have to lose a day traveling from one place to the next.
You can also take a nonstop flight from Catania to Rome ($58) then fly nonstop from Rome to Frankfurt for less than $50 but you’ll need to pack light to avoid additional fees if flying on a low-cost carrier i.e., Ryanair. From Frankfurt’s airport you can take a train (1h) that involves a connection.
There are also nonstop flights from Catania to Munich on Lufthansa. You can take a train from Munich’s Flughafen airport terminal to Heidelburg (4h) that requires a transfer.
Sicily is one of my favorite place in Europe, and you can fly into Palermo or Catania. I know it's an hour from Milan. Catania is a lot more convenient as the Palermo airport is pretty far the town (45 minute train ride). I have been to Sicily three times and never rented a car as recommended by RS - instead taking the train, and occasional buses.
But I think I would recommend you make a separate trip just for Sicily, or combine with Italy, or Spain or Malta.
Germany has a lot of great places not that far from Heidelberg - which is a cute little town and nice place to stay. There is Stuttgart, Cologne, Mainz, Koblenz, Rothenburg au Tauber, Hamburg, etc .. in fact you can get into Alsace, Holland or Belgium easily too.
Prague is not especially cold any more than Germany is. It's a nice place - and it used to be affordable. But it feels overwhelmed by tourists.
I am not a fan of Rome, although I am a big fan of Roman history. It has some nice sites worth seeing once but not really a place enjoyable to hang around.
Also not too far from Heidelberg is Bacharach if you want a small pretty river town. The most picturesque town is Rothenburg. My favorite larger city in Germany is Nuremberg - good local food, city walls, nice walkable city center, and good rail connections.
It's hard to judge discount air fares since they try to add extra fees. I think I would expect fees of $100-200 per person.
I would allot 10 days to Sicily if you do go there. You can also fly into Catania and fly out of Palermo or vice versa. I think virtually all of the coastal towns are reachable by train and bus - which are pretty cheap - although there are not a lot trips each day
