Traveling to Italy - How to visit both Venice and Sicily in one week?

August 2, 2022 6:33 PM

I have a trip to Italy coming up, and have a week to visit Venice and Sucily. I’d like any advice on how to do that in an enjoyable way.

I will be in Tuscany next year for a couple of weeks for a class. When that ends, I'm planning on meeting my sister, she will be flying to Italy from the states. We plan on spending a week together, and have two destinations we need to see. Venice and Sicily. I have never been to Italy, and I don't know anything about the practicality of that itinerary. I'm in the beginning stages of planning the trip, and would love advice about how I could go about that. Is it better to take the train, or rent a car? She can fly into any major city, so I am assuming it will be easier for me to get from Tuscany to Venice or wherever she might land instead of her meeting me in Tuscany. Any tips you all could toss my way would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

posted by Bohemian Sailor to Travel & Transportation around Italy (11 answers total)

So Venice and Sicily are basically at the opposite ends of the country -- they are about 500 miles apart as the crow flies and at least 750 miles of actual road distance (that's just to Messina, which is the first Sicilian city from the mainland -- add another 60 miles to Catania or 140 miles to Palermo).

If you only have a week to do both, I would advise:

- Picking one home base in Sicily, likely accessing it from either Palermo or Catania, as those are the two major airports in Sicily, choosing between them based on what you want to see in Sicily and/or reasonable flight options

- Flying between Venice and either Palermo or Catania. Especially since you have just one week, you don't have enough time and it doesn't make sense to drive (it's at least 13 hours nonstop from Venice to Messina, so this will realistically eat up two full days) or to take the train (Venice to Rome is 4h by train, Rome to Messina is 8h, add another 2h to Catania or 4h to Palermo).
posted by andrewesque at 7:00 PM on August 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

I'd recommend spending more of your time in Sicily -- I found 1 day enough to explore Venice proper, and another day for Murano (since I'm obsessed with glass blowing).
posted by Metasyntactic at 7:04 PM on August 2, 2022

I’d take the train up to Venice and then fly down to Sicily (or somewhere close and then a train). It’s very far and you’ll use up your precious vacation time in transit otherwise. When I visited Cinque Terre and Sicily in the same trip, that’s what I did, and I was happy with my decision. Some of the trains I took in Sicily were local routes and super slow so the distance on the map was a bit deceptive.

I disagree with the advice to spend only a day in Venice—it has a lot to see and is really unlike any other place in the world. Depends what you’re interested in doing, though. You could spend a day seeing the major tourist sites like Piazza San Marco and the Rialto and a museum or two, a day just getting lost and wandering the city (one of the best things to do there!), maybe taking a gondola ride or shopping for artisan specialties like velvet slippers or masks, and a day visiting an outlying island or two. I prefer Burano (famous for colorful houses, lacemaking) to Murano (glassblowing).
posted by music for skeletons at 7:36 PM on August 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Venice can take as much time as you have. It has endless layers to discover. (That said, it gets cold, misty, and wet in the late fall and winter, and you may not find it congenial at all if it's raining.)

Only way I'd do this would be with a flight. An evening flight so you get to your hotel in time to go to bed in the second location, and are fresh in the morning for a full day.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:41 PM on August 2, 2022 [5 favorites]

Another vote for flying between Venice and Sicily. And I concur with music for skeletons on everything they wrote.
Meet your sister in Venice and then fly to Sicily together after a couple of days of taking in the wonderful atmosphere in Venice. Wait with Islands till some other time.
When you are leaving Venice, hire a boat taxi, then you will get a great impression of the lagoon. It's pricey but worth it.

The hardest part of Venice is not to fall into a tourist trap for food. I haven't been there since COVID, so I don't know If some of my favorite places even exist anymore, last time I went, my favorite bar had been taken over by people who had converted it into a mockery of its former glory. But look at the menu and if there is spaghetti bolognese on it, don't enter. If there are roast chicken and French fries on it, don't enter. Venetian food is mainly seafood, but there are also veal dishes (including the glorious fegato alla veneziana), and rice dishes. And polenta.
posted by mumimor at 12:16 AM on August 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

This might be a stage to ask "It if is going to be Venice, then does it absolutely have to be Sicily as well?" as well as "If it is going to be Sicily, then does it need to also be Venice?"
I say this because (aside from the distance reason explained above):
1. Sicily has absolutely ample to do to fill up a week's vacation - even if you have already spent time in Tuscany.
2. Venice also has a great deal to see of course - but it normally absolutely overrun with tourists - and that can make it exhausting after a couple of days. So - if you go you could also consider some of the "alternatives to Venice" locations mentioned here - all reachable much more quickly. You could maybe stay in one of these locations for all or part of your time - much less crowded, better food, better value for money.
posted by rongorongo at 12:59 AM on August 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

That is exactly why one needs at least two days in Venice. There are almost two (or probably more) different Venices.
There is a very narrow route that all the day tourists move along, and it is horrible, even though the sites they wander to and from absolutely merit the attention. Step just 20 meters away, and you are in a magical world that is completely different from any other city, because of the water. The sounds are different, the smells are different, the people are different. Children are free to go wherever they want. Sitting in a quiet plaza with a cup of coffee is like therapy. There are hidden churches and scuole filled with masterpieces that you can enjoy in peace (link to a commercial site, but the information is good). The food is unique and delicious.
See the main sights early in the morning, and see San Marco at mass when only worshippers are allowed. Spend the rest of your time exploring the rest of the city. There are big squares where you hardly see a tourist, but sometimes at night, hundreds of students, Venice has an important university.

