things to do in Sicily
 

My wife has had the dream of going to Sicily for years.. So since we got incredible deals into MXP - I am going to take her to Sicily for a week or so..

Anyone have any experience with Sicily? - Trying to decide on Catania Side or Palermo Side - Places to stay, Things to do...

Anyways looking for whatever advice anyone has :)

Just came back from a week there. We stayed in Taormina, Siracusa (side trip to Noto) and Palermo. Did not get to the southwest of the island.

What do you like to do? Assuming it's a winter/spring visit given MXP (AA?) deal.

Why not do what we did -- rent a car and drive from Palermo to Taormina?

What do you like to do (museums, food, beach, ski etc)?

There is a lot here so you I'd like to know what you enjoy.
YOu can do both east and west in week without TOO much rush.

Ciao

The Michelin Green Guide is an excellent resource on what to see on Sicily. You'll find it online here.

we were there for easter week 2013. not many people around. hotels and restaurants empty. rented a car. spent 3 days in catania. 3 days in syracyusa. 2 days in Agrigento, and 4 days in palermo. we had a gps, which we thought necessary. we had drivers from the hotels pick us up and drop us off at airports. get the car when you leave catania, and drop it off when you arrive in palermo.

the food is fabulous. the people wonderful.

sweet thanks for the advice.. where'd you guys stay in palermo / catania? March is a bit cold correct? We are looking forward to the food and people mostly.. any cool sights are a bonus

There is a decent Hilton in Palermo.

+1 - I just posted some notes on it in the Hilton forum. Wife and I spent 4 days there earlier this month - found it to be an excellent base in Palermo.

It is at the end of the shopping part of via della Liberta as it transitions into a nice neighborhood. It is a nice area, convenient to shopping and not far from some of the older parts of town and some good restaurants. Can recommend Lo Scudiero for a classic, very good meal, Trattoria Alba for their Arancini and fantastic cannoli (they will deliver arancini by taxi). Piccolo Napoli is quite good as well (look at Anthony Bourdain's Sicily show for some info on it). We had a great conversation with two businessmen at the next table when we were there for lunch.

If you get to Siracusa, DEFINITELY GO TO Red Moon for the freshest seafood (look at the thread on Taormina / Etna as FlyingHoustonian and I discussed it there). As he lives there, I'd listen carefully to any of his recommendations.

Finally, as FlyingHoustonian and others have said, what do you like? Giving suggestions without a target puts us in the position of telling you what we like. And that can come across as a bit of a lecture. So, "help us help you" by sharing your likes/dislikes.

Catania, Sicily
 

We were in Catania, Sicily, for a cruise stop. It was a very brief visit and we planned to go up to Mt Etna. However, she erupted the night before, and the guide said that we wouldn't be able to make it up to the top.

So unfortunately we had to skip Mt Etna. We did visit Taormina and stopped at several viewpoints to take pictures.

More pictures and details in my blog post, if you're interested.

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogsp...-taormina.html

Does the hilton in Palermo do breakfast for Gold/Diamonds ? We are petty excited for the food and shopping. Not hugely into museums nice to see cultural events..for me mostly food though :)

i dislike hiltons and hyatt and other such chains. i think they all remind me of chicago or detroit. they all look alike, and are supported by large conventions::

in catania, we stayed at il principe. a lovely hotel. centrally located. 105 euro per night for a suite.

in palermo, palazzo conte federico. this is a palace. centrally located. they rent guest appartments. was 130 euro/night. we had a 4-5 room appartment. cook own breakfast(food provided) this is probably the most fantastic place we have ever stayed, and we have been to probably 20 high end starwood properties.

what have you folks done to transfer between Palermo and Cataina ? One way rental ? Bus? Train?

One way car rental. Driving in Palermo is NOT fun, but once you're out of the city, it's a beautiful drive along the coast with many interesting towns in which to stop.

we did one hertz way rental from catania airport to the dropoff in palermo. would not recommend driving in either city. the drive over the southern coast was a deight. must have a gps.