Wildfire and tourism

Just booked our first trip to Sicily and will spend 7 nights in mid-November 2021. I realize not enough time, so looking to probably focus on the eastern part of the island and fly into Catania. Have some questions to help with planning

1)Thinking of spending around 3 nights in the Syracuse, Noto, Modica area. Which city/town is the best place to stay and explore from there? Planning to most likely do local buses to explore during the day

2) We'd like to spend 2 to 3 nights in the Mount Etna area and possibly stay in Taormina for part of it. Thinking of renting a car from Catania for this part of our trip. If not, anyone have a tour group they recommend for tours of Mount Etna.

3) We hate to miss Palermo, but realize with only a week you need to make choices. Will there be get similar food markets in Catania to those you find in Palermo.

4) We would not to spend a day sampling wines and wondering which region to target in the areas we plan to visit.

Thanks much for any comments you can provide!

i am planning trip to Sicily . 21 Days. First let me say I like to drive and living in Texas I drive 100 miles most days. we fly into Rome Sept24, will drive to Casenza, stay overnight. The next day Cefalu two days, Palermo 3 days, Ragusa 3 days, Sirasua 3 days, Catania 2 days, Taormina 3 days, at the end 3 days in Rome. I have 3 days to fill. I was thinking maybe Messina or somewhere on the return trip. We have been to Amalfi, Sorrento but not Naples. Any suggestions? For those of you that don,t drive this may look crazy. We love seeing the countryside and I find driving a stick shift in Europe fun.

Hi all. I am finding it difficult to find out what the 5 day self isolate rule means practically. I have 3 different Hotels booked in the first 5 days so I'm confused as to what we will need to do. We have until September 23rd to rearrage/Cancel our accommodation, or cancel the whole trip depending on the rule. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks, Steve

We have planned out and booked most of a 2-week trip to Italy. We had to cancel this same itinerary in the fall of 2020.

We are set to arrive in Italy on August 29th, 2021 with a week in a villa just outside of Montepulciano then on to Sorrento and Rome for another week.

Does anyone have a sense of whether hoteliers and villa agents have cancellation mandates or guidelines now that Italy is back at Red Alert?

We want to take it all in while in Italy, and would not want to be restricted from restaurants, have to wear masks most of the time, etc.

My husband and I are planning a car trip along the Adriatic Coast later this fall. We will fly to Brindisi and stay in or near Lecce for a few days. I'd like to visit Ostuni, Matera (a bit out of the way, I know), Bari, Vieste, Urbino, Ravenna and end in Milano.

First, is this too busy of a trip? We will have approx 16 days but we like to travel slowly.

Second, is the Vieste to Urbino drive too long of a stretch? Should we stop along the coast somewhere? Any recommendations?

Finally, any B&B, vacation rental, hotel or agriturismo recommendations along in or near these cities be greatly appreciated.

I found the viaggiareinpuglia.com website and a couple other sites but would love to hear your recommendations.

We are planning 5 weeks in Italy next Sept! We will be going to Rome,Tuscany,Cinque Terre,Venice and Amalfi Coast.

Which would be the best direction of places to go? We do not want our last week in Rome as we prefer Rome in the beginning of the trip! Which would be the best last place to be other than Rome for easiest access to a departure airport. Thanks

Hi I saw the news unfolded today on the current situation with the Coronavirus in Italy. We have already booked our flights and accommodation for our 3 week itinerary 9-27 Apr to Rome, Sorrento/ Positano, Venice, Bologna, Parma, Cinque T, Florence, and Tuscany. We are travelling on our own (not following tours) and have booked a few bike tours in the major cities like Rome and Florence.

Advice needed to help us decide to cancel trip or just go with it. Thanks

My wife and I are seniors, and will be taking a bike trip in Italy this September We have been fortunate to have biked many times in Europe, and have typically opted to spend another week or ten days nearby in a more leisurely holiday after the bike portion of our trip. Ideally we would like a pleasant beach town where we could rent a small flat for a week, doing some touring by car in the region, and some lazing on the beach. Any suggestions, particularly from the Sicily experts, are very welcome. Thanks !

Hi all,

Hope you could help me with this little dilemma. I have also posted in the Venice Forum.

I am currently planning a trip to Venice with a friend at the end of September for three days. Both have never been to Venice, I have been to Florence on a day trip from Rome in February years ago, and despite the rain, liked it a lot. My friend has never been. The question is now, do I stay all three days in Venice or take one day to visit Florence? Please list pro's and con's. Thanks in advance!

Hello. We are planning our trip next summer, which will be based in Italy since our daughter already has a school trip scheduled there.

We're planning to spend about 12 days in Italy, ending in Venice. We have 5-6 more days to play with, and were debating between going to Switzerland for the first time, or going to Milan/Lake Cuomo (also for the first time).

I'm hesitating to add the Switzerland portion onto our trip, out of concerns that it might complicate our travel next summer for Covid-related reasons. I'm worried about things like a difference in entry requirements, extra testing requirements, etc. We are all four fully vaccinated, but who knows what the rules will be concerning that by June 2022?

Since nobody has a crystal ball, I was hoping someone could at least talk about how easy it was to travel between Italy and Switzerland this summer (for vaccinated Americans, if that is relevant).

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. :)