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Report 2005: Naples & Sicily: Warmly Welcomes Travelers

By teezee from US, Spring 2012

Trip Description: May/June 2012 - This year’s adventure started for us in Ischia and ended in Palermo, with Naples and a nice slice of Sicily in between. It included monumental architecture, astonishing archaeology and history, heart-stopping hairpin rides through narrow streets to “centro historicos” in a variety of winding hill towns, mosaics, museums, beaches, oceans, and, of course, food and wine. And gelato. And cookies. And an astonishing number of warm-hearted, charming people.

Destinations: Countries - Italy; Regions/Cities - Campania, Sicily

Categories: Hotels/B&Bs; Vacation Rentals; Foodie Trip; Sightseeing; Independent Travel; Small Group: 5 to 9

Page 1 of 13: Background

We’ve been to Italy often, always choosing a small and manageable area to explore, always understanding that we’ll only see a fragment of the whole, and always charmed by what we find, north, south, east or west. We try to travel in late spring (late May – early June) when the wildflowers are out, the produce is abundant, and the weather is both warm and tolerable, often with cool evenings. Our normal timetable is three weeks and often the plan includes friends who we know travel as we do: flexibly, with resilience, and every expectation that the adventures will yield joy.

We may love people who complain about the weather, the price of aspirins in Paris, the inferior size of hotel rooms, or the sullen service of waiters. These are also often the same people who worry whether they are at the “best” or “most chic” restaurant or whether they got the lowest price on the newest hotel. We may love them but we do not travel with them.

Our group size tends to be eight and we plan our trips independently, with lots of reading of travel sites, travel books both fictional and guide, and research into rates and ratings.

This year’s adventure started for us in Ischia and ended in Palermo, with Naples and a nice slice of Sicily in between. It included monumental architecture, astonishing archaeology and history, heart-stopping hairpin rides through narrow streets to “centro historicos” in a variety of winding hill towns, mosaics, museums, beaches, oceans, and, of course, food and wine. And gelato. And cookies. And an astonishing number of warm-hearted, charming people.