Hello,
I am looking for opinions on this years holiday for my self, my husband and our energetic three year old. We are considering Sardinia, Corsica or Sicily. I would apreciate anyone%26#39;s recommendation.
I am specifically interested in considering these elements to arrive at a decision :
1) a nice mix of fun places to relax ( e.g beaches or open grassy area%26#39;s for us and our toddler to run about %26amp; burn off some energy)
with a reasonable proximity to adult sightseing - old cathedrals, other historical monuments, etc.
3) self catering options - a farmhouse or villa that we can rent and shop for groceries nearby....and hopefully not too much of a drive reasonably close to either the beach or town square. This would be our home base %26amp; we would then day trip to other locales.
4) a selection of nice restaurants nearby. Not fancy exclusive restaurants, but rather nice small local restaurants that a well behaved child would be welcome in.
5) nighlife not important ( i.e. we have a three year old with us !)
6) we are planning on travelling this May and staying for about two weeks.
So, I am hoping to narrow down to s specific country and then a specific town to be our %26quot;home base%26quot; and then travel by car to other nearby towns. To be honest, all three seem to have their high points. I am trying to get a feel for other%26#39;s %26quot;real life%26quot; experiences !
I would appreciate anyone%26#39;s experiences ( positive or negative) or arecommendations.
Kind regards,
Laura Rene
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Sardinia : never been there but it seems to me close to what I say about Corsica
Corsica : the island is not very crowdy (260.000 unhabitants) with many small villages, as it is a mountainous island and the road are often small don’t expect to do more than 50 kilometers per hour (with wild pigs on the road)
The countryside is really faboulus and it is the right place to relax, with not too many people on the beaches ..; the less : there is some adults sightseings (churches..) and you will love the old villages but if you want to see amazing cultural things....spend one day in the art institute before leaving chicago
My first choice calvi and l’ile rousse area
My second choice porto vecchio/boniffacio area
Sicilia (5.100.000 unhabitants) it is another scale
First choice: Taormina area: really an amazing place on a cliff near the Etna with a wonderfull roman theater, it is really place you must to go one day; but very known and very touristic
2d choice
Syracuse area: the old town (and the roman arena ) are really special, and you can spend hours walking inside the streets; the less : it is quite big 150.000 people and if you want to really relax you have to find something not too close to the town
OR
Agrigente area: also nice for beach and incredable roman theaters
In conclusion and to try to be neutral (as I am french): for a romantic vacation go to taormina but for a family vacation : decide yourself (I am helpfull isn’t it?)
Please take into consideration that you are in a corsica forum in the french forum and if you go in the sicilia or sardinia forum in the italian forum , the answer could be different
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I agree with most, but not all of the last post. I%26#39;ve been to Sicily twice and Corsica dozens of times - but I have to say I think Corsica would be far better for your family holiday.
The beaches for much of Sicily%26#39;s East coast are composed of black volcanic rock from Mt Etna; Taormina%26#39;s is OK, but you have the problem of the town being on two levels with many of the interesting bits being on the top level. For history and archaeology I admit Sicily is fascinating, and I too love Siracusa, but it%26#39;s quite a big, busy town and it wouldn%26#39;t be my top choice for a holiday with a three year old.
Corsica%26#39;s fabulous sandy beaches and friendly restaurants are to be found all over the island, but Calvi and Ile Rousse, and Algajola between them, would be ideal for you.
But yes, I am biased as many folk on this forum will testify! DTR
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in fact I am totally agree with Derek but I don%26#39;t want you to think that french people always says they are the best...lol
considering what you are looking for, only the historical consideration would lead to choose sicilia and as the 3 major sites near the sea are taormina, syracuse and agrigente, if you don%26#39;t go near one of these 3 places don%26#39;t go in sicilia
but difficult to find a nice villa (or farmhouse!) near taormina or siracuse near the sea (except if you are millionaire in taormina), there are nice sandy beaches in agrigente but except the magnificient temples valley no many things to see (the landscape, the town and the seaside area are not really fabulous)
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Hi Laura, We haven%26#39;t (yet) been to Sicily, but we have been to Sardinia as well as Corsica, and have to say there%26#39;s no comparison - Corsica wins hands down on every level. The scenery is far more interesting and dramatic, the towns and villages have loads more character - ok, we%26#39;re biased too as we live here. Should you decide on Calvi as your base, may we suggest for a self-catering option you consider our house which we rent out? You can see full details at www.corsicanholidays.com, and there%26#39;s also a description and link on the %26#39;maps etc%26#39; page in the Calvi section of Trip Advisor. It%26#39;s walking distance from the beach, restaurants, shops, marina and citadel, and a great base from which to do interesting day trips. There are lots of nice restaurants here, all very child-friendly too so no worries on that score. The main beach at Calvi is sandy and gently-shelving, and is backed by a shady pine forest with trails - plenty of places for your toddler to run around!
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Have been to Corsica and Sardinia with little ones but to Sicily without our children. Sicily is more of a couples destination as the wealth of history, ancient sites etc (plus climbing Mount Etna - very interesting) lends itself to touring round, not always easy with a 3 year old. But if your 3 year old is well travelled he/she might be up to seeing all that history ?? There are golden sandy beaches up at Cefalu on the north coast - lovely little town - but overall Corsica and Sardinia are probably best for family holidays.
The two towns which spring to mind here are Calvi on Corsica and Alghero on Sardinia, lovely sandy beaches for playing on, and they should be nice and quiet in May, Calvi is a slightly more attractive town than Alghero but both have atmosphere, restaurants and day trip opportunities.
I suppose you need to post on all three island forums (perhaps you have) to get more ideas on this, its a difficult choice ! If I could take 3 months off work touring all three islands would be a perfect holiday !
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I also visit the Sicily and Sardinia forums and see you have posted on those too !
Would agree with the other posters on those forums with the exception of the comment on the Sicily forum saying that Corsica is wild and the beaches rocky - not true at all. If anything the beaches in Corsica are better than on the other islands especially in the south east where they are comparable with the Caribbean.
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there is near Calvi there is a VVF holiday club, this is a self caetring club with bungalow or apartment especialy made for family with children.
the less: this is not the villa of your dream near the sea but as they says a 307 unit complex with good but %26quot;standard%26quot; apartment (depending on what is your standard)
the+: they can take care about your baby during the day (that is the aim of the center) and allow you to take your time to visit what you want. They are quite known in France and feeback are often good, but I am not sure that all services they offer for children are open in May
By the way I am totally agree with White Familly: the beaches in Corsica are really nice and Montana also is %26quot;quite wild%26quot; (but secure)
Concerning Cefalu my opionion is that is the wrong good idea, Indeed you will immediatly fall in love with this charming little town with nice beach, but if you spend 2 weeks in Cefalu you will find it more and more little. But the problem is there are no many things to see around Cefalu. You can easily go to Palermo (1 hour but in this case there is some nice accomadation in the Palermo area near the sea) but forget the Islands, it will take you next to 2 hours to go to Milazzo and then take the boat to Stromboli or Lipari (1 hour at least by boat ), believe me 2 weeks in Cefalu this is the death!
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