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Old July 12th, 2017, 03:40 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
tim...[_2_]
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Posts: 46
Default Sicily A report from Andalucia, July 2017



"Giovanni Drogo" wrote in message
news:alpine.LSU.2.00.1707121024490.21780@cbfrvqba. ynzoengr.vans.vg...
On Tue, 11 Jul 2017, tim... wrote:

I first (and only) visited Sicily in 82 when I was working a year in
Italy


Well, as far as tourism is concerned when I was in Sicily I did it with
organized tours, except when I was there for work (but that was just in
Palermo and Catania, and Erice which is a conference place ... the
conference organizers, there and in Catania, took care of appropriate
tours)

I do not consider it a public transport friendly place. Recently a disable
friend (in wheelchair) wanted to spend a weekend in Palermo (without
hiring a car as sometimes the person who accompanies him does), and I
guess he missed some places like Monreale.

I scheduled a two week holiday which I spent in the very south of Italy
and on the Island - travelling by train.


You were very brave (*). The sicilian railways have poor fame (slow and
unfrequent), apparently the locals prefer buses.

(*) or are you a railway fan ? The actor Marco Paolini and the journalist
Paolo Rumiz did a full railway tour of Italy using only local trains and
starting just from Sicily if I remember well. The book is called "L'Italia
in seconda classe" (Italy in 2nd class, I do not know if it was
translated)

I'm sure that I missed some places. I remember that I got the train to
Enna, fully expecting that if the station wasn't in the town centre (it
isn't by about 5 km) there would be as bus as the had been at *every*
other random Italian town that I had visited. But there wasn't and still
isn't


I guess I'd never consider Enna as a destination worth visiting. I still
think the station is poorly connected. In the last years on a transport
forum we run a contest "virtual tour of Italy with public transport" where
we had to plan trips from place to place using information on web sites,
and for Enna almost every participant used buses.

Anyhow ... I'd never taken the ferry from Reggio Calabria to Messina,
though the sight of the strait should be nice, and I've never visited
Messina (which was destroyed in the quake of 1908), always skimmed around
it.

Anyhow there is a main railway line from Messina to Palermo but I am not
sure how comfortable it is for the main sights along the route.

Tindari has a shrine up on the hill (not of artistic or historic interest)
with a beautiful view on the dunes below.

Milazzo is the main port going to the Lipari islands, but I thin the
harbour and the station are not near (we came from Catania airport with


there's bound to be a bus, surely

here you go:

http://lanostramilazzo.altervista.or...%202017%20.pdf


a van). The islands (Vulcano, Lipari, Panarea and Stromboli are the ones
I visited, the others are farther) are definitely worth visiting.


I hadn't really considered visiting the Islands

The ferries don't seem to be overly helpful when visiting for a day trip,
but accommodation on the islands is so limited that you really have plan
ahead to get it right

spending 3 or 4 days on these islands definitely works against touring by
car


Cefalu' has a nice norman cathedral, and possibly it is the best located
for what railways connections are concerned.

Bagheria near Palermo should host some nice villas, but I am not sure if
they are open for visits.


Solunto?


Palermo you possibly know and should be visitable within walking distances
or using urban buses. I guess they go even up to Monreale with a VERY nice
norman cathedral with mosaics.


seems to be bus 389

http://amat.pa.it/immagini/mappa_agg_2016_04_01.pdf

(what a rubbish map that is - unreadable "normal" sized, out of focus zoomed
in)

And don't get me started on maps that are orientated the wrong way round

AFAIK the railway connection to Palermo airport is closed for
refurbishment (I always used the frequent bus connection, when I went
there the railway link was not existing).


since 29th June 2015 - haven't they finished it yet - it's only a few Km
that is being upgraded

It should be a branch of a line going to Trapani and Castelvetrano.

In Trapani I visited only the Pepoli museum (we came down half a day from
Erice), but it should be the main port towards the Egadi islands (where
I've never been). Erice is up on the hill (sometimes in the fog) and
worth visiting (I do not know about connections, there used to be even a
funicolar, I always used the coach of the conference centre).

I've never visited Marsala, the saline (salt flats) and the western coast.


didn't know of the salt flats

The railway line to Castelvetrano (on the southern coast) should have a
stop near the Segesta temple (but I guess a fair walk).


would that be the stop called Segesta tempio?

Google isn't showing the intermediate stops on this line, though it is
showing the times of 4 or 5 trains from Alcamo Diramazione to Trapani, so I
guess the line's still open - (in 82 there was 11 trains a day)

Oh, looking on DB I see that all the Trapani services are via Castelvetrano,
so the direct line's not still open

No sign of any buses either

Was there with tours both from Palermo and Erice. It is an unfinished doric
temple built by the Elimi, fully isolated (the theatre and other remains
are behind a hill, possibly the archeological site has a shuttle connecting
them.

As far as I know there are no operating railways on the south-west coast
(near Selinunte temples,


that's in a town, there's bound to be a bus (presumably from Campobello di
Mazara)

or Sciacca).

The main lines from Palermo to Agrigento and Catania go through the
interior (you know Enna), which I never visited.

The station in Agrigento is near the old centre, but the excellent
archeological site, as the name "Temple Valley" says, is down in the
valley.


I caught the bus

the site is so big it looks walkable, but after about 15 minutes of not
being significantly nearer I gave up and waited at the next bus stop

I wouldn't even consider walking now.

I do not know about transport connections to Piazza Armerina, nor about
the distance to the roman Villa del Casale (which has an impressive
collection of floor mosaics).

Another main line goes from Messina to Catania and Siracusa. It stops at
Taormina (but the city is up on a hill)


I stayed in the cheep and awful hotel opposite the station

and walked up the hill more than once

but isn't there a cable car or something now?

and Acireale. I guess not very frequent (when we had a conference at Capo
Mulini, I preferred to take the tour to Etna rather than going myself by
train to Siracusa).

Two things I never done in that area are the railways tour around Etna
with the Circumetnea railway, and the visit to the Alcantara gorges.

Siracusa has a nice archeological area.


don't you just hate the way that Americans pronounce this town's name :-)

tim