Sicily and Northern Italy, Spring 2026

[Marie W]

My sister and I will be traveling to Italy from mid-April to mid-May 2026. We have seen many of the popular places in Sicily and some of Italy, here is a rough itinerary of what we are thinking for this trip.

Fly into Catania or Palermo. Stay 2-3 nights in Riposto, our dad’s hometown. On to Marsala for ?? nights, and then Castellammare del Golfo for ?? nights. After that we will fly to Northern Italy to Bolzano and drive to Casteltotto/Kasteruth for ?? nights. Next stop Cortina d’Ampezzo for ?? nights. An add on option is to then go on to France. I have not figured that part out yet.

Any guidance or help would be appreciated regarding accommodations, how much time to allocate to locations, etc.

Thanks, Marie W.

 

[Pauline]

Moving this to the Italy forum.

 

[daphnik]

Hi Marie, new here too. When I was in Marsala, I used the ferries to visit the Egadi Islands -mainly Favignana, which is about a 30-minute ride. I used the ferry schedule from ferryhopper which was pretty straightforward, so I stuck to places I could reach by boat. I didn’t try to go from Riposto or Castellammare. Taking the ferry from Marsala gave me a nice, simple way to get some island time without having to change my base or deal with complicated travel. So I can only answer for this ; ) I hope that helps

 

[milgreen2]

we stayed in Castellammare for a couple of nights a few years ago and loved it, but we had a car and did some hiking in the Zingaro reserve, and visited Segesta. we also LOVED Trapani, it was a surprisingly fun and interesting small city. finally, we spent a morning visiting Mozia, with a guide and thoroughly enjoyed it. we didn't go into the salt museum, but seeing the flats and the windmills as we waited for the Mozia ferry was lovely (note: we have a thing for salt flats :~)). we also visited Segesta and Erice with her, and highly recommend. here's a link to her official guide page: Azzurra Cusenza

 

[Jabez]

Love the Dolomites, Hotel Mayr in Castelrotto is highly recommended.

 

[Marie W]

Hi Marie, new here too. When I was in Marsala, I used the ferries to visit the Egadi Islands -mainly Favignana, which is about a 30-minute ride. I used the ferry schedule from ferryhopper which was pretty straightforward, so I stuck to places I could reach by boat. I didn’t try to go from Riposto or Castellammare. Taking the ferry from Marsala gave me a nice, simple way to get some island time without having to change my base or deal with complicated travel. So I can only answer for this ; ) I hope that helps

Thank you. Did you have a particular accommodation that you liked?

 

[Marie W]

we stayed in Castellammare for a couple of nights a few years ago and loved it, but we had a car and did some hiking in the Zingaro reserve, and visited Segesta. we also LOVED Trapani, it was a surprisingly fun and interesting small city. finally, we spent a morning visiting Mozia, with a guide and thoroughly enjoyed it. we didn't go into the salt museum, but seeing the flats and the windmills as we waited for the Mozia ferry was lovely (note: we have a thing for salt flats :~)). we also visited Segesta and Erice with her, and highly recommend. here's a link to her official guide page: Azzurra Cusenza

Thank you. Did you have a particular accommodation that you liked?

 

[daphnik]

Thank you. Did you have a particular accommodation that you liked?

We got a b&b in the historic center, I can't remember now which one it was. But I think in general for marsala the best place to stay is the center, we were very satisfied with the location

 

[milgreen2]

in Castellammare del Golfo, we stayed at Hotel Marina di Petrolo. it was pretty nice, with safe parking, a lovely pool, and convenient location.