Sicily

token101

Going to Sicily in early May for 3 days. We've only booked flights in/out of Catania so far but wondering where we should base ourselves? Is there enough in Taormina to stay 2 days? Is Catania worth spending much time in? Anywhere else we should be looking at?

teecee74

Hi

I went to Sicily last summer for 10 days and it was great - I'm very jealous. However in 3 days you won't have much time for travelling around, also if you are relying on public transport it can take a while to get around and if you're hiring a car, get the smallest one you can get and prepare to have hassle parking.

Taormina is definitely worth spending the bulk of your time in. We booked an apartment with Airbnb and it worked out really well apart from no wifi. The apartment was in the old town and I'd recommend that you stay near the town rather than Giardini Naxos or near the beach. The reason being that the town is where you will probably go for dinner or drinks or shopping or wandering in the evenings so it's better to be closer to there than the beach. We passed through GN and it looked fine but it looked like any resort town whereas Taormina is really special - though be prepared to walk uphill a lot. If you are renting an apartment, ask them to collect you from the bus station as it's as difficult as Venice to find your way until you get a feel for the place.

The beach and Isola Bella are amazing. Near Isola Bella is a public beach but the private areas with sun loungers and bars are okay value. From the town we took the cable car which was about €6 return and worth it! It looks close on a map but the walk is incredibly steep, the roads are narrow and there aren't always footpaths.

We arrived in Palermo airport and spent most of the day getting to Taormina on public transport. You are lucky though as there is a direct bus from the airport in Catania to Taormina.

We did a walking tour around Taormina and I would recommend it as there is a lot hidden off the main street that you might not otherwise find. For a small town there is an awful lot to see.

We were lucky that our trip coincided with the Taormina film festival which meant buying cheap tickets (5-10 euro) to films (Walking on Sunshine/Planet of the Apes) being shown in the amazing Teatro plus we got to see Matt Dillon, Melanie Griffiths, Bo Derek receiving awards and making terrible speeches.

The best restaurant we went to was 'a Zammara - to find it walk along Corso Umberto until you get to the large Bank of Sicily and take the side street heading down hill. Great food in a great setting.

There are lots of places selling tours of Mt Etna. Our experience was we signed up for the afternoon excursion. It was really expensive to sign up for the whole thing - some people paid just to go to the "base camp" and then found out they would have to wait there for a few hours until those who had paid extra for the excursion to the top returned. There was very little to do and not a lot of shelter. IF you are thinking of going there bring warm clothes, trousers and runners/boots. There are some shops that will rent jackets and boots there and you will need them. We didn't make it to the top as (and I'm not making this up) there was snow followed by a blizzard and at half the stop we couldn't get out of the truck. On the way back they stop at a restaurant for an okay meal and then we got home around 11pm. It really wasn't worth the money and we would have had a nicer time staying in the town or the beach. Someone else did a trip to Stromboli and loved it.

You could get an early bus back to Catania if you wanted to look around but in 3 days I think that you will have enough to do in Taormina.

We went from Taormina to Cefalu which I would also recommend if you had longer and were flying home from Palermo. We stayed in a hotel called Tourist Hotel which was great. Lovely pool, 10 minute walk along the promenade to town, good wifi, helpful staff with great recommendations and terrific value. It's a relaxed place with lovely beaches and amazing sunsets. It's a short train ride from Palermo so popular for weekend getaways.

Palermo itself looked like a series of slums at the beginning but it's really lovely, everyone is friendly and there's something to see around every corner - plus you will see more weddings that you will ever have seen before.

Hope this helps.

Bacchus

Hey, my wife and I spent a week of our honeymoon in Sicily. Fantastic corner of the world. It has everything IMO, great weather, great food, wonderful old world Italian towns/villages, great drives, great sites and Palermo is a lovely city.

The only negative thing I have to say about Sicily is Catania. It is a dive of a place IMO (sorry to be blunt). There is no charm to it at all, I actually felt unsafe there and was nearly robbed getting out of a taxi in the town center (thanks to our taxi driver for warning me and chasing off the would be thief my wallet remained mine). Even the food wasn't as good there.

We took a day trip to Taormina. Beautiful place to visit. We regretted not spending a night there (we were booked in for 2 nights in Catania before our flight home) but I would think 1 day/night is sufficient.

We flew into Palermo and drove east to Cefalu before heading into the island where we stayed for 2 nights in a wonderful farmhouse near Polizzi Generosa. After that we went to Catania and Taormina.

I really liked Palermo (I agree with TeeCee74's assessment, it doesn't look great on the way in but it is really nice). Nice city, good shopping, good student vibe in the evening for a bit of socializing.

Cefalu was a brilliant spot. It's a small town but it's great for wandering around. It's a bit touristy alright but we weren't there in peak season. There's a nice little hike up to a castle there that you can do for amazing views. There's a decent beach there too if you like that.

We loved Polizzi Generosa. We didn't stay there, we just drove around the area with the farmhouse as our base (the middle of Sicily is stunning in Spring - so green). We went to Polizzi Generosa and it's pretty cool - just google it for the images. It is exactly what I think of when I try to think of a stereotypical old Italian town. There's nothing in particular to there but we enjoyed walking through the street and taking the views.

token101

This is excellent stuff. Thanks very much to both of you, much appreciated.