Sicily

I've recently retired after 11 years with a small, family run company selling holidays to southern Italy & the islands.ROWANTREE - I.agree completely with granjura & would never advise a car in Palermo - pick one up after a couple of days & head off to either Taormina or Siracusa,(3 days each) depending on where you're catching the train back to Naples from & how far you feel happy driving. Palermo is bustling & vibrant &, in common with cities all over the world, you wouldn't want to venture into certain parts but the tourist trade is valued , there is so much to see so enjoy it &, as you would anywhere, be vigilant & look after your valuables. I love October in Sicily as it's still warm/hot & the sea is perfect for swimming. Siracusa is a delight & Taormina is one of my favourite places in the world - try The Metropole for its fantastic location right in the heart with stunning views or idyllic little Casa Turchetti, a stylish b&b with lovely owners & amazing breakfasts.

Enjoy the planning and the trip. Personally I wouldn't go in October, because for me, Sicily flowers in May and June just make the trips 1000x better. But it will still be pleasant enough weatherwise.

The only part of Sicily we haven't visited is Palermo- and is next on the list. We plan to stay there a whole week- so any info about Hôtels, B&Bs and trips, etc, I am all ears.

Palermo is not the easiest of cities to visit and you have to have your wits about you- so it's important to pick the right place to stay, and with safe parking. In fact, when we go, we won't rent a car for that week, and pick up a car later to go back to wonderful Cefalu, about 1 hours to the East, which is beautiful and super safe- with a wonderful Norman Cathedral. Perhaps that would be a safer bet for you. We stayed at the great Hôtel Calete just East of the town in a nice bay- but there are plenty of nice places in town.

I wouldn't stay in Syracuse, but in Ortigia, the peninsula attached to it. We stayed in an old Convent right by the sea front- and you could walk everywhere from there- and we had booked a parking space in front of the Hôtel in advance. If interested, I could look up the detail- can't remember from top of head.

Taormina is split into 2, the touristy parts by the sea below, which I imagine will be very quiet in October, or the old town itself. I would definitely stay in the town, so you can walk to the amphitheatre and all the sights.

Well, I must say, this is all very interesting! We are just in the process of booking our first visit to Sicily. For various reasons we are going in October (not least being that we don't like searing heat). DH doesn't like flying so we're going by boat and trains and then hiring a car in Sicily. Seems to be so much to see and I know we can't do it justice in the time we have - 8/9 days, after which we are going to Naples. We're looking for B&B type accomodation, or small hotels, in Palermo. (Did someone say that city isn't safe? If so, in what way?)
After Palermo we are thinking of staying in Siracusa and Taormina but we don't know whether to aim to stay in the centre of the towns or try somewhere outside.
How many days would be adequate to allot to Palermo, Siracusa and Taormina to do them justice, do you think? Or are there places which you'd recommend over and above? We're organising it all ourselves - DH is a dab hand at this, though it stresses him out until he's got it all sorted and booked!

What would Sicily be like in October? I accept we wouldn't get the wonderful spring flowers....maybe another year for those!

Can't wait to hear all about it- it's a wonderful time to go. Montalbano's home is in Punta Secca- not sure about buses there. Enjoy.

This is an interesting thread. We are off to Sicily last week in May. OH and I have long been fans of Inspector Montalbano, and decided to get some early sunshine and after months of research have settle on Marina de Ragusa. Flying into the new little airport at Comiso and staying in an apartment close to the beach in the marina.

There are buses to Noto, Ragusa, Syracuse, all over in fact. We are not hiring a car as OH is no longer very happy about driving abroad, and frankly neither am I especially on that Island., and so we wanted somewhere we could use as a base and travel all over by local transport.

We thought of a two center holiday, Palermo, Ragusa, or Ragusa/Syracuse but it got too complicated! All the flights are from different airlines and getting to and from the airports all just seemed too much like hard work, so it is a mixture of beach and history.

Our host is a chap called Ivan who is Northern Italian, and has 100's of excellent reviews on all his property, in fact he seems to partly own the Marina! So we have a 2 bedder, close to the sea, with an ice cream shop 3 yards away! I shall come back very fat.

Just returned from 1 week in Taormina. Had a great time- but we much preferred Montalbano country, Syracuse, Ortigia, Scicli, Ragusa, Modica and Noto last year.

Weather was not brilliant either, and the Hôtel was a great disappointment. We loved the Greek theater and views, and our best day was a wild mountain trip to the North, and a visit to the Greek/Roman antique town and theatre of Tyndaris. The Hôtel restaurant was closed, so we had to schlep up the hill to town every night for dinner- but found a great family restaurant where we ate every evening but one- and were treated like family... with the best food and wine too.

