Has anyone been to Sicily, Italy?

Question

I might be going to Italy next summer and I really don't know what to expect!

What the weather is like over there, food, shopping, beaches..?

Is shopping expensive in Italy?

If anyone could let me know what I should and need to know about Italy, I would really appreciate it!

Answer 1

I'm Sicilian,,,I live next Taormina and I can assure you that Sicily is wonderful...beautiful beaches , excellent food, very hot, charming and friendly people, shopping is good but now with dollar-euro situation you must pay more...but the "made in Italy" is the best on the world!:-)

Answer 2

Sicily is a wonderful island, but can be larger than people expect - best to hire a car. Palermo is wonderful but the traffic is chaotic. If you arrive to Palermo, it might be worth your while staying just outside in Mondello - which is a beautiful but fading seaside resort, with some good restaurants.

The west of the Island is famous for its wines, the Marsala produces a famous wine similar to Sherry from Spain. Further south are the famous Greek ruins of Agriento .  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cellartours...

A visit to Sciacca for it beaches and fresh seafood should not be missed - http://www.bestofsicily.com/sciacca.htm

Further along the coast to the west is Syracuse- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse,_I...  , this is a World Heritage Site and again of Greek origin.

Further north then you have Taormina - made famous by Hollywood jetset in the 1950's. Taormina is a very well preserve town perched on the hill side overlooking the ocean, with Enta as the other backdrop. Can't get much prettier than that. The journeys to the beaches can be a bit of a trek - there is a cable car - but it was not tworking the last time I was there

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cellartours...

In the summer Sicily can be very hot and humid. Generally I found Sicily to less expensive to the North of Italy - however with the soft dollar I am afraid everything seems more expensive.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Hi, I am Italian and I have been to Sicily three times and I just love it. It is really hot in the Summer....Sicily is not so distant from Africa and it is extremely humid. But the cities are great, full of art and great food. Visit: Catania, Giardini Naxon, Agrigento, Syracuse. They are so breath-taking. I don't like Palermo because of its 'dangerous' atmosphere but there are a lot of things to see too. And then the Volcano, the Etna, it is such a trill to be up there. Driving up you'll see that little by little everything gets more and more burned and ruined, but at the top what an experience.

Just go and travel all over, it is amazing. Pay attention but don't become paranoid life is great in Sicily.

Oh, the beaches and the sea are great, too.

The shopping might be quite expencive beacuse of the dollar-euro situation.

Have fun.

Answer 4

I've been to Venice and Milan on tours.. and I absolutely loved it.. I know it isn't Siciliy, but I'm sure there is some similarities..

Of course, the US Dollar doesn't translate well to Europe, but It was reasonable...

I'm going over New Year's all over Italy, though.. so feel free to keep in contact, and I'll let ya know more!

Answer 5

no