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Via Torretta 7, Palermo, Sicily, 90148, Italy
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Hello all,
I am planning to visit Sicily for 5 days in late March 2008. My draft itinerary is as follows. Please advise if this is ok (background information: we are a group of 5 with no car, youth hostel-studenty type of indepenedent traveller).
Day 1 - arrive to Palermo in the evening, night in Palermo
Day 2 - sightseeing in Palermo, night in Palermo
Day 3 - travel to Catania in the morning or afternoon, sightseeing, night in Catania
Day 4 - day trip to Mount Etna, night in Catania
Day 5 - return to Palermo, flight back to London in the evening
Is this ok? We will be taking public transport all the way - I'm not sure my plan is sensible or not. Please comment!!
Also, I left the following questions on the Catania section of the VT forum but I'd be grateful if anyone would like to have a shot at it.
1. Is Catania the best place to stay if we are spending a day in Mount Etna, say, overnight stay in Catania?
2. Assuming that Catania is our 'base', what trains or buses are available to catch to go up to Mount Etna (I read this on some websites before)?
3. What 'destination' should we be aiming for for a day-trip to the Mount Etna?
4. How much does it cost? Transportation? Entry fee to the National Park?
Many thanks for all your help in advance.
I look forwarding to hearing from you.
Catania is nice, but I wouldn't miss Agrigento which is also much safer than Palermo and has tons to see and a great beach at St Leone.
Hi! Catania is probably the closest place to Mt Etna, however keep in mind its a fair hike from Palermo to Catania...a few hours each way. Taxis are expensive, but if there are five of you it would be possible to hire a van and split the cost.
If you have a free day, go for a day trip out to the Eolian Islands. Go and see 'Lipari' and catch the ferry the long way home so you can see the others. Boats leave from Messina and Milazzo. There is also a good airport at Catania where you can catch your flight back home. I have a few pics of the area on my site.
Cheers.
Aquacraig
I agree about Agrigento but I should warn - there you will probably not be able to swim - the water is almost ice-cold!
As it was mentioned above - it is a long way between Palermo and Catania (I have been driving from Cefalu, but even there I got tired). So, I would really recommend to fly to Catania and make trips to Etna, Syrakusa and maybe Agrigento (although Agrigento is also rather far).
You can also have a look at our pictures from Sicilien at http://www.pixbox.se/alb555633
Hey VT guys and girls, thanks a lot for your advice!
Well, having done a bit more research, and hearing from what you said, I think I might change my plans a bit. We're still flying into Palermo, and should spend 2 full days there (is this too much)? We won't be doing any swimming or sunbathing though. Assuming that's the case, I have 3 days left. Where should I really go? My friend who's been there said I should go to the islands, and Mt Etna as well. Is there enough time for that?
And honestly, what's the best place to stay if I need public transport to visit Mt Etna? Is Taomina good? I mean, T is a nice place to stay whereas Catania isn't.
Many thanks again.
in March for the islands is too cold... for sure you should go to Taormina rather then stay in catania
It can be very hot and in general the climate is dry. Don't forget you're in South Europe (not that you could forget...) and people have siesta's. It's too hot and nothing will be open anyway...so you go to the beach! Mondello has is a sandy beach with blue very blue water. For less crowd and a fine rocky beach walk five minutes to the West.
Trapani and Erice lie 100 kilometres to the west of Palermo - an easy day's outing if you have your own car. Trapani lies at the foot of Mt Eryx and if I were planning a visit to both towns, I would head for Trapani (autostrada all the way) and find my way to Casa Santa, at the eastern edge of the town, leave the car in the carpark and and take the cable car to Erice, taking in the fantastic views of Trapani and the islands beyond far below as the cable ascends.
The cable car terminates just a few metres from the main gate of Erice and from there the street leads straight into the centre of the little town. Turning right at the gate will take you around to the castle, and a left turn will bring you to the Chiesa Madre with its seperate bell tower and amazing vaulted ceiling that looks for all the world like a fantasy in marzipan. The town is a mediaeval gem, all cobbled streets and historic buildings. There are more than 60 churches and monasteries within its walls. All that picturesqueness naturally means the town is a magnet for tourists. It's full of shops selling trinkets and pretty knick-knacks, but all you have to do is move away from the main street and square and you'll find quiet cobbled streets that look as though nothing's changed here for a couple of hundred years.
