Siracusa, Sicily, Italy & Giardini Naxos (Taormina), Sicily, Italy

[cruise4funwi]

We will be in both ports on consecutive days in May 2014 (Sat. May 3rd and Sun. May 4th respectively). While there is quite a bit of information out there on Taormina, I haven't been able to find much on Siracusa. Additionally, in order to keep costs down, can one or both areas be explored on our own (easily and reliably?) We will be in each port from 8am - 10pm on an Azamara cruise. The cruise excursions are limited in Siracusa, and it appears the area near the port is both interesting and easy to navigate on our own. Would this be all walking, or would we need transportation to get to/from the port into town? Is there enough to see to take up a reasonable part of the day? In Taormina, the city as well as Mt. Etna region looks most interesting. Would we be best served to take a tour (either private or through Azamara)? Thank you very much!

[FTLcruisers]

here is some info on Syracuse (Siracusa)

 

http://www.italyguides.it/us/sicily_italy/syracuse/siracusa.htm

 

 

We decided to take an excursion there later this month from Catania Italy

[frugs33]

You could spend the day walking around the Ortigia area in Siracusa. If you have enough time you could also visit the archaeological park. I would take a taxi to the park, as I have heard the bus is not convenient.

 

If you want to see Taormina and Mt Etna in one day, I would suggest taking a tour.

[cruise4funwi]

Thank you very much for you input!

[2Fltravelers]

We will be in both ports on consecutive days in May 2014 (Sat. May 3rd and Sun. May 4th respectively). While there is quite a bit of information out there on Taormina, I haven't been able to find much on Siracusa. Additionally, in order to keep costs down, can one or both areas be explored on our own (easily and reliably?) We will be in each port from 8am - 10pm on an Azamara cruise. The cruise excursions are limited in Siracusa, and it appears the area near the port is both interesting and easy to navigate on our own. Would this be all walking, or would we need transportation to get to/from the port into town? Is there enough to see to take up a reasonable part of the day? In Taormina, the city as well as Mt. Etna region looks most interesting. Would we be best served to take a tour (either private or through Azamara)? Thank you very much!

 

We will be in Catania and Siracusa on our Azamara cruise next October. I will be interested in hearing what you did after you return. Thanks.

[verga]

We just got back from our Silhouette cruise which visited Catania on Nov 11. From Catania, we took a wonderful private tour with Christian Guardione (Info@newtravelservices.net) to visit Siracusa (archeological site) and Ortigia with a licensed tour guide (Valeria) for 4 hours before we returned back to Catania to spend 2 hours on our own. We found having a licensed tour guide to visit the archeological site and Ortigia very useful. The history of the Cathedral in Ortigia is very interesting as is the city itself. There is an audioguide in the Cathedral so I think you can easily do both Siracusa and Ortigia on your own.

 

On your port day in Catania, you may wish to consider taking a private tour to visit Taormina, Savoca (Godfather) and Castelmola and at the end of the tour, spend a couple of hours in Catania before you return to your ship. We visited Taormina, Savoca and Castelmola in May 2013 and had an awesome day.

 

To keep your cost down, maybe you can organize a group of 6 to 8 people from your roll call? Our group of 6 paid 290 Euro for the minivan with an English speaking driver (Christian) who gave an excellent running commentary and 110 Euro for the licensed guide to visit Siracusa (archeological site) and Ortigia.

[2Fltravelers]

Thanks for this great information. We have a 14 hour port stop in Catania & another 14 hours in Siracusa. So it makes sense to see Taormina when we are in Catania & then spend the next day touring Siracusa, etc.

 

We will also be in Catania the beginning of November. What was the weather like? Last year our friends also on the Silhouette had a day of torrential rain in Catania and had to cancel their tour.

[verga]

We will also be in Catania the beginning of November. What was the weather like? Last year our friends also on the Silhouette had a day of torrential rain in Catania and had to cancel their tour.

 

We were lucky - on Nov 11, 2013, it was drizzling on our way and then the rain stopped at 9:00 am as we reached Siracusa and for the remainder of the day, it was cloudy with some sun.