London to (Rome or Venice) to Sicily and back

June 5, 2006 4:46 AM

I'm attending a meeting in Catania, on the east coast of Sicily, July 3-7, and taking my wife and 12-year-old son. We'd like to leave London June 28, spend four or five days in Rome or Venice, then return from Catania July 8 or 9, and not break the bank. I know there are lots of discount airlines in Europe, and we'd also consider train or bus within Italy, but right now I have too many variables and not enough equations. Thanks!

Suggestions for things to do are also welcome. We're also thinking of spending a night in Malta, which is a 3-hour boat ride from Catania. Thanks again!

posted by lukemeister to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

This is not an answer to your question, but have you considered just spending the five days touring Sicily? It's really stunning and a leisurely tour would take you places most tourists never get to. Like this for starters. And Segesta, which was so beautiful it was almost a religious experience.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:01 AM on June 5, 2006

I've flown to Catania via Rome from Stansted on Ryanair, and also on Alitalia via Milan. Provided you book as soon as possible, there are usually cheap tickets available.

In Catania: The fish market in Catania is fun if you like food, noise and general hubbub. Do try the local cheeses, wines (Planeta's chardonnay is not cheap but is especially good), and food (arancine are fried meat-stuffed balls of rice, cassata is a lovely light cake). The botanical gardens in the city are nice to stroll through. Anywhere you go there are gelato stands and I find the flavours and texture much nicer than in northern Italy.

Less than 2 hours away: North of Catania, Taormina attracts a lot of English-speaking tourists but is not to be missed... amazing views, gorgeous ruins. It's about an hour's coach journey away leaving from the Etna coach station in Catania. You could also take a train or coach to the beach at Giardini-Naxos, very much a tourist destination for Italians, which also has an okay park with archaeology from the ancient Greek settlement. Many of the restaurants there are better than decent and much cheaper than Taormina. Coaches to Mt Etna are inexpensive (but only leave once a day fro Catania) and kids love volcanoes. The old city and ruins in Siracusa, not so far away on the south coast, are amazing.

Further afield: There are daily boats to Stromboli and the other islands. Palermo is a lot of fun, but packed with American tourists. Malta is okay but if you're just spending a night you might find it a little full of drunken stag parties. If I could recommend an overnight stay anywhere, it would be to Siracusa instead.
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:27 AM on June 5, 2006

Oh, almost forgot: there's a restaurant behind the fish market in Catania that is underground in caverns, and goes down to the springs that run under the city. Entrance is through the Agora youth hostel.
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:30 AM on June 5, 2006

I would second Cunninglinguist's suggestion about staying in Sicily for the duration. Of course Rome and Venice have huge amounts to see - but they are also crowded, expensive, and sometimes exhausting places. If you feel that your trans-atlantic jet lag together with your business meeting and the strain of a long bus journey will leave you and your son with enought energy to tackle the summer crowds at the Vatican or St Mark's square then fine.

Sicily is a large, beautiful, diverse island. You have Europe's most active volcano in Etna, spectacular temples as places like Agrigento plus beautiful beach towns like Cefalu. The people are friendly and they are also very welcoming of children. You can hire a small car at Catania within a 1 minute walk of arrivals at the airport. A week's rental Would seem to be about $250 on Expedia.
posted by rongorongo at 6:55 AM on June 5, 2006

Ryan Air. Go visit their site and see how much they can cost you Rome< ->Venice , Rome< ->Catania it is usually very cheap when booked in advanced. Sadly I have to say Alitalia cost many times more then Ryan, but giving a look to their site will not hurt. Ryan airport in Rome is in ciampino, very close to the center of the city and connected by bus and nearby metro, in ryan airport isn't that close to Venice, but I guess they have bus arrangment to venice. I wouldn't recommend trains because unless you are travelling from main cities and on high speed tracks the travel will be comfortable, but slower and as expensive of more expensive then Ryan ; you would just waste time on a tight schedule.

Consider sicily can be very hot during summer , but generally speaking italy is rather hot all over the place in july. Both Rome and Venice offer a lot to see, but it really depends on how deeply you intend to visit..one day in the center of the city going around on foot...one day in the forum/coloseum ..one day at vatican museum are a minimum ..i would suggest one more day to visit whatever you may become fascinated with. Venice will take certainly a couple days, even if the locations are more tighly packed then Rome , be prepared to walk and to meet huge crowds expecially during weekends.

Allow me to suggest that if you earn your wage in UK pound, italy is incredibily inexpensive even if you book a 4 start hotel. On the other hand if your wage is in USD, italy can be moderately expensive because of the strong euro. I wouldn't discard the recommendation of 5 days in Sicily, taking it easy and relaxing, but if coming to Italy is a rare occasion Rome and Venice can't be missed, sicily just isn't worth them. Usually I recommend 3-4 days Rome, 2-3 days Venice, 2-3 Days Florence and then 4-5 relaxing in souther italy beaches or northenr italy mountains, center italy hills and countryside.
posted by elpapacito at 8:03 AM on June 5, 2006

I'll second the votes to explore Sicily, especially Taormina and Segesta, and I'll add Erice on the southwestern tip of the island, which is a beautiful old Norman-fortress town and is sometimes captivatingly fogged over when the rest of Sicily is sunny.
posted by kittyprecious at 9:09 AM on June 5, 2006

NB RyanAir flies into Palermo from London and Trapani from Pisa.

Skyscanner.net shows these prices for Catania-Rome and these for Catania-Venice.

WindJet flies Rome-Catania as well as Venice-Catania and ApliEagles also flies the latter route.

Here you can find a list of which companies fly to Catania from where.

But I would do as CunningLinguist suggested - stay in Sicily.
posted by romakimmy at 4:03 AM on June 6, 2006