(2013, September 1-13)
1. Arrival to CATANIA. Me and my wife flew from Boston on Aug 30 via Munich and arrived on 31th Sat at 5pm to Catania. Picked a rental car in the a/p (650€, automatic/manual Fiat Punto – do not recommend this car). One night in Catania spent in hotel San Guiliano (downtown, 3 star – recommend, 62€), via Antonio di San Giuliano, 132. Going around Catania in the evening and in the morning 2-3 hrs. A lot of interesting places: Fontana degli Elephanti, Duomo, palazzo Bellini, etc. (worth extra day to spend there if you have it)
2. SYRACUSA. Next day Sep 1st drove 60 km to the ancient Siracusa – former Greek colony and scenery for Punic wars. Stay on a little Ortigia island for 2 nights. Ortigia separated from mainland with narrow channel ~ 30m. This is the place where Archimedes was running in the streets and shouted “Eureka”. I forgot what he actually discovered that time.
Next day visit ancient Greek sites: theater, quarry – worth to go (~ 2 hr). In the town very impressive modern church Madonna delle Lacrime – go inside. After that drove 10 km south to the beach Arenella (GPS direction: traversa Renella) – paid access 8€/person, great beach.
Stayed 2 nights in Hotel Alla Guidecca (Via Alagona, 52, no breakfast but kitchenette, big 2 rooms apt, $260/2days, convenient nice place. In the hotel’s building basement there is the most ancient jewish mikva bath and people all over the world coming to see it (last time was in service 3 years ago) - ask hosts for a tour. No parking problems nearby on the streets.
Restaurants: Al Mazari (5+), Taberna Sveva (4+) both very good, specialty fish, ~ 50€ for 2 people dinner.
3. AGRIGENTO. On Sep 3 we drove about 200 km to ancient Agrigento just to see the Valley of Temples where the biggest Greek temples (whatever left) were built. On the way to Agrigento there are few famous towns (ancient of course) to see: Ragusa, Noto, Gela, etc. We planned to visit Ragusa but were lost inside the island (GPS did not help) and finally abandoned this idea and went to Ag. directly (4-5 hours driving instead of 2).
Hotel B&B Sabbia d’Oro, via Nettuno 19, San Leone. It is 50 m from the public beach – small, slightly dirty, but good to swim. Hostess Malgorzata (polish speaking) was nice. (120€/2 days).
Next day Sep 4 visited the Temple Valley. About 5 km drive from San Leone. Park near the Port V – ancient gate to fortified city. Walking around site 3-4 hrs, very impressive ruins. Then we walked (1.5 km) to Archeology museum (could be missed). In the evening drove to Agrigento itself. Park near police station - Carabineri (free). Ancient town, walk around via Atenea. Very good restaurant Ambasciata di Sicilia (5+). Order grilled cheese (Pecorino alla griglia). Duomo on renovation – do not go there.
4. PALERMO. On Sep 5 (Thur) we drove to Palermo. There are few options to get there. One would be to take S118 via the village of Corleone where the Godfather (Marlon Brando) lived, another - direct way S189 (fastest). We drove around the coast road E931. Briefly visited Marsala (famous vine similar to Spanish Jerez), then we were close to the Mozia island but did not go there (greed - 20€ for ferry). There are famous windmills that provide energy for the sea salt extraction plant (similar look to the Dead Sea salt evaporation basins).
Then we arrived to Trapani (nice city but we had only 1 hour to walk around) and used cable car to get to the ancient Erice town (old Greek colony) that stands on a very high rock. Very impressive, great views, Castello di Venere, etc. (need 2 hrs min - must!). Nice beaches east of Trapani to swim.
We stayed in Palermo 3 nights in Ibis Styles hotel (3 stars in style 410€/3d) near the port but not far from the center (10 min walk, via Francesco Crispi 230). Free parking, wifi and good breakfast on the 7th floor terrace – great port view. Here we were joined by our children N and J and from Palermo we travelled as a quartet with somewhere increased spendings. There are plenty of museums to visit, great cathedral Montreale (must to go), plus nice beach towns like Mondello and Cefalu. First evening we took double-decker (20€) for around the town tour 1.5 hr – not bad. Restaurant “59” near theatro Massimo – very bad.
Next day about 10 km north drove to Montreale. Great Duomo cathedral – fantastic inside, a lot mosaics, of course. There is an option to climb on the cathedral’s roof (pay 2€) – don’t miss it! The rest of the day we spent on Mondello beach (pay 10€ for umbrella or sit free on the sand – there are free passes). From our hotel 20 min drive.
5. MILAZZO and Eolian islands. Sep 8 coastal drive to Milazzo (east) with a 2 hr stop in a small city Cefalu where the last real action happened in the Carthage time. Great beach and impressive Duomo. There is a huge rock just above Cefalu with Venus temple atop for hikers to reach. In Milazzo we had reservation in Liberty Inn (via Umberto 221, very good apartments, free parking, no breakfast but kitchen, owner Marco speaks good English, friendly guy, 160€/2d).
