Italy Trip in April/May for honeymoon - Itinerary Suggestions (Sicily?)

[roamingcat]

Hi all,

After much backwards and forwards we think we have finally settled upon Italy for our honeymoon in April or May next year. But the big question is where to go! If you've been to Italy at that time of your previously it would be really helpful if you could share which part you went to and any itinerary suggestions.

In an ideal world I think we would like to visit 2-3 places or we're considering just going to Sicily the whole time. We don't want to hire a car so need to be able to get around by train/internal flights but don't want to spend too long travelling. In terms of activities we're keen for relaxation rather than jam packed sightseeing - an itinerary which involves going to the beach/pool, eating nice food, walking around, a cooking class or two with a couple of bits of sightseeing would be great. We're not a fan of busy places so are happy to avoid Rome etc and are aware of the Jubilee.

Thanks!

I would base myself in vico equense and then visit any of the following easily by boat or train
Naples
Sorrento
Capri
Vesuvius
Pompeii

I would fly to Catania and do Cefalu, Ortigia (Siracusa) and Taormina if you want 3 separate places. Weather will be better in May normally than April. All are on the train line. Cefalu is a bit of an outlier, but can be reached changing at Messina I think. And has the better beach. Taormina is stunning. Or Puglia - fly to Bari and work your way down the coast - Polignano, Monopoli, Ostuni, Lecce, Otranto etc - all possible by train. We spent 10 days in Monopoli this May and it was glorious.

This year we are going to Tropea and Pizzo - never been before but it looks lovely.

Sorrento is a good base - nice in itself, & easy to travel to other places.

We love Sicily, & have been twice. However, it's a huge island & it really does need a car to travel easily.

Thanks all for the suggestions so far. I'm now wondering if we leave Sicily for a separate trip and just do a few places on the mainland and travel by high speed train inbetween?

We honeymooned in Taormina and had a hire car. It was great. I honestly wouldn’t try to do too much travelling. Check the weather for April/May…. While July and Aug will be hot and hectic, it may be unpredictable in late spring.

We are big Sicily fans! It's an incredible place; has everything - beautiful, historic towns and cities, wonderful food, climate, natural features, beaches. We have been twice and only travelled with public transport. This year we did an 8 day trip end of May (half term) - we flew to Catania and got a taxi to Taormina where we stayed 4 nights (including a wonderful day trip to Mount Etna). We then got the train to Cefalu (change in Messina but it's easy and the train hugs the coastline the whole way and is stunning!). We had three nights in Cefalu and then train to Palermo where we had an afternoon sight seeing then flew home next day. On our previous trip, we had a long weekend in Ortigia/Siricusa (also late May) which is not too be missed (we also spent time in Noto and Catania, different but lovely).

I think a honeymoon there would be incredible! Fly to Catania then go to Ortigia, then direct train Ortigia to Taormina, then on to Cefalu and fly home from Palermo.

We have also done a split trip starting in Rome then on to Florence/Sienna/Lucca which was fab if you like cities/towns. Could combine with some Tuscan coast?

To add, it was mid 20s when we went end of May this year but sunny and dry the whole time. When we went a few years ago it was late 20s and sunny, also end of May. DH and DC swam in the pool and sea this year although wasn't warm enough for me! If you want guaranteed temps for beach/pool, probably has to be Greek island / Cyprus in May (not sure about April in Europe anywhere).

Next year we are having a six day trip staying in Rome and Venice; travelling between the two by train. We don't speak Italian but have found train travel straight forward and well organised on our previous trips and the TrenItalia app is helpful.

@BeccaBean your Sicily trips sounds fabulous have you any hotel or self catering recommendations? I wondered whether we could do this the other way round and fly to Palermo visit Cefalu but it depends on flight options (possibly Palermo), (possibly Noto) then onto Taormina. Did you prebook your taxi from Catania airport to Taormina and if so roughly how much was it to do this?

We have visited Taormina before loved it and want to return and also visited Ortigia and Syracuse (which we also enjoyed). We visited early May and weather wasn’t the best and on the really cool side except maybe one day.

There is a direct bus from the airport to Taormina bus station that costs about 7 euros. I think a transfer is about 100 euros. I can really recommend Le Terrazze del Teatro Greco - available via booking.com and others. Really central accommodation with stunning views from the terraces. I didn't want to leave. Le Tre Campane in Ortigia also marvellous.

We went in the last week of May for our honeymoon, did the following:
Eurostar to Paris, change to night sleeper to Florence
3 nights in Florence
4 nights in Siena
1 night in San Gimignano
2 nights in Rome
(all travel by train / bus)
Train up to Livorno and ferry across to Corsica
1 night in Bastia
Hired a car and drove across the island to Ajaccio (that was a mistake, Ajaccio was a bit of a dump) for 2 nights
Drove back to Bastia and took a flight back to the UK.

It was all done quite on the hoof - other than travel out and back, we only booked the next spot a couple of days in advance,

Hi @Chocolatey1234 . We had apartments in Taormina and Cefalu and a hotel in Palermo (general preference for apartments when we're staying 3 nights or more). We found them on booking.com. In Taormina we wanted a pool and a short walk from the main street, Corso Umberto. The pool was a bit cool for me last week of May (mid 20s) but DD loved it. When we went to the beach near Taormina (on the chair lift then 15 mins or so to the sand as the beaches at the bottom of the chair lift aren't sand), it felt warm enough to go in the water! In Cefalu, we stayed on the main street in the old town, Corso Ruggero, above a shop in a beautiful apartment. It was a great location, 6/7 mins walk from the Duomo and about 10 mins to the beach.

The apartment host in Taormina arranged a taxi for us from Catania and it was €90-100. We flew with EasyJet and could easily have done the trip in reverse. One of our favourite trips!