OK - got resv into and out of FCO, hotels in Marina di Ragusa and Taormina (End of Oct through first week Nov) ... no crowds.
Driving the itinerary at this point is my desire to take an overnight ferry through Straits of Messina to Catania - only departure point is Salerno and only time is 2130. Works OK as can depart Rome via train to Salerno in plenty of time. The issue is that there are NO departures on 28 Oct (Sunday) ... so, have to shorten trip to Rome by a day to leave on either 27 Oct (Saturday), and be in Catania a day earlier than our friends - OR, depart from Salerno on 29 Oct (Monday) and arrive in Catania a day late. Any thoughts?
Next option relates to returning from Sicily to Rome ... we depart from FCO on 8 Nov, so I have made reservations for 7-8 Nov at the Hilton Airport hotel (thanks to some advice on E-R) which connects to FCO - way easier with our 0955 flight to Newark. BUT, we have two options on returning to Rome - train or plane. Both couples really like seeing the countryside and love training. The train from Catania/Taormina is an intercity so it is quite a bit slower and we'll be stopping a lot - there is an option to take IC 722 to Naples and hop a Frecciarossa (faster) but it is only for the last bit - most of the time is still Sicily to Naples. So ... question: just stay on the slower train - way easier not to jump in Naples and have to learn how to get to the fast train in 15 minutes? And, then ... is it worth it to go 1st on the IC?
Thanks!