Nature Reserves in Sicily

Dear all,

Would you please help me with itinerary for 10 days trip to Sicily, this June?

My former plan was for second half of June with return in beg. of July, flight to Palermo, leave from Catania, and stay in Palermo (visit Monreale, Cefalu), Agrigento, Modica (visit Ragusa), Siracuse and Taormina, 16-18 days.

But now I can't stay until the end of June, I don't want to go in July or August as it will be too hot for sightseeing, so I am trying to find some shorter version. I was more interested in eastern part (baroque towns, Ortigia and Taormina), but as there aren't direct flights until July, I am thinking about visiting Palermo, and stay on some nice beach for few days. There are direct flight to Trapani, so start and end there.

I am traveling with almost 3 yo (with stroller and baby carrier), and only by public transport. I wanted to see Palermo, so I would keep this from former plan, but I don't know where to go next, for 3/4 nights.

1 Trapani (morning flight), move to Palermo, afternoon in Palermo

2 Palermo

3 Palermo, half day trip Monreale

4 Palermo, day trip Cefalu

5 Palermo, day trip Agrigento (not sure with this, as it is quite a long time in train there and back)

6, 7, 8, 9 ? (last day move to Trapani, overnight before flight from there)

10 Trapani (morning flight)

I have found only an afternoon bus from Trapani airport to Palermo, so we have to go to city, and take a bus to Palermo from there?

I have read here in forum about Castellammare del Golfo, and it looks nice. Is there a good connection between Palermo - Castellammare and Castellammare and Trapani?

If I stay close to, I would also like to visit Zingaro reserve, I found that it is open again, but it seems that only way to go there is by privat car, or taxi - or is there some option via public transport? If taxi - how much, and is it possible to book one with car seat? Would it be better to stay in San Vito de Capo, or Scopello, for Zingaro visit? And last - 3yo may walk or be in baby carrier, baby stroller is useless in Zingaro (coastal way)?

Or do you have another idea for coastal town, with nice architekture, and beaches nearby?

Many thanks, Katjes

Hi there,

My family of 4 (kids aged 9 and nearly 5) are planning a trip to Sicily for 4-6 weeks in 2023 (and other parts of Italy too after the 4-6 weeks are up). We will rent a car for most of our stay.

We are planning to come in mid-June, which is the earliest we can arrive that spring.

My main question is: We aren't certain though if we should stay through to the end of July (6 weeks)?

We don't really know what its like in July, as we've been to Sicily in different periods befo

* early-mid June a few years ago (a bit north of Catania, Ortigia, Agriturismo Silitti near Caltanisetta, Marsala, Scopello); and

* a few days in early October for our honeymoon about 10 years ago (Ortigia and an agriturismo called Zottopera near Chiaramonte Gulfi).

We would ideally like to have a relaxing time with the kids in Sicily - and are hoping to avoid extreme heat (e.g. over 33 Celsius) during the middle of the day, crazy busy-ness and the worst of the Italian school holidays.

We are planning to stay in 2 or 3 spots as bases (about 10 days each): something like beachside near Noto/Ragusa, another near Palermo; and possibly an agriturismo in a central region or near a nice village (in a different region) as a third base. With possible weekend stays in Ortigia, Palermo, Cefalu and San Vito lo Capo.

Most places in Italy we'd like to visit mention September/October as ideal timing to visit, which I believe is also true for Sicily. But if we can visit Sicily at the start of our trip, we can leave September for areas like further north like Tuscany, Urbino, Ascoli Piceno.

Hi

After a lot of thought we changed our plans to stay in Castellamare instead of San Vito. The reason was because we wanted a more authentic Sicilian town without hordes of tourists and crowds and really like the look of the marina, fishing boats and buildings.

We are really keen to go to Scopello and Zingaro by boat but can only find tours from San Vito, any advice on this? How much is it to rent your own boat, how does this work, how far is it to Zingaro? If boat is not an option, how frequent are buses and how far is it? I read somewhere that the park is partially closed due to a fire is this still the case? We will not have a car.

Is there any local beach in Castellamare or anything else to do if we don’t want to go to Zingaro every day?

FYI our itinerary will be:

Flying into and out of Palermo we have 10 full days

3 nights Castellamare

3 nights Trapani/Erice

3 nights Favignana

Many thanks!

I am going two weeks to Sardinia week 30/31 with my family (kids 11 and 17). We want to stay two different places that needs a pool. Not hotel, but cosy places (Airbnb ect). The area must be close to good beaches for snorkling, but it has to be accessable by car. We cant do long hikes with our 11 years boy.

Which area of Sardinia can you recommend out there ?

Keywords

• Want to stay a cosy place with pool in a nice small town where we by foot can visit small reastaurants ect.