I won't speak against Sicily, I haven't been there yet, and I really want to go soon, so I won't say go to Venice and skip Sicily. But many travellers get a bad impression of Venice, and that is sad. Also: most of us are tourists when we visit Venice, and we can't pretend we are not. The city of Venice was build on trade and travels, and has welcomed visitors since the Middle Ages. But there are different types of tourism, and the inhabitants of Venice have been quite clear that the problem is the day tourists, who arrive on cruise ships or by train and just walk about in that dense and sweaty tube of kitch before they leave without having spent time or money or care for the good of the city.

Maybe you should let the time of year influence your choices?
posted by mumimor at 5:31 AM on August 3, 2022 [7 favorites]

People are being really dramatic about this. You don't have to go to Sicily and see every frigging thing for a week and not go to Venice at all, or the opposite.

I would have your sister fly into Milan and meet there. Take the 2.5 hour train to Venice. Get lost for two days or three days, then take the cheap Ryanair flight to Sicily and spend three or four days there. Then you can both fly back to Milan, or you can fly to Rome or wherever you need to leave from.

You do not need to see every thing in every place. You're allowed to just go somewhere and enjoy it.

(PS I am going Venice in November, and highly recommend the off season!)
posted by DarlingBri at 7:55 AM on August 3, 2022 [3 favorites]

You can fly reasonably cheaply from the USA to Venice. (Turkish Airlines, stops in Istanbul.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:21 AM on August 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you go to Venice in the off season (like November), you’ll encounter a lot of magic and beauty and a much emptier place, but be aware that many interesting shops may be closed, there will be fewer events, etc and you may also have to deal with the acqua alta, or seasonal flooding, meaning the streets will be full of water and you’ll need to pack or buy waterproof boots (they put up raised walkways but not in 100% of the city). I second mumimor’s advice about getting into some of the more residential corners of the city to get more of a feel for it. There are no unsafe or ugly neighborhoods in the historic center, so seriously, just get lost and don’t worry about where you are until you need to return to your hotel. You can easily walk across the city in a day. The far northern and eastern parts of the island will be the most residential and least touristy areas—like the neighborhood called Castello generally feels very remote despite hosting the Venice Biennale. Memail me if you want specific advice or a recommendation for a local guide.

If you go to Sicily in the off season, there will again be lots of closures of interesting stores and sights, plus you will probably get a lot more weird looks/stares as there’s significantly less tourism there. I’m basing this on my experience going just slightly off peak season—April, I think? However I’m also visibly a POC so that plays into my sense of things. My favorite sight there was these ancient cave paintings, completely empty and off the beaten path at the time I went.
posted by music for skeletons at 12:22 PM on August 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Anyway, I remember being in Venice for the first time, I found the city hard to parse. On first impression, it seemed like a overrun theme park, with no real life. Luckily a friend had written a short guide for me, and that opened some perceptive doors for me. This was ages ago, and though I probably still have the hand-written guide, I can't find it right now, but below is something similar:

Palazzo Pesaro Fortuny I go every time I am in Venice, for the architecture and atmosphere as well as for the artifacts.
The Rialto Market is terribly congested during the day, but go in the early morning when it is an actual food market that Venetians buy their food in, and again in the evening when all the day tourists are gone, and you will understand why all those tourists come, though they can't see it when they are there.
When the Rialto bridge is too full, take the Traghetto.
I mentioned going to mass in San Marco, it is always a good idea to experience spaces in the way they are meant to be experienced, and just being there for an hour looking at all the mosaics and other art is a great experience. Of course, going there means you will pass the square, but also go there at night, when it is near empty.
The Campo San Polo is a square which is right in the middle of the touristic route, and yet also a place where you can sit and have a drink at a normal price and see normal people doing normal things, like kids playing soccer.
Campo Santa Margherita is where the students gather for cheap pizza and drinks.
The Osteria Al Squero is hardly a secret, it comes up in most guides to Venice, and still, it has a local atmosphere and is a great place to have your cicchetti in the early evening. It is opposite the boatyard (squero) where they make and repair the gondolas.
The Antica Locanda Montin is another non-secret, not far from the boatyard. I usually go for the Bienalles of art and architecture, and this is where "everyone" goes, it's a large place with room for many big tables. But again, off the main tourist track, and not a tourist trap.
The San Zaccaria church has a beautiful Bellini altarpiece, and a fascinating crypt. There may be a few other visitors there, but you can enjoy your visit with no bustling and noise. The square in front is an other peaceful place, less than 100 meters from San Marco.
I also like Castello a lot, and actually prefer to stay there, but that might not be practical if you only have two days. One thing about Venice is that it takes ages to get from one place to another, because you have to walk or sail everywhere and walking is rarely in a straight line. For some years I stayed at La Calcina, which is perfectly situated, but I think the prices are a bit too hefty for me now, (as someone who generally visits when prices are at their peak), out of season the prices are fine.
If you are in Venice for a longer while ( or if someone else reads this answer), the island to go to is Torcello. You can make a stop at Burano on the way if you like, but Torcello is one of the magic places in the lagoon with a beautiful ancient church and nice garden restaurants for lunch (just take the regular ferry, you don't need a tour).
posted by mumimor at 5:25 AM on August 4, 2022 [4 favorites]