One week - Croatia or Sicily?

[artnbarb]

I'm not sure which forum to post this in, @Pauline , so please feel free to move it if necessary. Here's my dilemma:

One of the possibilities we're kicking around for next summer is to spend approx. 3 months in Umbria, as usual, and within that time period visit either Croatia or Sicily for a week. If we go to Croatia we can take the ferry over and have our own car. If we decide on Sicily we can fly cheaply (on RyanAir, which I hate!) from the local airport here.

I realize a week isn't a long time for either location, which is why I'm asking for help. Obviously we'll want to concentrate our stay in one, maybe 2 areas, and we'll want someplace that offers a lot of bang for the buck. If you had just one week, would it be Croatia or Sicily? And where would you stay? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Ian Sutton]

I guess the best I can offer is a set of questions to help shape your decision

- Prefer driving / ferry vs. Ryanair flight and car hire or public transport
- Prefer a familiar language or having to rely on the locals speaking English
- Prefer a somewhat familiar experience or something noticeably different
- Prefer warmer or slightly cooler
- Excited by Sicily or Croatia
Add your own questions where your research points to significant differences. It's often useful to see where the weight of answers point, though you can of course weight the answers where there is a big difference e.g. boxing scoring: 10-10 is a drawn round, 10-9 is a round won, 10-8 is a convincing round won. You may even find one question results in a knockout (Ryanair can have this effect!)

Finally a curveball suggestion if there is an impasse. Take 2 weeks (or maybe just 10-11 days) and take the ferry to Split or Zadar. Stay a few days in a place in Croatia that appeals, then have a leisurely road trip back by land via Northern Croatia, Slovenia, Trieste, Padova etc. I see leisurely as 2-4 hours driving per day, but with the option to stay more than one night in a place that appeals. Google maps has the journey from Split to Perugia as just short of 11 hours. The thinking here is it gets you a sighter of Croatia, plus the north-eastern edge of Italy.

 

[artnbarb]

Thanks Ian, for starting the ball rolling. First of all, I can eliminate your curveball - we made the Italian part of that drive several years ago, on our way to 2 weeks in Slovenia, For this trip I don't mind adding a few more days, but I'd prefer to spend all the time in the new location, and less long distance driving is always more appealing to me than more. BTW, for anyone considering it, northern Italy and into Slovenia is amazing - and if we'd had more time we would've continued into Croatia.

For this trip I think both Art and I will have to do some reading - he seems more drawn to Sicily, while I'm leaning towards Croatia.

The time of year could be any time from mid-August until mid-October, and I'm not sure how that would impact my decision. I would expect both places to be warm in August/Sept but still nice into Sept - am I correct?

So many possibilities!

 

[artnbarb]

WE're making progress - I'll hold my nose and take RyanAir to Sicily instead of taking an ELEVEN hour ferry to Croatia. They fly into Catania. Let the suggestions begin - in the new thread I'm starting in the Italy forum!

 

[Pauline]

Why don't you consider driving to Sicily? It would let you set your own schedule - you could stay longer because you don't have a flight to catch. You wouldn't have to rent a car.

 

[artnbarb]

@Pauline , it's a 12 hour drive! More on the other thread.