Sicily and/or Malta?

[Montecfo]

After quite a bit of study we have decided to stick to eastern Sicily and Malta.

Here is the tentative agenda:

Fly in to Catania
4 days Taormina (no car for this leg)
Fly to Malta
6 days in Malta (no car)
Fly back to Catania-rent car
5 days in Southeast Sicily
Syracuse/Ortigia
Noto
Smaller towns
Fly home from Catania

We just plan to stay in 3 locations: Taormina (or nearby)
Ortigia (or nearby)
Malta (possibly Sliema)

The original plan was to start in Malta and avoid one flight. But after analyzing cruise ship schedules we decided to visit Taormina first and Syracuse last. Malta cruise schedules appear to not impact us much on our specific days.

That's the plan for now. Any specific comments about this are welcome as always.

 

[FD1000]

As usual, I have used KIMKIM for all my trips in the last several years as my main tour planner.

Best of Sicily

Embark on a journey to Sicily, a mesmerizing island at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, where millennia of history, a tapestry of cultures, and a landscape of diversity await. Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, is a land where ancient Greek temples stand in the shadow of...

www.kimkim.com

They have itineraries from 5 to 2+ weeks.

We haven't been in either, but I know I would dedicate at least 10 days for Sicily using a rental car. If we want to add Malta, it will take several more days.
I found out there are flights to Sicily with one stop over for about $1000 in May.

The shortest ferry, 1.45 hours, is from Pozzalo (Sicily) to Valletta (Malta). About $100 pp each way = about $400.

 

[CO-guy]

After quite a bit of study we have decided to stick to eastern Sicily and Malta.

Here is the tentative agenda:

Fly in to Catania
4 days Taormina (no car for this leg)
Fly to Malta
6 days in Malta (no car)
Fly back to Catania-rent car
5 days in Southeast Sicily
Syracuse/Ortigia
Noto
Smaller towns
Fly home from Catania

We just plan to stay in 3 locations: Taormina (or nearby)
Ortigia (or nearby)
Malta (possibly Sliema)

The original plan was to start in Malta and avoid one flight. But after analyzing cruise ship schedules we decided to visit Taormina first and Syracuse last. Malta cruise schedules appear to not impact us much on our specific days.

That's the plan for now. Any specific comments about this are welcome as always.

I really like your agenda! So glad I continued to follow your trip planning because we're considering a similar trip in the future.

Best of luck and I'm eager to hear how the trip turns out!

 

[Davis65]

Driving all the way around Sicily would take 14 days at least. If you are determined to go to Malta, it is best to focus on one part of Sicily.

Uber and Bolt go everywhere on Malta Island, so you don't need a car. A day trip to Gozo is well worthwhile.

Sliema? We didn't go because it looks like a modern suburb. Birgu is much more historic -- it was the capital before Valletta. It is easy to catch the ferry (€2) of small boat (€3) between Birgu and Valletta. Check the cruise ship schedules to find out when to avoid Valletta -- it gets overrun on cruise ship days. And buy your tickets to the Cathedral online to avoid the very long queue.

 

[Montecfo]

Thanks for those ideas. Yes we decided to settle on Eastern Sicily and Malta after 2 day jet lag stop in Madrid.

We have booked Madrid so making progress.

We switched the sequence again because of flight logistics. So now it is:

Madrid-Malta-Taormina-Syracuae-home with same number of days as before.

We are planning around cruise ship schedules.

We are planning to stay in Sliema because of accessibility to other areas and we decided we might want to have a pool in case it is hot to be refreshed at end of day. We usually prefer roomy apts (and are booking them elsewhere) but that's the thinking now. We expect to experience plenty of culture elsewhere. But not booked yet so this could change.

Not renting a car except on the Syracuse leg.

Thanks for comments and ideas!