Season really does not start until Easter, and the seaside resorts were empty, with very few restaurants open- and it all looked quite run down and desolate. Still, we are pleased with have done that part of Sicily justice now- and can't wait to return to the baroque South-East again- and Palermo next time, with a return visit to wonderful Cefalu and Erice.

If anyone has good recommendations for Palermo- I am all ears (not for a while, as having my knee replacement on Tuesday - yiiikes )

We stayed just along the coast from Palermo in June about 3 years ago. The trouble was that they had an exceptionally hot period up to about 49c so we could hardly do a thing - Did go to Palermo though - and enjoyed what we saw in between dashing into air-conditioned shops!

Thanks Maggie Maybe for the info. As you say, horses for courses- and that is great.

Petallus, the villa we stayed inb was wonderful- simple modern chic- with magnificent views near Scicli/Sampieri. It is a bit out in the sticks, in the middle of wild flower fileds and old olive trees- 5 mins out of Sampieri inland. There were 3 villas well set out in one location- sharing a large pool- but we were the only ones there. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 large doubles and 1 with twin beds, and 2 bathrooms- so would probably be too large (and you need to have a hired car). It would be perfect for 3 families wanted to be together and yet have their privacy. If you search for it, it is called Isla Verde - Sampieri. A bit pricey but OK as we shared and went offpeak.

We stayed at the Sorrento Palace Hilton, granjura, which was a cut above our usual hotel choice, but this was the offer for the extra week and wasn't too expensive at the time (about 7 years ago). The hotel was fantastic - a little bit of a climb out of Sorrento, but that meant it had the most wonderful views. We could see Vesuvius puffing away from our room and from the dining room terrace. I remember thinking that I would love to take future GC there, and we will if our premium bonds come up - there weren't actually many children there, but they have activities for older ones, a creche for the tots and, what impressed me, a buffet table just for children, with proper food (not a chicken nugget in sight!). Sorrento is a really relaxed place for chilling out, but we fitted in the Amalfi Coast drive and visits to Pompeii, Ischia and Capri during the week.

I suppose it's horses for courses when it comes to organised touring holidays. We enjoy them because I don't drive and DH prefers to relax and be driven on holiday - a bus is a treat for him! But of course you know where you're going in advance, which wouldn't suit everyone (but does us). We were certainly not rushed round anything - Archers tend to drop you off and leave you to it, sometimes with a short orientation tour first, which is what happened in Palermo, where we only had a day and a half. We saw the brief highlights then spent time exploring the bits we fancied in more detail. It is a bit rough and ready in parts, and our hotel was conveniently situated next to the docks(!), but we enjoyed it.

granjura we still have not been to Sicily.

We cannot share a hotel room because of sleeping problems (DH yells and kicks in his sleep) so I want to book an apartment. Which one did you stay at.

BTW what was the week in Sorrento like? and the Hôtel? That would be a great option to take the ferry back ande fly back from there!

Thanks for that - we definitely want to go back, and see the bits we haven't, like Selinunte and Sciacca, visit Palermo properly (any recommendations for a good hôtel of B&B in a safe area and guided tours would be really welcome) and visit Taormina properly as we only had 1 day there, and the Nature reserves/mountains above Cefalu.

We would love to do a proper guided tout of Palermo, as it is a big town, with some parts being not so safe- but otherwise I have to say 1 week or 2 guided would drive us potty- as we love to turn right, turn left... and mooch around. We saw groups taken through the Valley of the Temples and the fabulous Archeological Museum there- at the rates of knots- whereas we spent a whole day at one and a nearly a whole day at the other- avoiding the crowds.

If anyone would like info about places where we stayed- happy to help.
Next time we will go 2nd and 3rd week in May, so the flowers are still wonderful but perhaps less windy and a tad hotter.

We had a wonderful tour of Sicily with Archers Holidays (other tour companies are available!). This one took us to Mount Etna, Taormina, Syracuse, Agrigento, Selinunte, Palermo and we finished off with an optional week in Sorrento to recover. It was one of the best holidays we've ever had.

The stand out experiences for me were Mount Etna, which you travel up via cable car and jeep (it's like a lunar landscape at the top, with puffs of smoke billowing up between your feet), Taormina, which has wonderful views and is just a beautiful little town, and Syracuse, where we had a brilliant guide to take us round the historic sites. Though nowhere disappointed. There was a wedding going on in one corner of the cathedral in Palermo that wouldn't have looked out of place in a scene from The Godfather - everyone was suited and booted and the women wore the most beautiful designer clothes, but all the guests were wandering in and out and talking away as the couple took their vows and everyone was totally oblivious to the tourists wandering around as it went on. Palermo is the only place where I've seen triple parking on a zebra crossing, granjura!

You've got me itching to go back there now!