Milazzo is a hub port to reach Eolian islands (some connection to Eolian harp?). In one day you can visit one or more of these islands by ferry boats - hydrofoils. The most interesting is a famous Stromboli island where permanently active volcano operates 24/7. It is 3 hours to get there indeed and also if you want to climb the summit (950m) you need to take a guided tour (costs 25€, 6-7 hrs but eventually not very difficult)/ Tour starts around 4 pm targeting to reach the peak in the dark and see fire, sparks, lava, etc. Children N and J actually visited Stromboli, climbed it, saw eruption, then slept on the beach and returned to Milazzo on the first ferry boat in the morning. For climbing Stromboli recommended flashlight, goggles, high shoes and socks – ash goes everywhere. Reserve some time to buy return tickets from Stromboli – they are sold somewhere not in the port. It is possible to make hotel reservation on Stromboli if a beach sleep is not enough romantic. Also it is possible to take a boat tour from Stromboli around the island and really see how lava flows into the sea water.
We (parents) visited the closer to Milazzo island Lipari (1 hr ferry, 17€). In the port you will be approached by taxi drivers soliciting a circular drive around Lipari for 50€. We refused and used bus (1 €) to get to Canetto where we spent 2 hours on the beach and then went (bus) to Aquacaldo village (“hot water”) - not interesting. On the way there is a bus stop “Cava de Pumice” where it makes sense to get out and visit famous pumice quarry caves (not in operation), but we missed the stop and did not do it.
After coming back to Milazzo we made evening car drive to the end of Milazzo peninsula (~ 7 km from our hotel) – worth to go: fantastic views at sunset, small park at the end. It is possible to go along the sea by the scenic cliff walk that starts in this park.
6. GIARDINI NAXOS & TAORMINA. Sep 10 (Tuesday morning) we drove to the resort area of Taormina (east coast). On the way we made 2-3 hour stop in Messina to see the famous rock Scylla and whirlpool Kharibda that posed some problems to Odyssey (read Homer for more details) but did not find them. Messina is a beautiful city: many churches including famous the Chapel of the Sacrament (late 16th century), with scenic decorations and 14th century mosaics. The bell tower holds one of the largest astronomical clocks in the world, built in 1933. There are mechanically-animated statues, which illustrate events from the civil and religious history of the city every day at noon – don’t miss if you are in Messina around this time.
Our last stop was resort Giardini Naxos where we stayed for 3 nights in Villa Cristina (B&B, via San Giusto 77, practically on the beach - 200m, 400€/3d). Great swimming (free beach access), many restaurants (recommended: La Bussola, Sabbia d’Oro, bad one - Lido Europa).
One day (Sept 11) we devoted to volcano Etna that is active frequently (last time seriously in 2009 and minor eruption on April 7th this year with a lot of ash). Road to Etna includes 3 legs: first by car to the Refugio Sapienza (1900 m) via small town Zafferano. Then by cable car (27€) to ~ 2600 m altitude. And from there so-called jeeps (buses) that can take you up to 3000m for another 28€. Etna summit is 3323 m but you cannot go there - access closed . On the top station there are few fresh craters to walk around, panoramic views, but rather cold and very windy. Worth to see if you like such things or attended the Young Geographers School of MGU (as myself).
Next day drove to Taormina (must), town on the rocky mountain (problems w parking, possible to use city bus from Naxos). First, we climbed to the Castello Saracen (closed), but nearby is a famous church (X century?) of Maria della Rocka almost carved in the rock. There is a white straight cross that is visible from Giardini Naxos beach. You can go through the church to the inner yard with magnificent panorama.
Then we walked around city center and visited another Greek theater (active) and couple of churches. There are 500 stairs from Maria d.Rocka to the city center – J descended it barefoot. Beaches below are scenic, there is a small island Isolabella worth to walk around (we did not go due to the rain).
7. Departure. Sep 13 (fri) drive to Catania a/p and flew home at 12:20 pm also via Munich.
Overall impression: very good trip – highly recommended. 2 weeks is reasonable time to see something and relax a little. People are friendly, the first weeks of September are probably the best time to visit, driving is not a problem: nobody goes on the red light, parking accessible (at this time), major language - Russian. Don’t go to the restaurants with a few people – good places are packed. Most museums are closed Mondays. Costs apx: 2 people flight from BOS - $3000, Car+gas ~ $1100 (overall distance 1350 km), Lodging ~ $2600, Food ~$1600, Entertainment ~ $500 = Total $8800. For 2 people (w/o children) only probably will be ~$7000. Food could be much cheaper if bought in supermarkets (e.g. a bottle of good table vine is $3) but you need to book hotels with kitchenettes.
DV 2013
Test my