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Old 1 Jan 20, 11:09 AM  
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#21
Mexy02
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Mexy02's Reviews
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Originally Posted by tocpe321 View Post
Your villa looks fantastic.

Eldest DS and I have been doing a lot of research on Airbnb. There's a few in the town near the beach. Apparently parking can be a problem so we may not hire car or certainly not for the whole trip. May use public transport to get around. Is the coastal train something different from the usual train service? Hopefully we can make a decision in the next few days.

I've started to have a look at Sicilian food.

Which town have you picked ? From where we were it was around a 2.5-3 hr drive to etna. It’s a very big island .,
The train it the italiarail ( normal service) . Buy a ticket at the machine , make sure you validate it at the next machine and off you go . They do have conductors on board who check.
You will be hard pushed to find anyone who speaks English it even the kids , google translate is your friend .

We used Alamo/enterprise for a car . Watch the excess it is normal to be around €2000 , we found one at €600 and took out an axa excess policy . The nearer to etna the more up you will pay . Car hire at Palermo is easy and the desk was inside the airport ( east mids size ) but frantic but ok but the car pick is outside , quite an eye opener lol. Just don’t hire a huge car . The towns have tiny roads. The motorway ring is toll as well , you pay in exit and chose wisely for your town as you may find yourself driving back on yourself on the normal roads .
In August Rome and Venice holiday in Sicily so it becomes very busy. Beaches you pay for the lidos but there is some free beAch but not a lot in some places . It’s not extortionate though. mist beaches are shingle or rock.
You will have to drive to get to a larger supermarket but they are nothing like here so don’t expect huge , it’s easier to shop local like bakery , butchers M tiny supermarket etc . We had 3 separate days queing with locals for fresh milk on delivery . everything is seasonal as well. When you weigh apples etc there is a glove normal in a drawer under the scale use it and put the code on the produce ( handwritten one) and weigh it , took us a while to figure that one Out lol , they do use chip and pin but you may find you are the only one using it lol .they also shut everything midday so check you timings ( mostly 12-4)
Food is Really cheap. restaurants and street food which is a must imo. If you think it looks touristy it will still be cheap . Gelato is a must do and the fresh bakers , see my food bit. a meal is a family affair so expect the village to turn up at the restaurant lol and allow lit of time . The savour food so it’s a full evenings job. Limoncello at the supermarket is about €4 , beer dirt cheap and wine a And Prosecco around the same . Our pizza bill which was amazing was €78 for the 7 of us including all drinks . Crazy .
It’s an amazing place though , think pre commercialised. We loved it . The locals called our villa the big house , made me think who actually owned it it cost just shy of €5000 that villa for a week 😱😱 my sis booked it as a family treat.
I might start looking again . obvs for something a lot cheaper lol.
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Bahama bay October /Nov 2017, Disney contemporary oct 17 , AKL , GF
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Nov 2022 boulder ridge, Polynesian , AOA and Bahama bay
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Old 1 Jan 20, 11:40 AM  
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#22
tocpe321
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Originally Posted by Mexy02 View Post
Which town have you picked ? From where we were it was around a 2.5-3 hr drive to etna. It’s a very big island .,
The train it the italiarail ( normal service) . Buy a ticket at the machine , make sure you validate it at the next machine and off you go . They do have conductors on board who check.
You will be hard pushed to find anyone who speaks English it even the kids , google translate is your friend .

