Unrealistic?

No, I don't think it is unrealistic. Give us some more information about your interests and specific destinations and you'll get more detailed responses here. Six weeks? Nice! The two areas are very different in history and culture. Enjoy the planning!

We are art and culture buffs. For our first trip to Italy where we hit the big three long with side trips to Pompeii, Sorrento, Almafi Coast, and Pisa, we pretty much walked the entire time and averaged two churches and a museum a day. Loved it!

We like to stay in airbnbs to be with actual people and stay long enough to feel that we know a place. No it’s Tuesday so we must be here tours for us. Love tearing the pages out of Rick’s guidebooks and setting off.

Of course not --- BUT (always that damn But) -- what is the plan??? Your plan could be unrealistic so without some details everyone is taking a shot in the dark. A big flaw in most extended travel plans is not recognizing the time need to travel between sites. And, second, always a need to plan "down time" for laundry, extra sleep, etc. We rarely plan more than three to four days in a row with the next day always being open. Get a good map and start putting pins in the map.

Hello pollocktoni, I'm jealous that you're even considering six weeks of Italy!

So start with the big stuff - getting there. You could easily fly into and out of the same city like Milan. And then fly internally to Palermo and I'd fly from Sicily to someplace like Venice and then work your way back to Milan to fly out. If you follow the rough itinerary of the RS tour - fly into Milan>Palermo and Catania>Venice and connect those places together.
You could also fly multi-city into Milan and out of Venice and then all your Sicily flights would be through Milan which is well served as a flight hub within Italy.
Are you up for moving onto Sicily immediately? I fly from the West Coast so I would definitely lay over in Milan for a night, but you could also make it a couple of nights and see the city. Milan is a large modern city but would make an interesting "northern" contrast to "southern" Palermo.

Are you up for renting a car and driving in Italy? In northern Italy there is really no reason to drive unless you want to do the Tuscan hill town tour as many are not well served by bus and train. Sicily is less well served by trains and a car is useful - outside of Palermo - and whether you want to drive will probably dictate the timing and pace of your Sicily planning.

I would start with Rick's tour plan and 'best of" itineraries as a starting point and then flesh out the plan by adding/removing places and or days to the schedule according to your interests and then balancing time in Sicily versus the North. As mentioned by Frank be sure to add slack days and not program everyday. If nothing else you'll need to do laundry and take care of everyday concerns. You can also do this by adding smaller, slower places with fewer "sights" to see. This should help just taking some time off and also hopefully falling into the slower pace of life that is part of the attraction of Italy.

There are tons of people wiling to share their insights and opinions about both destinations - myself included - but I would start there and then ask about each of itineraries separately.

Sounds like an awesome trip,
=Tod

A few years ago I took a month long trip to Italy.
I flew into Milan, got over jet lag, then flew to Palermo.
I spent about 25 nights traveling around Sicily (via public transportation), then returned to Milan for a couple of days, before flying home.

So with 6 weeks you can definitely travel to Sicily and to Northern Italy!

If you’re interested in reading my trip report, you can find it on my profile.

Please share your itinerary with us and come back with more questions.

When are you planning to go on this trip?

Are you planning to rent a car while in Sicily, or travel via public transportation?

Happy planning!

We are taking a transatlantic cruise in April that ends in Civitavecchia where we will board a train to Rome…since I can’t be in Italy and not spend a couple of days in Rome, my favorite city. I was hoping to go to catch an early train to Naples to see the historical museum and go to Palermo at the end of the same day since we don’t like Naples. However, it seems that the flights are limited between Naples and Palermo so we may skip Naples entirely and fly from from Rome to Palermo. Spend no more than 3 days in Palermo and then hit the coast for about a week and a half using public transportation. Thus far, that part of the trip isn’t planned. Thought about flying or taking the train to somewhere northern Italy and seeing at least Cinque Terra, Milan, Verona, Bologna, Lake Como…still reading on northern Italy. We have been to Venice, so would probably skip it…although it is wonderful, and fly home from Milan towards the middle of June, before tourist season is in full swing. All traveling will be done by train, plane, cab, and bus.
Thanks to you all for your help.

The Catania airport has more flights than the Palermo airport, so check it as well. I should think between those two airports, you'd have a decent option or two that fits with your schedule.

I do recommend a generous amount of time for Sicily--at least two weeks if you're going to rent a car and are skipping the islands (Aeolians, etc.). Add time if you want to depend on public transportation.

Rick now has a dedicated guidebook to Sicily. It wasn't available when I traveled there in 2015, and I missed having the sort of logistical information he provides. I would certainly want that book as well as the guide to Italy.

I think a few of the northern Italian provinces may have sightseeing cards that could save money for travelers sticking around awhile, so I recommend checking online if your itinerary has you spending about a week or more in Lombardy, Piemonte, or Friuli-Venezia Giulia. I haven't spent enough time in those areas yet to do that research; it's possible the sightseeing cards are only available to residents of Italy.

I like the fact that you decided to skip Naples and go from Rome to Palermo. Have you decided how much time you'll dedicate to each area?

No, I have the begin and end dates but was waiting to see if people thought that trying to do Sicily and northern Italy in six weeks was unrealistic. Now that I have that answer, I’ll start reading the books and putting together the itinerary.

Thanks to all of you for your help.

Since you don't like Naples, I am wondering why you are going to stay more than one night in Palermo.

****I am concerned about Palermo since it seems that there are similarities to Naples. It may be a much shorter stay there. I’m still in the planning stages.

Hi! Have you considered Ortigia, which is on the eastern side of the island. Trains and buses will get you to several interesting sites and towns but you would probably want a car to do the Greek ruins. Ortigia is a wonderful place for relaxing, walking, sunrises and sunsets, tremendous food and it has its own sets of Greek ruins. Highly recommend it!

Ortigia is the highly picturesque historic section of Siracusa and a great favorite of posters here. Siracusa is also a good base for the Baroque towns of Ragusa, Noto, Modica, Scicli, etc.

It's true that Palermo has a distinctly urban feel, and the traffic situation requires pedestrians to be very careful when they cross the street. There just aren't as many traffic signals as one would expect. It's an environment that not everyone loves, that's for sure. Rick mentioned in one of his videos that he likes to stay in a nice, comfortable lodging in Palermo because the city itself is so hectic.

But Palermo has a lot of sights I would not want to miss. In addition to the basilica at Monreale outside town (accessible via public bus, tour bus or taxi), you have the Norman Palace, the archaeological museum and a couple of lively markets. There are also many oratorios (chapels) with varying decor. And many people enjoy the street food. That's just off the top of my head. I also enjoyed the private tile (ceramic) museum, but that's a special interest of mine.

Acraven's Museo delle Maioliche Stanze al Genio in Palermo looks incredible and I now plan to go there!