Hi everyone.
I'm hoping to do a few nights each in Venice, Rome and Sicily. I'd be flying out of Montreal or Boston.
I'm looking for advice on:
1. Best order of the three stops for ground transport and international air (flying from Boston or Montreal and into Italy/Sicily)
2. Round trip to and from same stop or go into one stop and out another
3. Advice for getting from Venice or Rome to Sicily
thanks!
Deb
1 - Fly from BOS/YUL to VCE (via any European major hub)
2 - Fly from VCE to CTA with Volotea (Volotea also flies VCE-PMO but only in summer). Alternatively you can fly Ryanair from TSF to PMO.
3 - Fly from CTA or PMO to Rome (FCO or CIA).
4 - Fly from FCO to BOS/YUL.
Sicily is far from anywhere (Rome or even more so Venice). Flying is the only way to go, especially with limited time.
Sicily is also huge and has a lot of things to visit. Not sure how many nights you intend to stay there, but you need at least 8-10 days to see it all (and you will still be rushing it).
I'm planning a similar trip, and I have been to Venice and Rome, but not Sicily. Here's what I've found:
Geographic order is easiest, starting in north. So Venice - Rome - Sicily. Makes for less backtracking, and IMO Venice is easier to adapt to on arrival than Rome, or than I assume Sicily will be. It's possible that flights into Rome will be cheaper, so Rome, Venice, Sicily wouldn't be too bad.
DEFINITELY into one and out the other. No question, much easier, the ticket may cost a small bit more, but that will be offset by not needing to pay for a train or short flight back to the round-trip site, plus it saves you lots of time. So fly into Venice and out of Sicily (Palermo or Catania). Flying out of Sicily will likely require changing planes in Rome or some other nearby airport. You don't need to book it as 2 one way tickets, unless that is easier or cheaper. Just go to a site like Kayak.com and put in multi-city, with Boston to Venice as the first leg and Palermo or Catania to Boston as the second. Look it up as 2 one way tickets too, but that is often more expensive.
Rome to Sicily seems to be best by flight (same for Venice to Sicily). Technically, there is a train but it looks like it takes about 9 hours or more from Rome. Flights look like they are fast and not expensive. check skyskanner.net, but it looks like Rome - Palermo is flown by Ryanair, Vueling, Ibera, and maybe others for under $100 one way. Catania is similar, you will need to decide where in Sicily you want to start.
Fly into Rome, then internal flights Rome - Sicily - Venice.
Look at skyscanner.com for internal flights to and from Sicily - CATANIA or PALERMO.
Look at connecting flights home from Venice thru Frankfurt/Munich/Zurich/Paris/Amsterdam (avoid London).
Best bet for intercontinental travel with Lufthansa/Swiss/Air France/KLM.
Because of the recent fire at FCO, I took the train from Roma to Palermo (spent one night in Napoli on the way), it was about 8 hours from Napoli to Palermo. Definitely better to fly.
Sicilia is huge, as Roberto said. I usually spend a couple of weeks here and don"t see everything I want to see. Public transportation is a bit more challenging, as well. I would pick one place, perhaps Taormina, or spend at least two or three nights in a couple of cities.
Seconding Zoe's advice, if you have less than a week in Sicily, stick to one area, either near Catania (Syracuse/Ortigia or Taormina) or Palermo (easy to visit Cefalu from there by train), or rent a car at the Palermo airport and spend the time visiting the small coastal towns (Erice. . . ) and the Greek temples (Selinunte, Segesta, Agrigento). . . depends on what kind of experience you want - Sicily has it all.
hi everyone--thanks for the most excellent advice. We are going the US-Venice-Rome-Catania-US route.
Also thanks for the info about trains versus flights from mainland Italy to Sicily!
It makes more sense to fly to Sicily from Venice and then Rome from Sicily, or vice versa.
That would eliminate a train trip between Venice and Rome.
Finishing on Sicily, as you suggest, means you will be taking a connecting flight home anyhow.
As I mentioned at the top of the thread it is most efficient to arrive to VCE and return to North America from Rome.
Therefore you should leave Rome for last. Sicily goes in between.
Presumably, Deb's international trip is U.S. to Venice, then Catania (via Rome) to the U.S. That means only one additional flight (Rome - Catania). It seems easier to do that (and possibly cheaper) than having to fly twice within Italy. When you add the time to get to/from the airport for that second flight, going by train from Venice to Rome is about the same, or maybe even less time.
I recently priced out a similar ticket from Montreal for my next trip to Sicily. In my case, I am doing Rome - Florence - Sicily - Rome. I ultimately chose a KLM routing, via Amsterdam each way.
Lufthansa has now introduced paid seat selection for its international tickets, charging a fee for each segment. It was a deal-killer for me.
For the domestic flight from Firenze to Catania, I am flying direct on a Vueling flight. Acting on a good tip, I booked this flight on Iberia.com and was able to get the international baggage allowance of 23 kg. included. This trick is good for all Vueling flights operating within Italy.
For the return from Siracusa to Rome, I opted for the overnight train (12 hrs, downtown to downtown) -- it made more sense to me that way, then getting to Catania Airport to fly. I detest RyanAir and their paid baggage allowance is max 20kg per bag - so avoiding the hassle and total cost of flying + one extra night has more than made up for the Trenitalia ticket price (for a first class sleeping cabin).
A friend who is starting the trip with me, opted to do like the OP, returning from Catania (first segment with Alitalia to Rome). This cost her about $200 more on her international ticket. I simply wanted a few extra days in Rome at the end of my trip. The advantage my friend has is that should a strike affect her flight out of CTA, the rest of the journey home will be protected on her ticket.