We used Alamo/enterprise for a car . Watch the excess it is normal to be around €2000 , we found one at €600 and took out an axa excess policy . The nearer to etna the more up you will pay . Car hire at Palermo is easy and the desk was inside the airport ( east mids size ) but frantic but ok but the car pick is outside , quite an eye opener lol. Just don’t hire a huge car . The towns have tiny roads. The motorway ring is toll as well , you pay in exit and chose wisely for your town as you may find yourself driving back on yourself on the normal roads .
In August Rome and Venice holiday in Sicily so it becomes very busy. Beaches you pay for the lidos but there is some free beAch but not a lot in some places . It’s not extortionate though. mist beaches are shingle or rock.
You will have to drive to get to a larger supermarket but they are nothing like here so don’t expect huge , it’s easier to shop local like bakery , butchers M tiny supermarket etc . We had 3 separate days queing with locals for fresh milk on delivery . everything is seasonal as well. When you weigh apples etc there is a glove normal in a drawer under the scale use it and put the code on the produce ( handwritten one) and weigh it , took us a while to figure that one Out lol , they do use chip and pin but you may find you are the only one using it lol .they also shut everything midday so check you timings ( mostly 12-4)
Food is Really cheap. restaurants and street food which is a must imo. If you think it looks touristy it will still be cheap . Gelato is a must do and the fresh bakers , see my food bit. a meal is a family affair so expect the village to turn up at the restaurant lol and allow lit of time . The savour food so it’s a full evenings job. Limoncello at the supermarket is about €4 , beer dirt cheap and wine a And Prosecco around the same . Our pizza bill which was amazing was €78 for the 7 of us including all drinks . Crazy .
It’s an amazing place though , think pre commercialised. We loved it . The locals called our villa the big house , made me think who actually owned it it cost just shy of €5000 that villa for a week 😱😱 my sis booked it as a family treat.
I might start looking again . obvs for something a lot cheaper lol.
Mexy02 that's brilliant. Many thanks for all the info. Really useful.



Haven't booked accommodation yet, but still thinking likely to be Cefalu.

I'll have a look at the car hire as well. When we've been to Greece we've hired a car for a few days in the middle of the holiday, so may do that.

Thanks again and hope your planning goes well.

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Old 1 Jan 20, 11:55 AM  
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#23
Mexy02
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Mexy02's Reviews
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Originally Posted by tocpe321 View Post
Mexy02 that's brilliant. Many thanks for all the info. Really useful.



Haven't booked accommodation yet, but still thinking likely to be Cefalu.

I'll have a look at the car hire as well. When we've been to Greece we've hired a car for a few days in the middle of the holiday, so may do that.

Thanks again and hope your planning goes well.

I’m currently on home away looking lol . If you need any help just shout up . X
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LBV Spa resort October 2013
Bahama bay October/Nov 2015, Disney contemporary oct 2015, Loews rpr Nov 2015
Bahama bay October /Nov 2017, Disney contemporary oct 17 , AKL , GF
Yacht club / Bahama bay oct/Nov 2019 , poly
Nov 2022 boulder ridge, Polynesian , AOA and Bahama bay
Sept 24 POFQ
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Old 1 Jan 20, 12:12 PM  
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tocpe321
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Talking

Originally Posted by Mexy02 View Post
I’m currently on home away looking lol . If you need any help just shout up . X
Thanks.

Happy searching.
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Old 5 Jan 20, 05:58 PM  
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Hi Mexy02

The place we really liked was unavailable and we started looking further afield.

We've now gone with an apartment in Castellammare del Golfo further down the coast.

Hopefully we'll travel around a bit and visit Cefalu.

Have you found anything?
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Old 5 Jan 20, 06:17 PM  
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Mexy02
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Mexy02's Reviews
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We found a town house in cefalu but it had no parking except at the marina but peak season we knew that was going to be a problem . We really want a car , I know we could do without one because the transport is good though. I’m still looking but we flit between Sicily, the broads and Florida lol. It’s just finding the right apartment to fit the flights and parking . We were too spoilt last visit .
__________________
LBV Spa resort October 2013
Bahama bay October/Nov 2015, Disney contemporary oct 2015, Loews rpr Nov 2015
Bahama bay October /Nov 2017, Disney contemporary oct 17 , AKL , GF
Yacht club / Bahama bay oct/Nov 2019 , poly
Nov 2022 boulder ridge, Polynesian , AOA and Bahama bay
Sept 24 POFQ
Mexy02 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 5 Jan 20, 06:35 PM  
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tocpe321
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Originally Posted by Mexy02 View Post
We found a town house in cefalu but it had no parking except at the marina but peak season we knew that was going to be a problem . We really want a car , I know we could do without one because the transport is good though. I’m still looking but we flit between Sicily, the broads and Florida lol. It’s just finding the right apartment to fit the flights and parking . We were too spoilt last visit .
I think we will go for a car for the convenience, and it would be good to travel around.

Hope you find the perfect country and location.

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