isabel

I spent the last six months planning a trip for myself to Spain but now, when it's almost time to buy the tickets it looks like my husband might be able to come with me and he really loves Italy so I am considering totally changing my plans and doing Sicily. We will have almost three weeks and I'm wondering if that would be a bit much for Sicily, expecially in July.

If you had three weeks would you concentrate just on Sicily or add somewhere else? I was thinking Switzerland as it would be cooler and quite different. Is two weeks a good amount of time to see the majority of sites in Sicily without feeling rushed. We like to move around fairly often, not really interested in a trip where we'd rent a place for a week. But we don't want to just rush from one place to another either. Any ideas.

mamc

It will be tremendously hot in Sicily in July but if you like hot weather, three weeks would be a great amount of time to see much of Sicily. We are planning a trip now and having to make difficult choices because we have only 10 days. You could spend some time on the Aolian Islands, which should be cooler. If you don't like hot weather, how about the lakes region of Northern Italy and some time in Switzerland?

AP6380

3 weeks would be perfect to see the best of Sicily. If I had that amount of time I would do:

4 nights Palermo
3 nights in Sciacca or the Selinunte area
4 nights in the Noto or Ragusa area
2 nights Ortygia
3 nights Taormina
4-5 nights Lipari in the Aeolians

susanna

I spent three weeks in Sicily and I thought that it was too much time. We did Palermo, the Aolian Islands, the east coast, southern coast and the west coast, and the interior. IMHO, I think that is why I am not as keen as others on Sicily, it was just too long for me. We even spent one of the weeks lounging around the pool and beaches. I would go for two weeks and then go somewhere else for a week.

cmt

I think three weeks is just right for an introduction to Sicily. I've never stayed there that long. I've taken two fairly recent trips just to Sicily, but each totalled only about two weeks, and also spent several days in Sicily (don't remember, but might've been a week) on each of two very long ago previous trips that included much more than Sicily. It will be hot, but you can always schedule some beach time as a break from sightseeing and walking in the heat. Also, you might want to schedule some time in places where it will be not quite as hot (e.g., in the Nebrodi Mountains).

isabel

Thanks for the replys. I am a little worried three weeks might be too much especially in the summer when it will be hot. I know it will be hot then, and I accept that, but perhaps two weeks of it might be enough. I really don't want to spend any time at beach resorts - when I go to Europe I want to see Europe, I can lay around the beach at home.

Anyone have any experience taking the ferry from Sicily to the mainland?

cmt

By "beach time" I didn't mean beach "resorts." I meant maybe in a place like the island of Salina, for example, or some beach town where Sicilians go to take a break. If you want to go to a cooler part orf the island, you might try staying in a small town in the Nebrodi area foir a few days. It's cooler and greener there, with beautiful scenery and simple towns with a mostly Norman look.

If you split your time between Sicily and someplace else not too far from Sicily, it will STILL be hot, but you'll also have to go through the trouble of getting from place to place, and it might not be as interesting and varied as Sicily.

Yes, I took the ferry from Palermo to Naples twice, but it was so long ago that you should hear from someone with more recent experience.

rbrazill

I agree with some of the others that
three weeks in Sicily would not be too much for me. Having said that, on our last trip we combined two weeks in Sicily with five days on the Sorrentino Peninsula. The flight from Naples to either Palermo or Catania is short and inexpensive. Or you might consider Calabria especially around Tropea and take the train (or car) across to Massina.