hi my name in John.
My wife and I are going to Italy for 2 months March and April 2018.
We would like to know if Catania is a good place to call our hub and if so where would be a good area to stay (we would rent a vacation home off VRBO or so or do you have a better solution)
if we do stay in Catania where would be a good place were you can walk to most restaurant, coffee shop and shopping and close to bus depot and euro train system
Catania is in Sicily, so not suitable as your sole base unless you want to spend all your time on that island. Where do you want to go in Italy, and what are you hoping to see?
Sicily itself is large enough that Catania is not practical as a base for seeing the entire island. I suggest that you go to ViaMichelin and check out driving times from potential bases to possible day-trip destinations so you know what you're setting yourself up for. If you plan to use public transportation rather than renting a car, you should figure that travel time is likely to be considerably longer than the private-car estimates provided by ViaMichelin.
There really isn't such a thing as a "euro train system". Each country has its own trains; many countries have multiple rail companies. If you're contemplating rail passes, I'd discourage that. They're seldom a good deal these days (especially in Italy), and for folks planning a stay-put vacation, a rail pass would almost certainly be a waste of money.
Although Sicily has some train service, it is somewhat limited. You'll probably end up using buses a lot.
Thank you for the info
we wanted a location that will not be cold below 65+ degree March and April it seen upper parts of Italy it still winter and cold
It's early April now and Turin was 23degrees centigrade (72F) yesterday
Catania is not really Sicily at its best. Take a look at Taormina. As state above, you cannot see Italy, nor Sicily, from one base.
In March, the weather can be lovely or °iffy.° We went to Siclly one March and froze! Wind and rain for the better part of a week, although Italian friends told us it would be beach weather. So prepare for anything.
Why not move around a little? A week in Toarmina, a week in Siracusa, a week in the west (Trapani?), and then a month in Rome?
No weather is ever guaranteed, but generally south of Rome is a very tolerable "winter" and spring is usually full on by April. Anywhere near the sea will be pleasant. I suggest at least 3 locations in 2 months. You may want to consider time in Greece too.
Thank you for your info I do agree with you that 3 location would be better
would you stay in the centre of a city walking distance to shop and dinning?
we always rent vacation home less expensive than hotel and more relaxing and private
So if i may ask your advice
What 3 spot would you go to
1) March being the coldest of our month where would one go that you would at lease get 17 to 19 degrees celcuis.
2 2nd place
3rd place
I'm not sure what you mean by "at least get 17 to 19" Celsius. Is it OK if the high for the day at 1 or 2 PM is 17 C, or do you mean you hope it will be at least that warm for the bulk of the day?
(For the Celsium-challenged, the OP is asking for 62.6 - 66.2 F.)
I think it's going to be challenging to find a place that meets that standard in March. This webpage has a temperature chart for Palermo. Not warm enough. Of course, those are just monthly average highs. If you want to see hour-by-hour temperatures, you can check out wunderground.com, which has stats going back a number of years. Here's March 2017. Scroll down to the temperature line graph. And here's March 2017 for Catania.
Thank you yes that what I meant 17 to 19 or better
It seen Catania is warmer in March and it has a lot of outlet store, restaurant and coffee shop.
went travelling for months it important to have a good hub from threr you can rent a car or driver and transits and train a must
