Wedding in Catania, Sicily next August. Needing all the tips!

Do you have a good guide book? That would be the best place to start with such myriad questions. Rick Steves just came out with a Sicily guide, for starters. Also, covering the ground from Catania in Sicily to the Cinque Terre is a lot for 3 weeks. You could easily spend 3 weeks just in Sicily. I would certainly keep to points south of Rome OR fly to Florence and concentrate on Florence, Venice, and maybe the Cinque Terre if you have the full three weeks. It will be hot and crowded in all areas.

Yes we just ordered the guide books today. We just got the dates and location for the wedding today so we are just starting to research. I know we can't do it all but just want to see what people loved, wished they didn't or did do etc. I think we will just stick to southern Italy as I think Venice will be too much and too touristy.

August might be too hot in Sicily, but there's plenty to see there. Siracusa was my favorite spot. Not too excited about Catania itself. The fish market there was interesting (like an old film set), but that's not for everyone. You can visit Mt Etna from there.

Part 1 of 2.
My wife I visited Italy this year in Aug-Sep for 3 weeks, starting in Catania, and going on to Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre and elsewhere. Advance planning made it work very well.

2 nights in Catania. Manganelli Palace Hotel from Rick Steves Sicily book: included excellent buffet breakfast. Quite easy walk to the bus/train station with luggage if one takes the (little-used, tree-shaded) bike trail (which includes the one-block long Tony Curtis Street (Via Antonio de Curtis).
- visited Catania fish market.
- day trip to Ortigia (Siracusa). Went by bus, returned by train. (Same day we had visited Catania fish market in the morning.)

1 night in Taormina, Sicily. Took bus from Catania in morning, and stayed at Casa Turrisi from Rick Steves Sicily book. Definitely worth the price to be in city itself, next to Bam Bar and near amphitheatre.
- did Godfather tour. We both enjoyed it: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/sicily-godfather-private-tour-marco-is-an-outstanding-prestelli-tour-guide
- visited amphitheatre in Taormina.

Our next stop was Sorrento/Amalfi Coast; we didn't want to fly so took the day train from Taormina to Naples, and then the local train to Sorrento. Highlight was to ride what is apparently the only train ferry currently operating in world, between Sicily and the mainland. Rode 2nd class and had no problems.

3 nights in Sorrento. Stayed in a Homeaway apt near train station.
- Day trip to Pompei and Naples. Pompei in morning when it opened, then had pizza in Naples. Took ferry back to Sorrento. (Rick Steves audio guide was very helpful at Pompei.)
- Amalfi Coast tour by Mondo Tours in association with Rick Steves. Excellent: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/amalfi-coast-excellent-value-shared-tours-mondo-guide-for-rick-steves

Took high-speed Italo train from Naples to Rome.
2 nights in Rome. We stayed at Casa Il Rosario Dominican Convent from Rick Steves Italy book. Very convenient in Monti district, walkable from train station, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and very close to bus stop to Vatican. Bought 48-hour ROMA PASS at kiosk at train station when we arrived in Rome.
- Visited Roman Forum the day we arrived, using Rick Steves audioguide.
- Did early morning Vatican Museum / St Peters tour with Through Eternity. Outstanding: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/early-morning-vatican-tour-with-sistine-chapel-with-through-eternity-tours-excellent
- Walking back from Vatican after tour we visited Campo de’ Fiori and had lunch at restaurant nearby, and then walked to Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain.
- Did evening Colosseum tour with another tour company. Well below expectations: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/vip-colosseum-at-night-tour-by-the-roman-guy-a-great-disappointment

Next we took train to Orvieto.
2 nights in Orvieto. Stayed at Affittacamere Valentina from Rick Steves Italy book. Very clean and comfortable.
- We decided to just relax in Orvieto, dropping our optional idea to do a day trip to Civita. Orvieto was wonderful experience.
- Had an outstanding dinner at Hostaria Posterula: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/orvieto-excellent-restaurant-hostaria-posterula

