Anybody familiar with Sicily ?

[MelanieWiggles]

We have been invited to a family wedding in June in Partinico, which is about an hour from Palermo.

We normally holiday in June anyway and ideally we would have a two-week holiday as a family (we have three DC who will be 5, 3 and 6 months in June) somewhere on the island and then join the wider family for the days around the wedding.

However I am finding it really difficult to figure out whether Sicily will give us what we want in a holiday. The last few years we have holidayed in the Algarve - self catering but part of a resort so resort-type facilities (playground, pools etc) available, plus lots of activities (waterparks) etc for day trips. I cannot see anything which seems to give a similar experience - all of the resorts seem to be hotels which really won't work for us. We also are looking for something 5 star or similar.

The other option is renting a villa which I am in two minds about as I am nervous about having a pool with three young DC who have no common sense whatsoever

And also - how 'entertainment-friendly' is Sicily for children of that age ? We are all fair-skinned so lying on a beach or by the pool all day just won't work for us, plus sadly cultural activities will be lost on the DC at present and with a small baby we are limited in terms of some activities we can do.

So - should we persevere with Sicily as a holiday option, or go elsewhere and just stay around the time of the wedding ? Any suggestions for locations or accommodation welcomed !

We have been to Sicily every summer since eldest was born. They are now 3 and 4 years. We love it. However we don't stay in typical ' tourist' accommodation.

We stay in a hotel usually. The ones we stay in don't have kids clubs etc so depends on what you like. They are lovely hotels though, and we just go with the flow. We also go sightseeing and to the beach.

A few things that depend on your family:

• Sicilians eat late. We usually head into restaurants around 9.30pm and are the first there. Most don't open until 9pm. So you do need to move onto local times.

• siesta is 1-4pm. So everything closes then. So you really need to also go to sleep then or rest, especially children so they can stay up in eve. We usually aim for ours to sleep 2-5pm.

• everywhere is a fair drive. Few walkable areas. So a local short journey is an hour. Most roads toll roads.

Many thanks - that's really helpful. I hadn't appreciated the eating late issue - should be fun ! Will keep looking - the island looks beautiful so would really like to try and make it work.

Oh and the South of the island is the best for sandy beaches. It's mainly rocky in the north/ North East.

So for you I would stay South/ South west. A few hours drive south of Palermo. Then can just drive down and back up relatively easily for wedding

Can you take a 2 year old to Sicily on holiday if she hasn't had the mmr jab?

Are you thinking of something like this?
www.hoteldelfinobeach.com/

Sorry, was not supposed to send yet.

I have been to quite a few during the years, and though I would not be able to link them at the moment (bad memory), I can find out if this is what you are looking for.
There are so many similar establishments in Sicily, people (Italians) like them. And it is true that they eat much later than even in the north of Italy (2 and 9 or 10 for lunch and dinner), but there are always sweet and savoury 'snacks' around (I am thinking of gelato or panelle etc), so I find it really easy to get used to different times.

It is hot. June is certainly better than July or August, but when we got married there the scirocco wind coming from Africa almost killed my British husband's entire family... That's really why the afternoon break is necessary, you do not want to find yourself walking under that sun. However, people take a break in the early afternoons and have much longer evenings eating, talking, walking, and so forth. The same is valid for these 'villaggi' (resorts).

Does this help at all?