Sicily Tour

I would think that, based on the itinerary, most people fly into Palermo and out of Catania without backtracking to Palermo. If you absolutely have to do it (because a round trip ticket just makes more sense), it's fairly easy to take a bus from Catania.

My husband and I are taking this tour Spring 2017. I booked our flight into Palermo and out Catania. Both flights are in/out of Rome using Alitalia. We decided we did not want to travel back to Palermo.

I took the Sicily tour with family in February 2016 and enjoyed it so much that my husband and I are going in May, 2017! Last time and next time, we are flying into Palermo the night before the tour and leaving out of Catania the last day...and missing breakfast. Last time flew to Rome then Venice; next time we'll be flying to Milan then France for a week.

Ha, Darcy! I enjoyed it so much I also have taken it twice-most recently last March. We also flew into Palermo (a couple of days early) and out of Catania after staying there one night after the tour ended. We flew Delta into and out of Rome, connecting on Alitalia into Palermo and out of Catania. Both were good flights with easy connections.

We took the tour this past April. We spent a couple of days in Rome, then flew to Palermo and stayed a the tour hotel for a night before the tour started. At the end of the tour, we flew from Catania to Rome, spent a night there, then flew home. Some people expressed a wish to stay on in Catania, since the tour only included one night. Some tour members continued on to Taormina, since that town was not part of the off-season itinerary. Other tour members were taking a break after the Sicily tour and then joining another RS tour.

It is possible to fly from the US to/from Sicily, but it usually requires at least two stops. We found it more relaxing to break up the journey with stops in Rome. The flight itinerary we used (Boston-Rome via Dublin on AerLingus, then Alitalia flights from Rome to Palermo and Catania to Rome) were much cheaper than other flight alternatives. It was so cheap that it paid for the hotel in Rome on the way to and from Sicily. It was also nice to land first in a familiar city (Rome) before continuing with the rest of the trip.

I would also add that you may want to consider going to Malta since it's so close by. It's a 40 minute flight via Air Malta from Catania (inexpensive if you book early). I combined a Malta trip with a Siciliy trip, and am glad I saw both.

Note that although Palermo is a larger city, Catania has the larger airport, with more flights. So there's no need to return to Palermo just to get a flight.

When I took the Sicily Tour in 2014, it began and ended in Palermo. The itinerary has since changed. That said, the day the tour ended I flew to Naples for 3 nights and Sorrento for 4, then up to Verona and Venice to wind things up well. I enjoyed that tour and trip so much, that this evening I am posting from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and will begin the RS Bulgaria Tour in a couple of days. What a life, no?

Some thoughts on transportation. We are doing the Sicily trip in May 2017 and I just booked airfare. Prices if you did "multicity" - since we wanted to stop in Rome for three days prior to the tour - were really high (at least according to Kayak). So instead, I booked a R/T on Alitalia for $791 each, and then did separate tix for Rome - Palermo, Catania-Rome (flying back same day as our flight from Rome back to NY). Shockingly cheaper this way: the Catania flight was $25 EACH. Doesn't include seat assigments or checked bags, but price of a bag is 20 Euros - which isn't bad. Only caveat: Alitalia's site was hard to use - I had to call for assistance to receive actual electronic ticketing. But hopefully worth the hassle - if they don't strike (g).

For others who might be inclined to attempt Laura's technique: Be sure the savings are worth the risk. If something goes badly wrong with the flight into Rome and you miss the same-day trans-Atlantic flight, you'll be buying a very costly last-minute one-way ticket back home.

When push comes to shove, I find that I am gutless when faced with that choice, always caving and paying the full freight for a through-ticket.

I'm also very risk-averse. One thing to consider is the proximity of Catania to Etna. If Etna starts to smoke, which happens once in a while, it can reduce visibility enough to close the airport, causing delays. That's not terrible if you're continuing on to the mainland for more touring, but if you're connecting to a trans-Atlantic flight home . . . .

Hi. Laura again. Also bought travel insurance for the trip just in case. I am risk averse also, but fares were ridiculous as a multi city trip.

I also did the connection in Rome on separate tickets, but I chose an early morning flight (6:30). My flight from Rome was scheduled to depart just before noon. Fortunately there were no issues and I made my flight with plenty of time to spare.

One side note both Alitalia and Ryanair fly Catania to Rome. I had friends on the Ryanair flight that was scheduled to leave a little later than mine. Alitalia uses buses to get you to the plane. As I was boarding the bus, I could see the Ryanair plane push back for departure. At the Rome end Alitalia uses a bus link too. So if you're trying to save every minute Ryanair may be the way to go.

A final note, I learned in these forums that if booking online for Alitalia change the site in the upper left hand side to international. This resulted in significant savings. I think it was $130 vs. 57 euro.