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  • Sicily – Where to go, what to do etc?
  • bradfoot
    Free Member

    Posting under another name as the other half comes on here occasionally….

    Looking at 3 nights away to Sicily in the spring with my wife. Looking for a chilled out relaxed time eating/drinking/sightseeing etc.

    Flying to Catania, and so far thoughts are East coast only. As in:

    Day 1 – Head up towards Taormina, area for a night.

    Day 2 – Cable car & walk up Mt Etna. Drive to Syracuse for the night

    Day 3 – Syracuse / Noto / Vineyard.

    Day 4 – return to Catania.

    Is there anything we really will be missing out on, or anywhere we shouldn’t go that I have been thinking of? Also any accommodation recommendations?

    Also Mount Etna. Has anyone done it, would you say a guide is essential?

    Ta

    squin
    Free Member

    Only been once to Taormina and loved it (stayed there for a week). Taormina is very pretty, nice vibe, great restaurant etc. It’s very ‘ controlled’ and subsequently feels very very safe and there is no litter/graffiti etc. A couple of the beaches are private but there are public beaches/areas etc. People are really lovely and friendly.

    If you are planning on getting a cab from the airport, get your accommodation to arrange it at a fixed price – or get the train which runs along the coast.

    We tried to book an excursion up Etna but they were all fully booked so I’d advise booking well in advance (although we went in August).

    Can’t advise on the other stuff I’m afraid.

    Enjoy.

    BigButSlimmerBloke
    Free Member

    ^^^ What he said. You haven’t mentioned Palermo, and TBH, i wouldn’t bother. Taormina, Syracuse and Catania are nicer, although Catania itself is a bit rough.
    Booking a trip up Etna? I just caught the bus from the bus stance at the railway station up to big car park where the shops are, then the excursion to the top. No advance booking, but you’d probably be best to check that hasn’t changed because going to the top of a live volcano is AWESOME.
    Also, Taormina – make the amphitheatre THE reason to go. There’s other stuff but it’s a great walk and a stunning place.
    EDIT food and drink – go anywhere, it’ll be fine.
    EDIT again – learn some Italian. English isn’t so widely spoken the further south you get from Rome, and Sicily is as far south as you’re gong to get. But communication always works if you keep smiling and look like you’ve made the effort.

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    Stoatsbrother
    Free Member

    Not Palermo or Marsala

    Hope to see the Taormina end some day

    egb81
    Free Member

    Agreed on avoiding Palermo, it’s not much cop. Taormina is ok. We stayed up the hill in Castelmola, which was loads cheaper than Taromina itself, had the advantage of an amazing view and a fun, ridiculously steep walk 500m vertically up and down. Etna was ok but the cost of the tour was way too high for what you get.

    zippykona
    Full Member

    They drive like **** idiots.
    Taormina is nice. I was really surprised how bad the food was anywhere outside Taormina. We did find one nice place in the mountains but also one place we were lucky to escape alive. I think it was a restaurant for family and friends only.

    donald
    Free Member

    Lucky Ms bradfoot.

    ‘egb81’ did you visit Nobby’s Bar 🙂

    Be careful not to try to fit too much in. It’s a big island and there’s so much to see. If you’re hiring a car go for the smallest one you can get and make sure you’re well insured. The local driving will give you Tourrette’s Syndrome within 15 minutes. If you need to buy a ticket for on-street parking go in to the nearest tobacconist – they sell them. In Taormina you park down the hill and get a free shuttle bus to town. Eat where the locals go. Everything shuts for an enormously extended lunch break and opens up again in the evening. You should take an early evening promenade with the locals too. Drink Sicilian wine.

    Taormina is nice but very chichi. It’s more like the south of France than anywhere else on the island but it’s very pretty and the theatre is spectacular on a clear day.

    I’ve been up to the car park on Etna (south side). Great views but we didn’t go any higher. I can’t comment on going higher with a guide I’m afraid.

    You could spend more than a day in Syracuse. You should go to the archaeology district, the early Christian crypts and Ortygia. If you stay in Ortygia get hotel parking. The museum is probably too much if you’re on a flying visit. The cathedral built of a recycled greek temple must be seen and the church round the corner has a Caravagio.

    Catania should be avoided apart from the airport. The strip of coast south of Catania is industrialised.

    If you have time to go to Noto then do so but you can always leave it for another visit with the other Baroque cities.

    edhornby
    Full Member

    Catania then up to taormina and then down to Syracuse then back to Catania is a lot of driving for 3 nights, taormina to Syracuse is probably 4 hours of motorway.. I would pick either one and do it justice.

    Book the hire car in advance and collect from Catania is straight forward, get a fit 500 because the city streets are tight and parking is mad

    Explore the countryside if you can

    bradfoot
    Free Member

    Thanks for all the advice, very useful!

    It sounds like whatever, we will not be disappointed with Sicily as a destination.

    We will hire a car, and was already thinking of picking the smallest possible!

    Good point about not trying to do too much. May think about 2 nights Taormina, and then 1 night Syracuse.

    When I have googled distances, Taormina to Syracuse says 1 1/2 hrs. OK google is never quite right but not 3 hrs out?

    egb81 – Would you recommend the hotel you stayed at in Castelmola? I had oddly already been looking at stuff up in the hills from Taormina. Much prefer that to being right in a full on touristy bit.

    A young family means that we will not get chance to come back in a hurry again, so hence why although not wanting to do too much, at least wanting to see a fair bit, if that makes sense…

    Ta

    johnx2
    Free Member

    Been a couple of times, separated by 30 years. Not sure I’d go back in a hurry as there are more fun bits of italy to visit.

    Drove from the mainland to Palermo and spent a few days in Scopello on the edge of a national park and the only bit of coast which doesn’t have a big road. I personally do think Palermo’s worth a visit. Stayed at a really nice hotel (big rooms, double/triple height ceilings etc) near the old maffia prison.

    Driving in Palermo is an absolute hoot, in a third world kind of way. I’d feel full on no need for any other adrenaline-related activities if I lived there… Though there was attempted ripping off in a rough-guide recommended restaurant: my 50 euro note was just procured from a cashpoint was ‘forged’. Cue long shouty scene, a couple of very very hard looking, but thankfully relaxed, guys stepping forward to sort it out. No idea who they were, but they obviously commanded some respect. I ended up losing what would’ve been the tip. Hey ho.

    Unfortunately we returned to the hotel down a dark and atmospheric side-street, suddenly there’s no one around and we’ve been followed by two guys who want my watch (for some reason.) Luckily not the hard guys and they backed off in the face of a bit of resolve, though not as far as I’d’ve like. Shook my wife up a bit though.

    Catania’s got a similar reputation, so yeah, erm don’t be daft. Like me.

    I seem to be typing in full what I did in my holidays.

    Then we stayed in a nice hotel at Zefferana Etna, near Etna. Went for a nice walk round an up the mountain. Clear mtb trails. It was erupting. Highly recommended…

    The end.

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