Tea in Marettimo

Marettimari are justly proud of "their" Englishman, Samuel Butler, who visited the island in 1894 in order to develop his theory that Marettimo was Ithaca, and that the Odyssey was written by a Sicilian poetess, Nausicaä.

Although Sicily and Marettimo may sound distant, travel there is easy and economical. Here are some initial notes, thinking about how to get from London to Marettimo in the second half of November.

In that season British Airways flies Heathrow ~ Palermo on Fridays and Sundays; Easyjet flies Gatwick ~ Palermo on Tuesdays and Saturdays; Ryanair flies Stansted ~ Palermo on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Here are some examples. BA from Heathrow,

or Ryanair from Stansted,

or Easyjet from Gatwick,

From Palermo Airport, coaches run twice a day to Trapani Port, journey time is 1 hour and 10 mins

If arriving at Trapani in the evening, there is a nice inn near the port that we have stayed at many times, Albergo Maccotta. But it's interesting to note that (choosing the early morning Easyjet flight) if the flight is on time one could stroll straight from aeroplane (landed at 11:20, and it's a small airport) to coach (leaving at 12:30). This arrives at the port of Trapani (exactly opposite the aliscafo landing stages) at 13:40, where one would catch the 15:10 aliscafo for Marettimo arriving 16:25. Thus getting the whole way in one day, leaving Gatwick at 07:25 and arriving at Marettimo in time for tea.

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