When you've had your fill of Erice, make your way back to the cable car. By the time you've completed the descent, enveloped in total quiet, with that marvellous view spreading out before you all the way, you'll have left all thoughts of tourist crowds behind you. If you've timed it right, you should be just about ready for lunch - why not head right the way across town to Trapani's historic old centre and find a table on the terrace of Ai Lumi, an excellent restaurant on the ground floor of the 16th century Palazzo Mellili? An afternoon spent exploring the narrow streets of Trapani, considered to be the most North African-influenced city in Sicily, will reveal Baroque palaces, grand churches and a terrific fish market. You'll find a wealth of interesting architectual details to catch your eye - wonderful doorways, handsome windows and balconies, domes and cupolas. There are plenty of smart little shops too for the retail tragics amongst us.
A short drive out of Trapani on the coast road to Masala opens out a different world again - the strange, watery world of the salt pans where red-hatted windmills stand sentinel over a shimmering, silent landscape whilst Mt Eryx forms a dramatic background.
Palermo's handsome Piazza Vigliena (much more commonly known as Quattro Canti) marks the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emmanuele and Via Maqueda. Geographically the centre of the city when it was built, even in today's sprawling metropolis, it is still regarded as the heart of the city. The piazza was laid out in 1608 in an ambitious and very successful piece of early city planning.
Every Italian city has a major street named after Victor Emanuel ll, the first king of unified Italy who reigned from 1861-1878. When Sicily's 17th century Spanish Viceroy took up town planning, the street was known as the Cassaro and was an ancient thoroughfare that ran from the harbour to the Norman Palace. The Viceroy's planners had a new street constructed, crossing the Cassaro right in the middle, dividing the city very neatly into four distinct quarters. Of course the street was named for the most important man in town - the Viceroy himself, the Duke of Marqueda.
Fountains, statues, columns and coats of arms adorn the curved facades of the palazzos that stand at each corner in a splendid symmetry. Each corner has three tiers of decoration - at ground level there are fountains representing the four seasons. Above the fountains stand statues of the four Spanish kings (Charles V, Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV), and above them stand four saints - Santa Ninfa, Santa Cristina, Sant’Oliva, and Sant’Agata - all of whom were reputedly born in Palermo.
The crossroads divided the city into four distinct quarters - Capo, in the north-west quadrant, Vucciria in the north-east, Kalsa in the south-east and Albergheria in the south-west.
LA VUCCIRIA
La Vucciria is a Palermo's colourful market . If you leave Piazza Marina with the sea behind you you'll reach Corso Vittorio Emanuele, just before Via Maqueda on the right you should see (hear and smell) the market once immortalised by the painter Renato Guttuso. Here the colours, flavours and voices of Palermo come together in a sensual medley second to none. Stall-holders will try to entice you to buy their wares - from freshly caught fish to luscious vegetables and pungent spices. Food stalls sell an array of sandwiches filled with just about anything you can fry: panelle, chickpea fritters, aubergines, octopus - the list is endless. If you prefer to sit while you're eating try the 'Trattoria Shanghai', which, despite its Chinese name, serves traditional Sicilian food. As you sit supping overlooking the market you'll be forgiven for thinking you're in the middle of Shanghai, or Casablanca or......
A multifaceted jewel that reflects its long history, Palermo is resplendent in the warm Mediterranean sun that exalts the perfumes of jasmine and bitter-orange blosson, of daturas and ancient flowers, emanating from gardens that live under the waving blue of its sky and sleep under the mantle of its stars. A cosmopolitan and multiracial city, a Mediterranean market, a crossroads of civilisations, the ancient silk road passed along its coasts, meeting the routes carrying salt and spices, oils and perfumes, amber and ornaments, tools and arms, wisdom and knowledge, art and science. Its celebrated markets were embassies, and the intersections of all the possible routes of history, along its streets, marked out a master highway of culture and civilisation. A visit to unforgettable Palermo means translating the idea of a journey into a passion that will never leave you as long as you live.
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