Where to go for 10 days after Sicily?

Where in Sicily are you departing from?

@MaryPat - the tour ends in Catania

Is all of your time in Sicily on the RS tour? Or do you have more time there to visit important sites that the tour does not include?

How about Malta, it’s not too far. When we went to Sicily we were sorry we didn’t include Malta. Now we don’t know when we’ll be down that way again. I’m one of those crazy people who have trips outlined for the next 2-3 years.

Malta is a great idea. It’s a quick, cheap flight from Catania, and is filled with history. But I think 10 days is too much for Malta — maybe 5 days there & then make your way to wherever you’re flying home from. Extra days could be spent in Sicily or in your departure city.

Make sure you pack an umbrella. I worked with a woman who spent four nights in Malta and said it was too long.
Both Ryanair and EasyJet have cheap nonstop flights (if you pack light) from Catania to Naples on Mar 6, but they depart at 9:05p. The sooner you buy tickets on budget airlines the cheaper it is. You could sleep in Naples for two to three nights to explore Naples and Pompeii.
From Naples central station take the Circumvesuviana (commuter) train to Sorrento: https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/campania-express-train-schedule. Ferries don’t begin full service along the Amalfi Coast until the month of Apr. However, you may be able to take a bus along the Amalfi Coast Road. Wear motion sickness bracelets on each wrist because it’s a hilly ride with sharp turns. Get off in Positano and when you’re ready to leave go to Amalfi. You can do all this in a day.
Capri may be more doable from Naples than Sorrento. It’s too soon to check ferry schedules: https://www.directferries.com/global/index.html.

A few answers/reply...We have 17 days in Sicily which includes the RS 11-day tour. So we have about 7 extra days (includes 1/2 day travel times) we're splitting between the Ragusa area and Palermo. I'm definitely going to check out the Malta option. Someone on the Facebook page spent 5 weeks in Malta in February and loved it. I'm still checking options for Amalfi coast, Naples, and the Adriatic coast. I need to make decisions very soon!

We spent about 12 days in Malta/Gozo end of September-early October. I found the whole place fascinating and could have stayed longer. There's a lot more to see there than I think most visitors expect.

We're primarily interested in...

History? ✅ An excess of that (a gross understatement).
Scenery? ✅ Oh yeah, both built and natural scenery, views, aplenty.
Architecture ✅ Can't swing a dead cat without hitting ancient/historic/magnificent/notable/bizarre things people have built.
Charming towns? ✅ The capital is basically a huge, fortified castle city that sprawls across vast, complex harbors. It's got a lot of charm, but so do many of the smaller towns scattered across the (two) islands (if you go, Gozo has less development and arguably small towns with more "charm"). Parts may seem "run down" and abandoned (and some are), but I found oodles of "charm". Not exactly cute little storybook villages, more like a string of jaw-dropping places out of Game Of Thrones (that and lots of other movies filmed there). Lots of "epic" eye candy.

I think Malta would tick all your boxes, plus it'll be warmer there than anyplace else you're considering. One possible downside: I found Malta to be "a lot like Italy, but even more so" (in many respects, but also flavored with a bit of North Africa, and marinated in Yee Olde British Empire, for a few hundred years up through the mid-20th century). It's a slightly strange mix, and you might have already overdosed on deep southern Italy by then. In some ways Malta felt like a British extension of Sicily. With 10 days, between Malta and Gozo (the other island), I don't think you would run out of things to do/see. Tastes vary, I thought it was amazing.

Happy to answer any questions.

@David Lovely reply and now I have more research to do on Malta before selecting that over southern Italy. Do you have any links you could share about Malta? It sounds so tempting.

I haven't been to Malta but plan to remedy that in the next three years. I have been to Puglia and liked it a lot. Any trip to Puglia that involves a rental car (very helpful) should include a detour to Matera.

I spent mid-February to mid-March this year in Rome, Naples and Salerno. I haven't researched winter weather data for Puglia, but I assume it's generally warm enough in the winter to be a viable tourist destination. I have no clue about precipitation. There's some sketchy climate data in the Wikipedia entry for Lecce (probably also for Bari and Brindisi). I like to take a look at the actual, historical, day-by-day temperatures for my potential destinations found on the website timeanddate.com. I try to check the most recent five years since there is so much year-to-year variation.

Lecce weather -- March 2023

Use the pull-down box at the right just above the graph to change the month and year displayed. Use the Search box at the upper right to find data for other cities.

I can tell you that I (very cold-natured) survived Rome/Naples/Salerno without difficulty last Feb/Mar. I think I was somewhat lucky in that it seemed every day eventually reached the average high temperature, something a mathematically inclined person would not expect. However, I was disappointed to discover that it didn't seem to get up to 40F until about noon, which was a bit of a psychological issue for me, along with the short days. But I had layers and I wasn't cold. There were a few days with enough rain forecasted that I was glad I had thrown a lightweight but full-length raincoat in my suitcase. On other days I just took my rain jacket, which I needed for warmth early and late and sometimes as a windbreaker. Mid-day I was usually able to remove it and tie it around my waste. No one ever accused me of being fashionable.

@acraven - Thank you very much for your comments and encouragement. I've been checking weather.com for both the Adriatic and Amalfi sides and it seems decent. We had a lovely walk in 53 degree bright sunshine today in Vancouver, WA. I think we'll be fine with the temps in Italy. I'm not a hot weather person, but prefer to be dry on trips. I have long raincoats, weather-proofed shoes, umbrella, merlino wool undershirt, and I'm an Eddie Bauer fashionista - although, I don't think that's a thing. Still researching Malta for that possibility.

I took a pair of Eddie Bauer fleece-line pants on my winter trip and was very pleased with them. They helped keep me warm (though I sometimes wore long johns under them!), and the polyester/spandex fabric is pretty water-resistant. I think having a light layer under the pants helps keep my legs from feeling really wet, even in a downpour. The pants are currently on sale for $50, but I don't know how long that Black Friday price will hold.

Eddie Bauer polar-fleece-lined pants

For trips to warmer destinations I use the unlined 96%-97% nylon pants sold by Eddie Bauer, PrAna and Columbia, which are also somewhat water-resistant. At full price I think Columbia's the cheapest source of those three, and its fabric is just a bit thinner, which warm-natured folks might appreciate.

@ KayC, since you asked (and @acraven since you are contemplating a visit there), I put some photos of my recent trip to Malta online. Check PM for the link.

@ KayC especially - since you listed "history, scenery, architecture" as your top interests, I think Malta might have a pretty strong appeal for you. Check the photos, I think you may be surprised.

Cheers.

@David I'll take a peek at those photos! Since I'm also a photographer, I'm eager to see what you captured! Thank you!

David, I have also sent a PM regarding Malta. The idea of a shorter visit there is intriguing. We plan on doing the RS Best of Sicily in October.

@brdoo - PM with photo link sent. Happy to answer questions.