Sicily

vermas

I am thinking of going to Sicily (after recently discounting Greece- having seen some Brochures of Sicily)

I am wandering where to stay- I am thinking of Taormina, Letojanni or gairdini naxos

I heard taormina is the best but a bit more expensive!

do i need to hire a car? - i have a 7 month old baby with me and want to do some exploring on the island or is the public transport good enough?

if i have a car is it better to stay slightly further out like letojanni where it is cheaper and then drive in?


any advice appreciated

duckcity

I went to Sicily and stayed in a villa a few miles from Taormina and Giardini Naxos. Taormini is beautiful but it may be cheaper to stay in Giardini Naxos and hire a car. The best deal in car hire is using the Avis discount code, but beware Sicilians are mad drivers !
Lots of lovely villages to visit, but Etna is an must see.
If you decide not to hire a car then public transport seems to be fine.

budgetflyer

Bookings have 182 hotels in Sicily
late July a double room can be as little as 420 Euro for a week
Holiday autos will do an air con fiesta for £142 + extra 5 Euro per day for baby seat
Ryanair fly from Stansted to Palermo
typical price Jul25-1 Aug Adult £68 Baby £14
Alternative airlines to Catania include BA and Thomsonfly

annie-c

I stayed in Letojani a few years ago and thought it was lovely. A quiet fishing village with just a few hotels and bars along the main street, directly opposite the shingle beach. Taormina could be reached easily by bus or cable car for about 1E each way. Taormina is lovely and bustling with cafes, bars, shops and nightlife, and has better transport links than the villages below, but if you stay in a hotel up there on the cliff top then you'll need to either stay by the pool, or get the bus/cable car down to the beach each day. Personally I loved having the beach just across the road from the hotel and coming back to the peace of the seaside resort after going out each evening.

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

We went to Sicily last year and loved it! Was a close run thing that we didn't go again this year as the people were lovely, the food was great and the scenery fantastic! Couldn't have asked for much more!

We stayed in a small complex of villas set in a tropical botanic garden, across the road from the beach, in San Gioiosa Marea, in Messina (it was dead cheap and the people so friendly! We had dinner with the family that ran the place, they were so hospitable! And our bar bill at the end of the week was 20 euro's for 4 heavy drinkers!). It was quite a small local town, with only a few restaurants, so we were glad of our hire car to get out to other towns and sightseeing... but, as duckcity says above - the Sicilians are absolutely mad and ruthless drivers! Beware the pedestrian crossings cos they don't mean squat in Sicily! And if you drive to Etna, take the motorway, not the 'scenic' mountain route that is more a death defying rollercoaster of a road!

Have a lovely time wherever you decide to base yourself!

Trollydolly_2

I just wanted to say what a great choice Sicily is. Ive travelled all over the world with work and would still say it is by far the best place i have ever been infact if i ever get married i want to do it there.

Its like all the best bits of europe all rolled into one. There are bits of italy, spain, greece, turkey all sorts. Truelly an amazing place and the people are wonderful.

We stayed at the Antares Olypo (i think thats what its called) it was an all inclusive hotel and we went with Thomas Cook.

Personally i would be too scared to drive over there but the public transport is good.

We found the pedestrian crossings wernt worth the paint lol cars just drive over them even if you are walking there but then we dixcovered a great trick......
Wait till an old man is crossing and cross with him, they have great respect for the elders over there and wouldnt dare run an old man over lol so we always latched onto one when crossing lol.

There is so much to see and do i cant begin to tell you. its fun finding all the little resteraunts and bars yourself. Oooh and there is a pizza resteraunt near the main square in taormina that is run by a george clooney lookalike, REALLY im sure its him lol.

Whatever you do im sure you will love it. You cant go wrong with sicily. You can keep the maldives etc there is only one place i would go to time and time again!

Norman-B

Sicily = great choice! I stayed in Cefalu and loved every minute of it. Lovely people and food was good. Hotel lacked "Star rating" but the people that ran it, made up with kindness.
Sicily and Croatia are now my choices for hols.
I can't wait to go again.

vermas

how long do you need out there- i was thinking 10 days max

also i was thinking of staying in 2 hotels- to get a variety?

vermas

i desperately need some more advice on sicily bearing in mind i will have a 7 month old with me

1. i want to rent a car as i want to see the main attractions at my own pace- is parking easy to find and also are most of the roads safe- i.e on mountains
2. i want to go to lipari on the aeolian islands- is it best to take a car or get the bus around the island?
3. i am not sure where to stay as it is very expensive at end of June- i was thinking caesar palace in G Naxos but it is far from the sea and not great views- i take it that it is worth going somewhere with good views like taormina or G NAxos nearer the coast? has anyone got any good hotel suggestions- not too basic but a 4* as in the evening with the litle one will prob spend most evenings in hotel so it needs to be decent

new_leaf_6

I stayed in Cefalu last OCtober and it was superb. The locals were friendly, the beach was lovely and the town was touristy enough but not ott. You can get a train from there to Palermo in one direction a d to Messina in the other direction. There are some local buses into the town if you don't want to walk too far to the station. Train and bus fares are cheap too.
I went to Vulcano and Lipari - both well worth a visit. I also recommend Agrigento in the south of the island. I didn't vist Etna because the locals said that it was usually too cold and boring!
The islanders will love the baby.