Sicily By Train

I’ve just returned from my 2 week train adventure to Sicily so Sunday Sketchbook will return as usual this week. With lots of us thinking about how to reduce the amount of flights we take, I wanted to share some of the highlights and things I learned from travelling by train instead along with my favourite finds in the cities we visited.

Bristol - Paris

Booking in advance is key here to get a good deal otherwise this part of the trip can end up very expensive. We spent 2 nights in Paris, which I hadn’t visited since I was 18 and really fell in love with. Despite their reputation the Parisians were very tolerant of my less than perfect attempts to speak French! Here are my highlights:

Coffee and croissants in the Jardin Luxembourg grab your breakfast from one of the millions of bakeries on the streets nearby and take it here to eat, there are lots of chairs. Make sure you walk around the edge of the gardens beyond the formal section, so beautiful.

Velib your way around Paris - this is the French version of the Boris Bike. Working out how to hire them was a bit tricky, I’d advise downloading the app and creating the account before you head out. In the app go to single rides or day passes and make sure you select the right amount of bikes you want to hire - unlike me!

Sandwiches and beer by the Canal St Martin. We got a delicious vegan posh sandwich from Plan D and joined what felt like half of Paris in the sun by the canal. I love feeling like I’m living like a local when I visit a new city and this was definitely one of those moments.

Turin and Genova

The train journey down to Turin is very pretty, it’s super speedy down through French, then slowly chugs through the alps where you can catch sight of some snowy mountain tops. It was quite long - 6 hours so I’d advise a trip to hang out in the bar carriage for a bit so you aren’t sitting still for too long, also bring snacks!

I got food poisoning our first day in Turin so I saw a lot of our very beautiful airbnb! It was the hosts own flat so beautifully decorated and full of art and architecture books.

I did make it out to the local market and in the queue for the bakery a very lovely lady told us it was the best in Turin. Definitely worth a visit to pick up lunch and probably the best loaf of bread I’ve ever had, the pane integrale - Panificio Ficini Valter.

Genova has a very different feel to Turin, very beautiful, a little bit seedy and some bits were very touristy, I loved it. Stay away from the harbour and wander round the streets of the old town, we also took the free rack and cog railway up to the top of the hill for an amazing view.

The sleeper train to Siracusa

This was the most exciting train journey as I’ve never been on a sleeper before, it’s also a very beautiful route, hugging the italian coast all the way down from Genova to Sicily. We took a Comfort carriage which gets you a private compartment for up to three and free breakfast including proper expresso from the guard.

We chose to get off before the ferry and get back on in Messina later in the day but this was a mistake as we were too tired to want to look round with all our bags. Stay on as the train is shunted onto a ferry to head over the water to Sicily and all the way to your destination.

Here’s my top tips for Siracusa:

Head to the market and have a sandwich at the world famous Caseificio Borderi

Get off the main drag and head to the side streets, especially on the east of the island for a feel of daily life without the cruise ship trippers.

For a beach day, get the train to Avola for perfect white sands and swimming - we went to watch the Giro roll out (big bike fans) so it was covered in pink balloons and flags. This beach was quiet with a lovely bar for lunch.

Catania

We only had one night in Catania but I loved it so much it’s getting it’s own section! First up was another beautiful coastline railway, with great views of Etna as you get closer to Catania.

While Siracusa was beautiful and calm, Catania feels like a place you could have a lot of fun with great graffiti, bars and the general feel of grubby life that I love about Bristol. We loved:

The best seafood lunch of the trip at Antico Marina - book in advance, it gets very busy.

People watching near the theatre at Piazza Vincenzo Bellini, the architecture is beautiful.

Gelato with the locals at Gelateria Zio Pietro dal 1964, we ate a lot of Gelato and this was the best of the trip.

I hope that useful for anyone thinking of making a trip this year. I loved going by train, seeing how the landscape and culture changed as we headed south and especially the sleeper train. It is tiring though so plan some recovery days. We used The Man In Seat 61 for train travel info.

I’m now back in the studio and getting back to normal so all orders have the usual 3 day shipping time and I’ll be in touch soon with news of events over the summer!