Going to Hotel Il Pellicano? Fabulous place.
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Yes return visit 
Hi Lori
When next near Lamezia Terme, try and arrange a visit to the honey producer Fragiacomo, or at least keep an eye out for their 31 erbe honey. I reckon it’s a perfect natural cold cure, heavy on mint, eucalyptus etc. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to arrange a purchase online, and the stall on Borough Market stopped stocking it.
Regards
Ian
The March issue of Conde Nast Traveler is devoted entirely to Italy. It takes one on a tour of Northern, Central and Southern Italy, with major articles on Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the island of Ponza, and the city of Catania, Sicily. Great reading for the experienced traveler as well as the novice traveler, and this issue provides tips galore.
Thanks Peter, I will find a copy. And thanks again to everyone for the tips. Now I just need to get SWMBO to focus on an itinerary
At your service, counselor!
This.
If you like hiking, the Dolomites are a must do. We stayed in San Vito di Cardone very close to Cortina. Great food-duh- and scenery out of an Ansel Adams catalogue. Friuli is amazing and unique. One of my favorite wine regions in Italy. Close enough to venture into Slovenia.
Does anyone have recommendations for sights to see along the way driving from Palermo to Taormina or vice versa. I’m not locked into the autostrada or the coastal route—would do either based on what there is to see en route.
Also, can anyone recommend a specific tour for hiking Etna without stopping for lunch, winery visits, etc? Or an English-speaking private guide for that activity?
See my post upthread for my recent experience driving from Taormina to Palermo…I would recommend those sights.
And you can hire a guide to hike Etna at Rifugio Sapienza. There’s a hut full of guides there.
David- we have a trip the first week of Sept. We start in Florence and then head to Serralunga for 3 nights 2 days before heading to the coast and working our way back to Tuscany. Interested in why not north at this time of year ?
Thanks
It depends what you seek. Warmer weather typically down South, but Porcini and then truffles and chestnuts up North. All about what you want from the trip.
We live in Florida so getting away from the heat is a definite plus. I thought we still might catch the end of summer up north ? I’d prefer cooler weather. I posted our trip on another thread. Would love your thoughts.
Fred,
Probably weather related so as not to have colder weather???
We traveled from Venice to Florence to Tuscany to Rome last year during the first 2 weeks of September. The weather was great. I went north to south to increase my chances of warm but not hot weather throughout.
Lonnie
In the north September is typically pleasantly warm in September, but can range between a little cool and quite hot (if you’ll excuse the broad terminology). We’ve even had genuinely warm, bordering on quite hot days into October, but these have been for 1-2 days.
For me slightly cooler makes it easier to be active, hence May or Sept/Oct are usual for us
Well… Tough one.
There’s Villa Romana which is great. Kind of out of the way but there’s not much in the interior of Sicily. We drove from Palermo to Catania/Taormina and cut over on ss122 at Enna for giggles. Zero tourist drive off the main roads so you’re an “attraction” when you stop in these little towns and restaurants along the way.
Note: it takes much longer to drive if you are not on the autostrada and the roads are REALLY rural. They are fun and part of seeing areas of Sicily that haven’t changed for 100 years.
And you’ll definitely want Google maps offline for the drive. Just download all of Sicily.
Terrific thread for Italy travel. We’re looking at September based on EU and Italy opening up for vaccinated travelers.
Neal- what did you end up doing ?
It took me years of travelling off the beaten path in Italy before got to this point, but:
Panarea
You can get there by ferry from Milazza or helicopter from Taormina.
If you get bored roasting squid and drinking Gaja on Lido Zimmerati in Panarea the adjoining islands of Lipari/Vulcano and Stromboli offer island hopping at its best.
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