Sicily as holiday destination

stoney1916

Hi,
I was thinking of heading to Sicily for a week sometime this summer just myself and gf has anyone been there whats hoping to haed for relaxing quiet week quiet beach good food.anyone any ideas of a villa that you can rent for a week at a reasonable price.Does anyone know what messina is like or which part of the island would be most suitable for a quiet relaxing week
Many tnks,

aaf

Without a doubt, you should go to the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily for a very relaxing week. We stayed in Carasco Hotel on Lipari (5 islands make up the Aeolian's). You get the hydrofoil's from Palermo or Messina. You can then tour the different islands, one being Stromboli with it's active volcano (spouts lava every 7 or 8 mins). We spent a few days in the Aeolians and then travelled around Siciliy staying in Palermo, Taormina, Ortigia and Agrigento. Nice holiday. If you want more info, let me know. Did it a year and a half ago.

patneve

places NOT to go to in sicily: Augusta and Gela.
place TO go in Sicily: Palermo, Catania, Siracusa, Messina, Trapani, and TAORMINA which is a stunning city. Visit the islands too they are beautiful (crystal clear water). have fun:rolleyes:

Powerline

definitely Visit Taormina most beautiful city lots of restaurants and lots to see very relaxing on the beaches nearby. short flight time and Mount Etna on top is the nearest you will get to Mars

Unshelved

Had our honeymoon in Lipari and Taormini and it was fab.

+1 for the Aeolian Islands - beautiful. Stay in Lipari but don't forget to take a trip to see the volcano erupt at Stromboli - it's amazing. Only downside about the Aeolians is that everything seemed to shut early - we had a hard time finding an open bar after 10.30 (but it was September so the season was coming to an end).

Taormina is quite swanky - but the beach isn't great and it's expensive. There's some very nice cocktail bars and the nightlife is good. I'd have no problem going there again. For a cheaper option, a lot of people stay in the nearby town of Giardini Naxos and then go to Taormina for the nightlife. Naxos has a beautiful beach but not much else. Buses are cheap but stop early and taxis back down are expensive.

Food everywhere is excellent - especially if you like seafood.

happychick

aaf wrote: »

Without a doubt, you should go to the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily for a very relaxing week. We stayed in Carasco Hotel on Lipari (5 islands make up the Aeolian's). You get the hydrofoil's from Palermo or Messina. You can then tour the different islands, one being Stromboli with it's active volcano (spouts lava every 7 or 8 mins). We spent a few days in the Aeolians and then travelled around Siciliy staying in Palermo, Taormina, Ortigia and Agrigento. Nice holiday. If you want more info, let me know. Did it a year and a half ago.

who did u book ur holiday with?? im trying to plan my summer hols & just have no idea where to go - was thinking long haul but have heard good things about sicily just wanta know where to start off!

BigglesMcGee

Have to say i wasnt that impressed with Sicily.

Aeolian Islands were great. Taormina was lovely. Drive around the countryside and visit Palermo and a few places. But not all that much to do.
Dont spend more than a week would be my advice.

aaf

happychick wrote: »

who did u book ur holiday with?? im trying to plan my summer hols & just have no idea where to go - was thinking long haul but have heard good things about sicily just wanta know where to start off!

Will post details over wknd. Booked everything myself. More freedom that way and costs less.

learnerplates

We're planning on driving/camping around Sicily for 10 days in June, any recommendations on campsites or where to base ourselves?
Plan on snorkeling and that type of thing, any information on this? lunch in some small downs and see most of the coastline, not really doing it on the cheap just enjoy the camping.

Mcloke

aaf wrote: »

Will post details over wknd. Booked everything myself. More freedom that way and costs less.

Hi,
I am also really interested in the details for how you went about planning your holiday. The Aeolian Islands sound lovely. I find package holidays from Ireland very limited in options so DIY sounds good.
Really appreciate if you could give this advice.
Marie

aaf

Sorry for the delay in posting this info. Anyway, here's the skinny:

Return flight to Rome with Aer Lingus. Check out gohop.com for getting the cheapest flights. Enter your origin, destination and dates and it'll list all the operators. Then book the cheapest flights through the operators own website.

One night in Rome. Have stayed at and can recommend:
http://www.hotel-continentale.com/
http://www.hotelrimini.com/en/index.htm

Both hotels are within walking distance of railway station, which you'll arrive at on train from airport.

Internal Alitalia flights to Palermo. One night in Palermo. Have stayed at and can recommend:
http://www.hoteljoli.com/en/index.htm
http://www.ambasciatorihotelpalermo.net/eng/index.php

Not much to see in Palermo. We stayed on main street and there's not much to see or do except shop.

Hydrofoil to Palermo with
http://www.usticalines.it/index.php?lingua=E
They travel a couple of times a day and if you're island hopping in the Aeolian's, you'll probably use this service often.

Stayed a few nights on Lipari (the most populated island I think) in
http://www.carasco.com/index.php
Hotel is located about 10 min walk from main thoroughfare and has a nice big fully lit swimming pool. Really nice. Make sure you get a room with view of ocean. You can then island hop. Plenty of operator shops and booths around. We did the Stromboli at night cruise which takes you to Panarea and Stromboli (active volcano) where you get off and ramble for a few hours. Then back on the boat to view the eruptions at night. Think it spouts out some lava every 7-9 mins. Nothing major but well worth a look.

