sbbulldog

First, thank you. I love this site!

On a business trip to Frankfurt, then 6 nights in Sicily for fun.

We are flying into Punta Raisi Airport in about 10 days. Arrive on a Tuesday, depart the following Monday. We have a first night hotel reservation in Palermo but we have been considering changing our first night to somewhere else that is more easily navigable, perhaps closer to the airport.

We arrive at 4:10 pm from Rome. Any ideas?

Two nights after we arrive, we have a one night reservation at Tenuta Regaleali di Conte Tasca D'Almerita. So...where would you suggest the first night, even if we move up our Regaleali night. Or, should we squander 2 nights there?

Frankly, we need itinerary help! We want to visit Agrigento, Regusa, Siracusa, and Taormina. Just 6 nights, flight out of Palermo at 12:15 pm.

Thanks for advice, opinions, favorites, moderately priced, clean hotels, and restaurants!!!

slawecki

you do not have enough time to go back and forth. start at palermo, proceed counterclockwise, and depart catania. the roads are not that bad, but sicily is different from germany. there are these uniform guys out there with their little stop signs. the speed limit is something like 60kph and maybe 80KPH(50mph) on most of that route. very little autobahn. we did the trip clockwise, starting in catania

Perche

Ponte Raisi airport is now Falcone-Borsellino airport, named after the two prosecutors who were going after the mafia 25 years ago who were killed when their car was bombed on the road into Palermo.

There is no place to see on the way from the airport to Palermo. It's just a highway. You can probably find a hotel along the way and stay there and waste a night if you don't want to drive into Palermo.

Alternatively, you can hire a car or a taxi to take you to a hotel in Palermo city center, where there is great food and much to see. The price for a car for two will be around $75-80, and don't tip. That's probably not much more expensive than renting the car for that day. It will be faster, and you won't have to navigate anything. You can rent the car in the morning and drive to Tenuta Regaleali.

Tenuta Regaleali is in the mountains in almost the exact center of Sicily. Spending two days there, then exploring Agrigento, Regusa, Siracusa, and Taormina, then driving back across almost the whole island of Sicily from Taormina on the east coast, back to Palermo almost on the west coast in the remaining three days will barely leave time to eat properly, much less leave time to explore all of these cities. I don't see how this can be done.

There's an Italian proverb, "Salvare capre e cavoli," or "to save the goat and the cabbage." A man has to cross a river with a wolf, a goat, and some cabbage. The boat is only big enough to take one at a time. If he brings the cabbage first, the wolf will eat the goat. If he brings the wolf first, the goat will eat the cabbage. If he brings the goat first, then goes back and brings the wolf, when he goes back to get the cabbage, the wolf will eat the goat. If he goes back and brings the cabbage instead, when he goes back to get the wolf, the goat will eat the cabbage. There is no straight forward solution.

Trying to explore and experience so many cities, with many ancient Greek temples and things to see along the way, in so little time, reminds me of that proverb.

If you try to do it, something will be missing when it's all over because you will not have visited all of those cities, and perhaps will not have visited any of them. You will only have had time to see them, drive through them, stop at a hotel, then pack again and get back on the road to the next town, without experiencing any of them.

Actually, there is a way to solve the, "salvare capre e cavil," conundrum but it's not straightforward. I don't think there is a solution to your proposed itinerary.

KLouis

Let me give you an abstract (and interpretation) of Perche's answer :

1) Do go to Palermo to sleep;
2) After Tenuta Regaleali make no plans; drive to, say, Agrigento and continue on an ad hoc basis.

Sicily is absolutely great, 5 days are certainly not enough to see everything. I've been there twice and I need at least a third (and fourth?) time. But no worry, whatever you see/do, you'll love it.

Perche

I agree. If OP tries to cram all of that in on a schedule he will be incredibly rushed trying to get from place to place. A night and a day in Palermo, two nights in Tenuta (although I'm not so sure how nice a winery will be in the winter), and a night in Agrigento. That leaves two more nights. With such limited remaining time, OP should decide where he wants to go next, ad hoc as you say, and not try to cram in three more cities cities.

KLouis

Let me add something important that I forgot: bring along a good guide book. The island is full of hidden gems, from ancient Greek to medieval Norman ruins, all the way to the most amazing Baroque buildings and whole towns. It would be a pity missing these, which are often only a few kilometres away from where you... stand!

Perche

Yep. The Greek temples along the way on short detours between cities, that will be missed if on a hrrendous pace of trying to see 5 cities plus a day or 2 in the winery in 5 days. These temples in the middle of nowhere inspire awe.

sbbulldog

Thank you. We will strip back the agenda.

Favorite guidebooks for Sicily?

Must eat restaurants, etc?

Cash vs credit cards? (the Portugese hated CC's)

Crime watch other than Palermo?

TYVM!

slawecki

we must have missed something. we did not find palermo to be crime riddled. i do not think they mess with gringos.

KLouis

The law obliges all Italian businesses to accept plastic if presented! That having been said, you may run into problems with your US credit/debit card, as the standard in Italy is the chip containing one (there are several threads dealing with this both in this and the Europe forums). Also think of the fact that almost all gas stations in Italy after ~6-7 pm and on weekends only run on a self-service basis using plastic cards.

As for crime, other than occasional pickpocketing in crowded tourist areas (the piazza in front of the San Pietro and the Colosseo and the buses bringing you there are good examples) you won't experience any crime! Certainly not in Sicily, as testified by slawecki.

Can't offer any ideas on restaurants (it's been quite some time since my two trips) and as for a guide, only a negative one: avoid Lonely Planet, their philosophy is certainly not the one you'd need to visit Sicily.

Perche

Some parts of Palermo look downright scary, and medieval. The same way that Venice does, and Naples does even more. They can look eery. For example, Capo and Ballero' street markets are must sees, especially at night. You'll feel like you are in a pirates den, but it's safe. We don't travel to have the same experience that we do at home, and this is a must see. If you dare, try the street food. Barbecued spleen sandwich. Skewered cow eyeball. Fried brain.

With the exception of pick pocketing and purse snatching, person against person crime is pretty rare. You're certainly safer there than you would be if you went on a vacation to most American cities. In an index of crime in major cities, with 0 being none, 50 being average, 100 being the highest, Palermo is a 46.

Pick pocketing, purse snatching, and breaking into cars are all you have to worry about. And since those are crimes of opportunity, you can protect yourself and prevent those things from happening to you with almost 100% certainty.

BTW, there was an article in the paper in Venice on the 1st day of Carnevale that the police broke up a gang of 32 women pickpocketers. None were dressed like a pick pocketer. They were all dressed as tourists, business women, Venetian housewives, old Venetian grandma's, many spoke perfect English, etc.

Yet, in Venice you can go anywhere, down any dark alley with no fear of crime. In Palermo, be prudent about neighborhood, but don't think that it is crime ridden.