• Not to far from good beaches. We hire a car, but we don’t want to drive more than an hour to reach beaches ect.

• Good beaches, with good opportunities to snorkel (not only sand 😊)

• Which area og Sardinia is best. East, northeast, south….?

Thanks 😊

We are a ‘mature’ couple traveling to Italy with 11 nights open between Rome & Florence so decided to visit Sardegna in early September. Probably flying into Olbia & departing from Cagliari.

Enjoy white sandy beaches, crystal clear water (who doesn't?), swimming, drinking local wine & local food. Also realize that beaches in Sardegna are rocky.

Prefer to stay at hotels in town to walk to dinner and stroll around town at night. Will rent a car to drive to close beaches during the day, perhaps stay at a beach hotel for 2 or 3 nights if on a beautiful beach.

Any suggestions on itinerary - where to stay & for how many nights? Perhaps 3 locations with 11 nights? The more I read on this helpful forum, the more overwhelmed I become on where to stay.

San Teodoro, Orosei, Villasimius, Isola Carloforte? Departing from Cagliari; how many nights would you recommend staying there?

Will reserve rental car prior to arrival, as well as hotel 1st and last night. Should I make hotel reservations in advance for the rest of trip? September is a busy month and may be more so this year.

TYIA!

Hello

Me and my friends (~8 people) are planning to visit Sicily from the last week of December until the first week of January.

We want to stay in a villa and not a hotel and because of the weather want to stay at the coast. Because of reasons we need to land at Catania so I searched around this region.

At the moment all the villas of interest are in the southern region of Sicily.

I have two questions:

Firstly, I would like to know a good area to spend new years. I read in earlier threads that Catania is reommended for the most lively time regarding new years eve.

Do you know how long public transport operates around this time? (we will most likely have a rental car but I guess on this day all want to have a drink) I have a hard time finding any information on public transport to be honest...

Also are private fireworks allowed ?

Maybe there is also a city nearer to the south you could recommend for new years eve ?

Secondly, I read in several threads that in the winter season some places aren't as busy so I just wanted to ask if the South region also has these problems (I'm talking about the Pozzallo and Santa Maria del Focallo area and maybe a little to the right and left of it since we have a car)

Thank you in advance and best regards,

Bastian

I’m thinking of Sicily for a September holiday. I would choose two different places. Don’t have a particular time limit. I would like to see the main historical sites, but I don’t particularly want to hire a car alone. Are join day trips available , or can I get to these sites on my own( public transport) ?

I would certainly like to stay in Palermo, the second place? I have heard that Palermo has many beggars and wandering migrants sleeping rough. As a single lady, where would be the best area to stay but not be secluded/ cut off , as I love trying out restaurants. I love a nice pool too.

A lot of questions, sorry. Thank you.

Any suggestions for a good agriturismo in Centre / East part of Sicily ideal for kids please? Ideally with animals at the same agriturismo. Thanks so much.

Hi! I'm planning on doing a long holiday in Italy from the end of September until November. I will be doing most of my transport via public transport, but biking/hiking or renting a car every now and then might be an option too.

What I'm currently thinking about:

- Enter sicily by train, hop off on the east coast. Visit Taormina, Catania, Siracusa, and possibly Ragusa as main sites. 5 days?

- Take the ferry from either Pozzallo or Augusta to Malta

- Spend about a week on Malta

- Take the ferry back, see (possibly Ragusa here) Valle dei Templi, and the north and west of sicily. About 10 days?

- Take the ferry from Palermo to Cagliari

- Spend about two weeks on Sardinia (not sure what places yet)

- take the ferry from Porto Torres to Barcelona

Is this a feasibily itinerary? The suggested staying times for these places seem to be all over the place (e.g. 5 days enough for Sicily, two weeks in Malta) so I'm wondering if I'm taking it easy enough or if I could include Amalfi for example. Is two weeks in Sicily enough if I go by public transport? I want to see the main sites and take some relaxed days off too. I don't need to spend days in every town exploring every alley.

I plan on staying in hostels and cheap hotel rooms mostly. I can also bring camping gear but I'm not entirely sure if it's worth it as I think a lot of campings will already be closed in October. I don't particularly have a set budget but I prefer to spend my cash on good food and perhaps some guides. I don't have a need for luxury hotels or driving a car everywhere.

We are planning a one-week trip to Sardinia with our 2.5 year old daughter late August. Looking for a small hotel or serviced villa/apartment:

- with pvt beach or at walking distance to a beautiful beach

- with a pool ideally

- not too crowded with tourists

- in a cozy city/village offering easy walks and hikes (not too hilly) and proximity to restaurants

- toddler-friendly activities close-by

Any recommendations on the area /place to stay?