Sicily in late Oct/early Nov

[stephenson]

Had a previous thread, but travel arrangements so different, thought better to start over!

Friends are doing a 10 day cruise/bicycle tour of Sicily starting mid Oct this year. Assuming they haven't damaged themselves on the rides, spouse and I plan to meet them in Ragusa for 4 days/5 nights, then relocate to Taormina for 4 days/5 nights.

I was looking for ideas re how to get there - we can be very flexible, love trains, ferries are cool, don't need to drive, but could. I'm thinking the lateness of the season and colder weather needs to be considered.

We could fly into Catania from somewhere, take a ferry to southern coast near Ragusa, etc - considered flying into Germany/Switzerland and training ... so many options!!

Would appreciate your thoughts if you have done something like this, how it worked out, etc.

Thanks!!

 

[jabbahop]

Last year we did a cycling tour in Sicily in the beginning of October. Our weather was great (60’s- 70’s) with one day of HARD rain.

We flew in and our of Catania which was ok though the crowds for departure were HUGE. No experience with ferry so can’t help you there.

Have fun.

 

[HadEnuff]

I was in Sicily, including Taormina in late October and it was delightful.

 

[explanade]

There are buses from Catania airport to Taormina and Siracusa but not sure about Ragusa. Probably there is but it may not be direct or it's a long slog.

There are some trains on Sicily but I get the sense that they're not as extensive or frequent as trains on the mainland of Italy.

Of course rental cars are an option but you will want to make sure you can find parking near the hotel where you will be staying. I've parked on the streets in Ragusa so it's possible but there are ZTL restrictions.

In Taormina, there is a large garage above the main part of town where you can pay to park but you have to take a bus down, especially if you have luggage, as it's a steep climb.

Alternatively, you can stay at a hotel which is down below the town. Those seem to have parking but every time you wanted to go to town for dinner, you'd have to walk uphill.

Some people will hire a private driver to get to and from the airport to these towns but I'd imagine just one trip would be a big chunk of what you'd pay to rent a car for a week.

 

[brett]

We did three weeks in Sicily in Oct. a few years ago.

We flew into Catania from Malta. We took a bus from the airport to Taormina for a few days. Then picked up a rental car. We returned it in Cefalu after touring on our own. Then we took the train up the coast and ferried to the Aolian islands. A few intermittent rainy days and heavier seas here in late Oct. We trained back to Palermo for a few days, then flew out.

Overall the weather was excellent. We enjoyed it so much that we would like to return at some point.

Consider a few days in Malta. It is very close and very interesting.

 

[HadEnuff]

I'm pretty sure the Passat I rented needed a new clutch after my time in Taormina.

 

[rodi]

I'm pretty sure the Passat I rented needed a new clutch after my time in Taormina.

Ha ha ha ha.

Both Taormina and Ragusa are wonderful destinations. Ragusa is a world heritage site, beautiful walled city. We stayed a week in Modica, near to Ragusa and explored many of the towns in that area - including Ragusa, Scilli, etc. Taormina is perched on a steep hill (which is why the clutch comment hits home.) Both towns are VERY walkable and have a wonderful area for passegiatta in the evening.

One option if you want to include a ferry in your travels is to fly into Naples (a bigger airport than Catania) then take an overnight ferry to Catania. Nothing like seeing the sun rise and cast a glow over Mt. Etna as you travel through the straits of Messina. The ferry has state rooms so you can get a room with a bath/shower.

You'll probably need to take a bus from Catania to Ragusa. Sicily has a train corridor from Palermo to Messina on the top of the island, and from Siracusa to Messina on the east side of the island. No trains in the center of the island. Taormina doesn't have a train station - but you can take a taxi from the Giardino Naxos station up the hill to Taormina.

The buses are air conditioned and very nice. The autostradas are very nice also if you choose to rent a car. You do not need a car in either city - but if you want to explore outside these towns you might consider renting a car.

Bus info: Autolinee Interbus | Segesta | Etna Trasporti | Sicilbus

 

[rodi]

One more thing - we rented a smallish car for one of our trips and the car agency tried to "upgrade" us to a van... a sprinter size van. We pitched a fit till they found us a smaller car. Many of the roads/turns/parking in the small historic towns make a large car very impractical.

 

[stephenson]

Great inputs - thanks to everyone!!

Better half wants to see Lake Cuomo, but she's concerned it won't be at its best that late in the year.