Hydrofoil back to Milazzo where I had organised to hire a car. Do not book with ArgusCarHire. Very disappointed with car, condition of car and a few other things. Nuff said. Drove to Taormina. Up in the mountains overlooking the sae and you can see coast of mainland Italy. Stayed in a fantastic kinda B&B (pensione):
http://www.villafioritahotel.com/uk/
It's built on side of mountain and is built into the rock kinda. Pretty cool. Again, a room with a view is recommended. They have a garage you can park the car. Nice pretty town. Think it's where all the rich and cultured go! Pricey shops etc but you could stroll around eating ice cream all night.

Booked a day trip to Mt Etna. A must do. Costly enough but it's fantastic.

Drove to Siracusa. Not too much to see here although I'd go back to go to the puppet theatre again ,Teatro dei Pupi. Brillant. One night would be enough there just to go see that. Wouldn't stay at b&b where I stayed so I won't mention it.

Moved onto Agrigento and stayed at:
http://www.cameraconvista.net/inglese/index.html
Lovely hotel located a few mins from ancient ruins. Not much else to see there.

Back to Palermo with a detour to Corleone. BIG disappointment. ****hole. DO NOT GO. Middle of nowhere and run down. There's a small town near Taormina I believe, which may be worth a trip as it's where the wedding scene from the Godfather movie was filmed. Google it! Anyway, Alitalia back to Rome and Aer Lingus home.

Here's a list of all hotels I considered for all destinations mentioned above:

Rome
http://www.hotelrimini.com/en/index.htm
http://www.hotel-continentale.com/ENG/
http://www.hoteladventure.com/home_ing.htm
http://www.gabriellahotel.it/
http://www.hotel-dolomiti.it/eng/index.php
http://www.hotelpiemonte.com/home_en.htm

Palermo
http://www.principedivillafranca.it/inglese/index2.htm
http://www.ambasciatorihotelpalermo.net/eng/index.php
http://www.hoteljoli.com/en/index.htm
http://www.massimoplazahotel.com/
http://www.hotelelite.info/eng/hotel/hotel.html
http://www.hoteltonic.com/english/index.htm

Lipari
http://www.hotelrocceazzurre.it/
http://www.dianabrown.it/en_index.html
http://www.carasco.com/index.html
http://www.pensioneneri.it/index-eng.asp
http://www.hotelorientelipari.com/
http://www.villameligunis.it/hotel_villa_meligunis.html

Taormina
http://www.villaschuler.com/english/default.asp
http://www.albergovictoria.it/Inglese/Home1024x768.htm
http://www.pensionesvizzera.com/english/default.asp
http://www.hotelvillagaia.com/en/index.htm
http://www.villafioritahotel.com/ambience.htm
http://www.villabelvedere.it/inglese/home.htm

Siracusa
http://www.sistemia.it/domusmariae/english/
http://www.hotelgranbretagna.it/homeeng.htm
http://www.ortigiaseaview.it/home_eng.htm - DON'T STAY HERE
http://www.guthotel.it/hotel/indexen.html
http://www.grandhotelsr.it/indexhome.asp?lang=en

Agrigento
http://www.cameraconvista.net/inglese/index.html
http://www.colleverdehotel.it/en/
http://www.hotelcostazzurra.it/index.asp?9668=025&referrerlink=hca
http://www.athenahotels.com/
http://www.jollyhotels.it/eng/ALBERGHI_scheda_classic.asp?Obj=516

Took two full weeks to do that trip. End up driving the whole way round Sicily. They're all mad drivers and I mean mad e.g. overtaking on blind bends etc.

Any questions, I'll try to answer them. Well worth a trip.

learnerplates

Any information on snorkelling in Sicily, particularly on the island itself and not on the smaller neighours.
We're not good snorkelers or anything but I do enjoy it and I've googled and it says lots about the surrounding islands but not much about Sicily itself.

Any information on camping also appreciated.

Also any information on the south of the island, it doesn't get as big a mention as the north coast and east.

aaf

learnerplates wrote: »

Any information on snorkelling in Sicily, particularly on the island itself and not on the smaller neighours.
We're not good snorkelers or anything but I do enjoy it and I've googled and it says lots about the surrounding islands but not much about Sicily itself.

Any information on camping also appreciated.

Also any information on the south of the island, it doesn't get as big a mention as the north coast and east.

Didn't do or notice anyone snorkelling anywhere we went. Didn't look at camping at all. Southern Sicily doesn't seem to have alot to offer. We stayed in Siracusa, which is kind of South-East. There weren't too many points of interest down South when I researched it. We just drove along the South without stopping really. Think I did most of my research on the fodors.com forums.

Naked Lepper

anybody know if there are any places in trapani that will show premiership football

i cant find anything anywhere online and need to watch a match there in the coming weeks

Jake The Fat Ma

Thinking of going to Sicily for 10 nights in september.

Lollymcd

We went last year, if you are interested in The Godfather movies then don't go to Corleone as it wasn't used in the movie! Savoca is where Michael and Apollonia got married and also where Bar Vitelli is. Make sure you stop at the bar for a granita.

Another beautiful town is Castlemole, make sure to check out the "special bar" in the town!

Also enjoyed Aci Castello

We did an Etna and Wine Tour with this company: http://www.etnaexperience.com/english/excursions/Etna-Wine-Tour.html I highly recommend it.

We hired a car and driver for some of the trip too http://www.sicilytourguides.net/Godfather_tour.htm I think it was about €200 for the day.

Sicily is so beautiful and the food is fantastic.