Travel Italy: Vacation Packages, Tips, Tours of Italy

Advice for transfers from Catania airport to Taormina and Giardini Naxos.
You have the following options:

- Hotels arranging transfers
Most hotels offer transfers from Catania airport for about 60-80 euros per car load.

-Taxi
Taxis are not cheap; you can expect to pay between 80 and 110 euros each way for a transfer from Catania Fontanarossa airport to Taormina

- Bus
There is an public coach service from Catania Fontanarossa airport direct to Taormina town operated by ‘Interbus’ coach company.  
This service runs at forty minute intervals. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes from the airport to Taormina. The station is outside the arrivals exit of Catania airport.
This bus also stops at Giardini Naxos which is the beach below Taormina.
Check time-tables on their website www.interbus.it  (click link ‘Ricerca Orari’).

- Train
The train is not very convenient, since the Taormina-Giardini-Naxos station is about 5 km away from the center. From Taormina’s train station, you can take an Interbus up to town. The buses run about every 30 to 90 minutes.

As you don’t need a car in the larger cities (i.e. Palermo, Catania), you need of it to visit other sights.
If driving in the large Italian cities frightens you, you could park in parking lots or garages outside the city center and eventually take a taxi or bus.

Even though driving in Sicily is easier than many other tourist areas in Italy (e.g. Amalfi coast, the large cities etc…), off the main roads, when driving for the first time there, it can be a bit frightening for non-Italians. Local residents always drive fast and close.

As some roads are narrow, (especially foreigners feel it so) it would be better renting a small car. It gives you more flexibility, especially for parking.

- Browse accommodations in Sicily.

“Advice for first-time Sicily visitors for a one week stay in Sicily late October/early November”.

That’s off-season, that means much less crowded sights, lower rates but also fewer hotels being open and many restaurants operating under reduced schedules.

In this time you won’t be able to enjoy swimming and beach activities. With temperatures averaging from the mid-50s to the mid-60s, you’ll exclude beach destinations. You’ll be focusing on historic sights and enogastronomic tours.

As Sicily is a large island which offers plenty of sights to visit, in one week only, it would be better if you chose an area to visit. That said, we can divide Sicily in two areas where you can base.

- If you base in Eastern Sicily
Sights: Etna Volcano, Catania, Taormina, Giardini-Naxos, Siracusa, Ragusa, and the Baroque towns of Noto (a real gem) and Modica, and excursions to the Aeolian Islands (see map)

- If you base in Western Sicily
Sights: Palermo, Monreale, Cefalù, Segesta, Scopello, Erice, Golfo del Castellammare, Trapani (with the salt pans) and Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples(Southern Sicily). You have a chance of wine tours in the Alcamo wine region and Marsala. You can also enjoy excursions to the Egadi islands. (see map)
 
- Browse accommodations in Sicily.

The Greek amphitheatre — “Teatro Antico“, of Taormina, Sicily, will host three nights of concerts from July 13 until 15, 2007.

That is a WOMAD event that brings together many forms of music, arts and dance from countries and cultures all over the world with a thrilling line-up of international artists. Among them: Gilberto Gil ( Brazil ), Emile ‘YX?’ Jansen Breakdance Crew ( South Africa ), Sheila Chandra ( United Kingdom ), Vicente Amigo ( Spain ), Manu Dibango ( Cameroon ).

The “Teatro Antico” is constructed within the spectacular ruins of a Greek amphitheatre overlooking Mount Etna and the bays below - a venue that’s hard to beat for atmosphere and location. Find out details on hWomad website.

Palermo is celebrating its patron saint Santa Rosalia this week, in what is named “Festino di Santa Rosalia“.

Massive parades and processions take over the historical centre of the city with a lot of fireworks and music in the evenings. The thematically adorned “Carro” of the saint is the centerpiece of the main parade taking place on July 14.