Couple more points/questions:
- Rome might be nice in late October?
- I still want to train from somewhere to somewhere ...
- we can depart easiest from Pensacola or Atlanta (have kids there)
- would consider going to Malta first, then Ragusa
- would consider ferry from Taormina to Napes and departing from Naples
- would like to use Chase points for the airline
- have Marriott points if we end up in Rome or Zurich etc

If I had to choose right now, I would flight into Zurich on United/Chase points (2-3 nights), then train to Rome (4-5 nights), then more involved train or maybe even tour bus to Ragusa, then car to Taormina, then ferry to Naples and fly out of Naples?

Gah - way too many variables!!! Looking for inputs from you more worldly travelers.

Thanks!!

 

[explanade]

Zurich might not be so nice in late October.

Might be better to spend just one night there. It wouldn't be my top destination in Switzerland.

If you're flying Swiss Air to Zurich, it would depend on when you arrive. If it's not too late in the day, you might be able to catch an afternoon flight to Italy.

Or you can use United miles to fly to Frankfurt on Lufthansa or United itself and connect to Italy.

Lake Como is nice but again, the weather may not be as sunny as in the south, though that time of the year, sun might be in short supply everywhere.

If you want to spend a lot of time, you can certainly take trains and ferries. But you can also fly to and from Italy as well.

Be also aware that if you're using United or Star Alliance airlines, you either would connect through Zurich or Frankfurt before the flight back to the US.

You may need to spend the night before your departure near the airport because usually the flight to Zurich or Frankfurt is in the morning. So think about where you want to spend that last night.

 

[stephenson]

explanade,

Good points ... so, perhaps to Frankfurt, and transfer to flight to Rome. Save the northern touring for Spring 2019 (gonna meet same group of friends "somewhere").

How is Swiss? Looks like Lufthansa bought them - same general level of service and professionalism?

We have lots of flexibility, but do want to avoid mistakes!

 

[explanade]

Swiss is okay. About the same as Lufthansa.

I choose the one with the best schedule. So from San Francisco, both airlines have direct flights to their European hubs. But Swiss departs at like 7 PM here and arrives late in the afternoon so if you connect to another flight to Italy or Spain, you end up arriving at night, sometimes late at night like after 10 PM.

Lufthansa arrives in the morning in Frankfurt so you can connect and get to your destination by late afternoon at the latest. So I like having some daylight left to get acclimated when you arrive.

Swiss does have early morning departures back to SFO so I've taken them back.

Between the two, Lufthansa might have more modern planes, at least to SFO. I've taken their A380s a couple of times.

United also flies direct from SFO to Frankfurt. I don't know about Atlanta. They're suppose to have their new Polaris seats on one of those flights so I may try it one day.

 

[brett]

The trains in Sicily are limited and, unlike the mainland trains, they do not keep to schedule.

While touring in Sicily we snagged a last minute cruise booking for a Rome-Barcelona cruise. It also had a great price on one way air home which we needed.


We looked at rail from Sicily to Rome. Then we looked at flights. The air fare on Vueling was less than half the price of the train and much easier. Pick your train journeys carefully!

We usually end up with a small Fiat hatchback in Italy. Just enough room in the back to cover our two carry ons from view. We like them. Very smooth transmission.

 

[explanade]

Oh those little Fiats, especially the old ones, were slowing everyone down.

 

[brett]

They are trying to flog the Fiat 500's where we live with apparently little success.

Bad rep for quality, worse for service. Having said that we must have had at least a dozen Fiat Panda rentals over the years and have always been very happy with them. First choice is usually a VW Polo, second is the Panda. Only two of us and we have no issue with a standard.

In Italy, we have found the best rates through Autoeurope or Kemwell (same company, different websites and sometimes different pricing). They usually have great all in insurance rates and are good for booking one way rentals(what we usually do).
If you rent, keep in mind that many city locations are closed on Sundays. Also, renting from an airport location sometimes costs more and seems to us to reduce your chance of an upgrade.

 

[steinj]

We are in Sicily right now and love it. You can easily take a 2 hour bus from Catania to Ragusa. Highly recommend staying in Catania for a few days instead of Taormina (overly touristy and easy day visit from Catania). Lots to see and do in Catania. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/in-mount-etnas-shadow-catania-is-raw-authentic-italy

 

[stephenson]

Have been trying to make it fit - but having trouble with the timeline.

