Travel south of Rome to Sicily this fall. Anybody done it?

My wife and I are taking an extended vacation to Italy this fall,
starting in October. It will see us spending time in Tuscany and then
on south all the way to Sicily until the end of November.

This is an area and time of travel that I know very little about in
that first of all, you don't here of many tourists going sout beyond
the Amalfi coast and second, you never hear much about people
travelling in Italy in November.

If there are any of you out there who can offer some suggestions and
words of advice, we'd sure appreciate it. Are there special places
that you have seen? Any festivals or celebrations during this time of
year? Weather or mosquitoes too bad live with? Any thing special to
look out for? (other than the driving)

What about Sicily? We are planning about 2 weeks there with a short
trip to Malta because I've never met anyone whose been to Malta.

I'm assuming that November will see a lessening of the crowds and
therefore a lessening of the requirement of booking places to stay.
Is this true?

Any recommendations as to places to stay, see or eat at are
appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Gord Pope

Sicily is spectacular! Get a good guidebook and spend you days among
beautiful ancient temples and ruins of the Roman empire. The landscape
is stunning and the seafood cannot be equaled anywhere. We have spent
winters there for the last two years and will repeat it again this
winter. Rates are lower...we rent an apartment in ACi Trezza on the
east coast and drive everywhere for lots of day trips. Taormina on
the east coast is spectacular with a beauiful roman era arena placed
over the cliff in full view of Mt Etna and the Ionian Sea. It brings
tears to my eyes. Sicily is simply stunning.
H



On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 01:46:18 GMT, Gord Pope wrote:

My wife and I are taking an extended vacation to Italy this fall,
starting in October. It will see us spending time in Tuscany and then
on south all the way to Sicily until the end of November.

This is an area and time of travel that I know very little about in
that first of all, you don't here of many tourists going sout beyond
the Amalfi coast and second, you never hear much about people
travelling in Italy in November.

If there are any of you out there who can offer some suggestions and
words of advice, we'd sure appreciate it. Are there special places
that you have seen? Any festivals or celebrations during this time of
year? Weather or mosquitoes too bad live with? Any thing special to
look out for? (other than the driving)

What about Sicily? We are planning about 2 weeks there with a short
trip to Malta because I've never met anyone whose been to Malta.

I'm assuming that November will see a lessening of the crowds and
therefore a lessening of the requirement of booking places to stay.
Is this true?

Any recommendations as to places to stay, see or eat at are
appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Gord Pope


Retired Teacher, Terrible Mechanic, Worse Plumber!
LPFM Page: http://home.att.net/~optcamel/fmradio.htm

In article ,
(Howard N. Lute) wrote:

Sicily is spectacular!
Sicily is simply stunning.

Seconded. There is historical, landscape and feeding-your-face interest
pretty much everywhere. One suggestion, in addition to the obvious sights
any guidebook will recommend (all of which are worthwhile in my
experience): spend some time inland, perhaps somewhere like Enna; the
interior is /much/ less touristy than the coast. Not that the coast is
wrecked by tourism by any means, but it sometimes feels as if they are two
different Sicilies.

(The drive from Enna to Cefalu is particularly spectacular, by the way,
though the higher altitudes may be quite tough going in November - we had
heavy snowstorms in January.)

"Howard N. Lute" wrote in message
...
Sicily is spectacular!
Taormina on
the east coast is spectacular with a beauiful roman era arena placed
over the cliff in full view of Mt Etna and the Ionian Sea. It brings
tears to my eyes. Sicily is simply stunning.

Seconded and thirded. Taormina is one of the most wonderful places on earth
(in my experience)!

When we started foreign travel, fairly late in life (early 40's) we vowed
never to go back anywhere for a second time, however much we liked it -
there's just too much to see.

Taormina was the first place to make us break that rule....

Cefalu is also worth a stopover - and visit the volcanic islands offshore,
too.

People are assuming you are driving? You can get to, and around, Sicily
quite well by train. (We have).

Tony

posted:

In article ,
(Howard N. Lute) wrote:

Sicily is spectacular!
Sicily is simply stunning.

Seconded.

Also agree. You can take an overnight ferry from Naples to Sicily. Many
Sicily pictures on my web site.
- Max

--
MisterMax
Slideshows of Angkor Wat, Bali, Crete, France, Malaysia, Maui, Morocco,
Mt Holly, Sicily, St Tropez, Singapore, Thailand, Tour de France:
http://buten.net/max/
(Yes,RemoveDoubles is part of my email address. The double letters in my
last name are not.)

In . 97.136,
Mister Max typed:

posted:

In article ,
(Howard N. Lute) wrote:

Sicily is spectacular!
Sicily is simply stunning.

Seconded.

Also agree. You can take an overnight ferry from Naples to
Sicily.


Yes, I agree that the overnight ferry is a particularly good way
to get there. The cost of the ferry ride isn't much different
from the cost of a hotel for the night, so its net cost is close
to zero. And because the ride lasts roughly from 8pm to 8am, it
hardly takes any time out of your vacation.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

"Gord Pope" wrote in message
...
What about Sicily? We are planning about 2 weeks there with a short
trip to Malta because I've never met anyone whose been to Malta.

Really? Many mainstream cruise lines stop in Malta. (Valletta).
Even my parents and my kids have been to Malta.

schrieb:

In article ,
(Howard N. Lute) wrote:

Sicily is spectacular!
Sicily is simply stunning.

Seconded. There is historical, landscape and feeding-your-face interest
pretty much everywhere. One suggestion, in addition to the obvious sights
any guidebook will recommend (all of which are worthwhile in my
experience): spend some time inland, perhaps somewhere like Enna; the
interior is /much/ less touristy than the coast. Not that the coast is
wrecked by tourism by any means, but it sometimes feels as if they are two
different Sicilies.
In the vicinity of Aidone is the huge ancient city of Morgantina, only
excavated in recent years.


(The drive from Enna to Cefalu is particularly spectacular, by the way,
though the higher altitudes may be quite tough going in November - we had
heavy snowstorms in January.)

"Ken Blake" wrote in message ...

Yes, I agree that the overnight ferry is a particularly good way
to get there. The cost of the ferry ride isn't much different
from the cost of a hotel for the night, so its net cost is close
to zero. And because the ride lasts roughly from 8pm to 8am, it
hardly takes any time out of your vacation.

I'm planning 2 weeks in Sorrento and 2 weeks in Sicily next spring.

About the ferry from Naples: Are there cabins for sleeping? I'll be
traveling alone -- would single accomodations be expensive?

About getting around Sicily: Isn't it expensive to rent a car
(especially for one person)? As I understand it, you HAVE to get
insurance, gas is expensive, etc. On the other hand, can you get
around by train as easily as on the mainland? Do trains go into the
interior, or do you have to take a bus? I definitely want to see the
interior, and also Etna -- how easy is that without a car?

"Terryo" wrote in message
om...
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
About getting around Sicily:
can you get
around by train as easily as on the mainland?

Yes

Do trains go into the
interior, or do you have to take a bus?

There isn't a great deal in the interior, but there are a couple of rail
lines.

I definitely want to see the
interior, and also Etna -- how easy is that without a car?

I'd take a tour excursion to go up Etna - usually a coach up as far as the
road goes, then a 4 wheel drive. Which you couldn't do in a car anyway. Easy
to book from Taormina, and probably from Catania?

There is also the circumetna rail line - slow but worth doing, but it goes
round the mountain, not up it.

Tony