Picked up car at the Orvieto Hertz office, and then drove to Tuscany.
3 nights at Agriturismo I Roseti near Montepulciano. Wonderful stay: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/near-montepulciano-outstanding-lodging-agriturismo-i-roseti
- During our stay we visited many towns, including Montepulciano, Pienza, and Montefollonico. (Montefollonico has a rather unique ceramic artist who has her wares in a very old former church). Visited a few wineries; best experience was Uccelliera. https://www.uccelliera-montalcino.it/index-en.php

CONTINUED IN PART 2 of 2

PART 2 of 2

Drove from Orvieto to Siena and dropped off car at Siena Hertz office (tough to find).
3 night stay in Siena at a Homeaway apt.
- Dined two nights at very good restaurant Osteria La Sosta di Violante: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/siena-excellent-restaurant-osteria-la-sosta-di-violante
- Day trip by bus to Florence. Did Rick Steves walk (using his audioguide). Visited Uffizi Gallery in morning (with reservations) and Accademia in afternoon (also with reservations). Had lunch at unique place: University cafeteria (Caffetteria delle Oblate) behind Duomo. Lunch on uncrowded terrace with very near view of the dome.

Took trains from Siena to Cinque Terre. We had two train changes under 10 minutes, and had no problem transferring with our luggage.
Stayed 3 nights at Da Paulin (Conchiglia apt) in Manarola in Rick Steves Italy book. (Reserved over year in advance, and our first choice apt was already taken!). We bought a 24 hour park hiking (including train) pass in advance, and another when we were there; if did it over again would just buy 48 hour pass in advance because though we only did one hike, it was well-worthwhile just for the train pass.
- Visited all 5 Cinque Terre towns. Best for us: Manarola, Vernazza, and Corniglia.
- Hiked one morning from Corniglia to Vernazza.
- Saw the Opera in Vernazza one evening. Was absolutely worthwhile, though I am not an opera fan.

Took train to Milan and stayed one night, then flew out of Italy. Stayed at hotel next to Milano Centrale Railway Station. Easy subway access to rest of Milan, and Malpensa Express train to airport.

END of long-winded reply.

One more thing to add to my two previous replies (parts 1 and 2). I see you are flying from San Francisco / Oakland.
We flew from Seattle on Norwegian Air to Gatwick in London; Norwegian also flies there from your area.
Though it did not show up together with the Norwegian Air flight on travel sites, I found a British Airways flight from Gatwick to Catania. Thus I booked the two flights:
- Seattle to Gatwick on Norwegian.
- Gatwick to Catania on British Airways (departure 2:40pm, arrival in Catania about 7pm)

The "self-transfer" at Gatwick was very easy.
Also, we had over 7 hours in Gatwick so were able to take ThamesLInk train to London Bridge Station, from whence we walked across the heart of London to Victoria Station. From there we rode the Gatwick Express back to Gatwick Airport. (I bought the train tickets in advance before leaving Seattle). It all went smoothly: the customs and immigration procedures at Gatwick were done entirely by machine.

There are few must see sights in Catania; the fish market, Saint Agatha church and the plaza in front of it, and there’s a flea-type market (Piazza Carlo Alberto de Savoia). There are some ruins there, but they pale in comparison to those at Agrigento or Selinunte. There are also a couple good pastry shops, one being paticceria Savia and the one next door to it. It isn’t an overly impressive city and the main sights can easily be seen in a day. You could easily spend all 3 weeks in Sicily. We flew from the east coast to Catania via Munich.

I loved Sicily and agree that 3 weeks there would be fabulous, but I urge you to consider the weather, which is highly likely to be extremely hot. The website timeanddate.com has actual, day-by-day, historical weather stats for many cities around the world, going back at least 10 years. Take a look at Catania's weather in August 2019, August 2018, etc.; go back at least 3 years. I've linked to the stats for this last August. I see that the coolest days had highs of 86 F, so it appears that it wouldn't be prudent to count on any break in the heat.

If you travel around by car, that will offer you some protection from the heat, but it won't help for your city sightseeing, since you'll be parking the car once you arrive in cities like Catania, Palermo and Siracusa. Note also that any driving at all in Palermo is a white-knuckle experience--as is crossing the street as a pedestrian in some cases.

Lucky you! At least it is late August--won't help with heat but maybe with crowds.
I'd just embrace the time of year and go to the Aeolian islands for a week, beach it up. Then the rest for Sicily. You will not run out of ways to fill three weeks.