We have reservations in Ragusa on 29 Oct ... and, was trying to get from Rome (24-29 Oct) to there via either train or ferry in a day ... doesn't look like it will work. Do you agree? I think could fly into Catania and then bus to Ragusa ...

Other option might be 22-28 Oct in Rome, then train to Naples on 28 Oct, board ferry in afternoon, as Rodi said, and then ferry overnight on 28 Oct to Catania, grab a bus morning of 29th to Ragusa - meet friends in Ragusa.

Would this work? I don't want to fly from Rome to Catania ... ferry would be perfect if we can make it fit.

 

[kcowan]

We have reservations in Ragusa on 29 Oct ... and, was trying to get from Rome (24-29 Oct) to there via either train or ferry in a day ... doesn't look like it will work. Do you agree? I think could fly into Catania and then bus to Ragusa ....

We were in Capri and the best choice was to get to Rome and take Vueling to Catania and then a limo (to Taormina in our case). The ferries/trains take way too long.

 

[tulak]

+1 for Vueling. We flew them to Catania from Greece and we flew Air Italia from Catania to Rome, which was fine. If you only have a day, I’d recommend flying.

Ragusa was a great city to visit. That was one of our stops while in Sicily. We had a rental car, which made it easy to get around.

 

[explanade]

Yeah I just returned from Sicily. But I didn't go to mainland.

I went to Malta and then Palermo.

Short 40 minute flight in between. Ferry was still like 8 hours or something.

There is definitely bus service out of Catania airport but if you're willing to pay a couple of hundred Euros for a private driver, that's an option too.

I usually rent cars down in Sicily.

 

[stephenson]

Thanks ...

I’ve heard some bad things about some of the car rental companies in Sicily - which companies did you use and did you have any issues?

 

[explanade]

User Hertz, Avis, the big international brand names.

Though in many cases, they're owned by the same local company which owns the local brands like Maggiore, Sicily by Car and others.

But just make sure you find any body damage before you drive off. Both the damage they point out to you and any damage which they may not disclose.

Take pictures or a video in clear daylight.

Ask them where the nearest gas station is to where you will be returning the car. If not you might find it in Google Maps.

One thing I found near Palermo airport a number of dealers were not taking credit cards unless you paid for full service where they pump the fuel for you. They charged 1/3 more for it versus "self-service."

There are a number of unattended stations where you will need a chip card with PIN priority. Also many stations close in mid day, like from 13:00 to 16:00 or something like that. In that case you will need a PIN priority card.

 

[brett]

We have used autoeurope countless times in Europe. They are a broker so your order may be filled by any one of the majors. We have been very pleased with their service, with their prices, and with the agencies that we have dealt with. Insurance is often offered as an option.

We prefer a standard and we typically prefer a small car as we only travel with carry on bags. Cannot comment on sourcing a larger vehicle or automatic transmission.

We seldom rent from an airport location and we typically arrange our travel so that the rental is not sitting idle in a major city. Not so much concerned about the rental cost as we are about potential vandalism or theft. We dropped our car in Cefelu and trained to Palermo.

As an aside, we found that most of the unmanned gas stations in Italy will accept cash (bills) as well as credit cards. We were nervous the first time. A few young locals were kind enough to show us how it was done. No certain about getting change. We inserted a 20E bill and took 20E worth of fuel.

 

[explanade]

I always go for automatic.

Your choices are better at major airports.

For instance, I flew from Malta to Palermo and drove to Trapani where I stayed 2 nights.

There are flights between Malta and Trapani but they're not direct. Would have flown to Rome and then back dow to Trapani, at least 4 hour trip vs. 40 minute direct flight.

There weren't as many car rental choices out of Trapani either. So the drive from PMO airport to Trapani is about an hour, through some beautiful countryside.

 

[stephenson]

Hi All,

Working airlines reservations - going with United as have some priority and can use points with them.

JIC anyone has done the various routes, we need to leave out of Atlanta and can get to Rome via Chicago, Washington Dulles or Frankfurt. The Frankfurt version is Luftansa.

Is there an advantage one way or the other? They are all about same total time, and same points with add on money.

I usually like to have backup flights following the one I am scheduled on JIC - ATL to Chicago has three all in a row so that works well, but the leg from Chicago to Rome a single shot chance. The ATL to Frankfurt has one backup and two backups from Frankfurt to Rome.

Thoughts?