Stansgran, would you be kind enough to share the name of the Hôtel- Palermo is the only city we've not visited so far - but we are a bit nervous to go without support. Did the place have safe parking???

Did you go? Just come back from 2 weeks there- in the South this time.
We flew to Catania with EJ, and hired a car- then drove South to Siracuse where we stayed in a great hôtel on the peninsula of Ortigia- which was wonderful. Then we drove on to the villa we had rented near the gorgeous town of Scicli- where Montalbano has his office in the series. Fabulous intro to Baroque Southern Sicily- so different to the North as it was destroyed by en earthquake at the end of the 18C. Baroque normally leaves me cold, all that white marble- but in warm Sicilan golden limestone- wonderful. Our villa was in the countryside above Sampieri- where is the romantic stone derelict brick factory by the sea, often seen in episodes. Walked on the rocky front in front, and the beach by the side- with a wild sea due to high winds - but sunny and warm- and great wild flowers. Also visited all the other Montalbano towns, Ragusa, Modica, Noto and Noto Antica, where huge swaves of wild sweet peas, orchids, and so many other wild flowers were just beyond my expectations. There were 4 different types of wild sweet peas there.

And on the day we went for lunch to Punta Secca, the tiny seaside resort where his house is (well his TV house, which is actually a B&B)- we could not get into town- and parked outside and walked in - only to find they were filming the next series. We went for a great lunch nearby, and when we got back- there was 'Flavio' in his swimming trunks on the ground-floor factory- I had my binocs, so had a good view. Lol, he is not my type actually, getting a bit podgy and with bandy legs- but that was fun anyhow.

We then moved on to San Leone, a small seasite resort just below Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples- which we visited on second day- magical. We bought a couple of DVDs to watch on our return, and there was San Leone harbour in the first episode, lol, right next to our Hôtel. Next day we went to Scala dei Turchi white lime steps, and the tiny village of Siculiana where we had our best meal of the holiday- totally by chance- and then on to a nearby WWF nature reserve for a big walk- full of the most fabulous wild flowers, again, loads of sweet peas, yellow margerites, rampant red clover, orchids, cistus and rock roses, rosemary and thyme and totally a new one which balled us over - loads and loads of tiny irises about 1 inch tall?

We finished with 2 days in Catania- again a pleasant surprise- great food, a ride on the small tourist train as my knee was giving me so much gip (unfortunately loads of beggars- which we nver came across anywhere else).

Sorry for long post - but did you guess that we just loved it. Happy to advise re our Hôtels or villa, etc. The villa was very modern but chic- great terrasse and views, in the middle of wild flower fields and olives- 2 double bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and 1 with twin beds (there were 4 of us)- and 1 of 3, with large pool- in splendid isolation, with lots of space around each one- which would be great for 3 familes.

Noble Caledonia are doing a shorter cruise than we did with them. It's advertised today. Have a look at where they are going. It will give you an idea of what there is. It doesn't go to Empedocle where there is a statue of Montalbano(nothing like the actor) nor to any of the islands or cruise round the volcanoes but it does go to piazza Almeria which we didn't. We stayed in a restored palazzo in the centre of Palermo at the end of the stay. It was basic and central but the owner was brilliant. He had regular returners and will get you tickets for the opera or book restaurants. An absolutely lovely man

Wow! Thanks!

Forgot the small town and magnificent Church of Montreale, too- which was amazing.

We went last year- EasyJet to Catania, then rented a car and drove up to Taormina for lunch, and on to North Coast- and stopped in a lovely Hôtel Le Calette, just outside the wonderful town of Cefalu- where we stayed for 3 nights- great location and really excellent staff and food. Then on to the West, and stayed near Erice, which is a lovely very old ill town, and also SAn Vito de Capo- where we took a boat trip all around the nature coastal reserve. We also visited the Temple and amphitheathre of Segeste, and then drove back to Catania via the small roads in the centre- and found some amazing ruins and cave dwellings, etc.

This year, we are returning to do the South, again EasyJet to Catania, rent a car then drive to Syracuse where we will stay for 3 nights on the old peninsula Ortygia- in an old Convent- then rented a villa for the 4 of us near Scicli in Motalbano country for 1 week. Will then drive up all the way up the coast, stopping as we go, for a few days and return via inland roads. Can't wait. We are going end of April, and hoping the flowers will be just wonderful and the temps not too hot.

Taormina is nice.

We had a cruise around Sicily in a small boat for a couple of weeks and loved it and definitely want to go back and spend longer in one place. I think Siracusa was the place I felt I would like to stay for a length of time. Cefalu was charming but I think not for too long although there were some lovely apartments for very good prices. I think the spring would be perfect as the archeological sites would be too hot for me in summer. You can now do Montalbano tours.