Sicily Driving!

Driving in Sicily seems to take longer than the mileage suggests.

As for the hire car, definitely take lots of photos when you pick it up, and when you drop it off. It's good advice home and abroad.

Struthruth - I'd suggest you start a new thread, with a title like "Suggestions for Sicily please". This is an old one and some people might not bother responding if they notice the date of original post.

We've been to Sicily 4 times - different parts - and enjoyed it each time.

Sicily is small, but quite varied. We have been several times, staying in different areas and with a hire car, apart from our week in Palermo.

Our absolute favourite area is the south east, Montalbano country, aka Baroque Sicily, reconstructed after a massive earthquake in the 1700s. Syracuse, Ortigia, Scicli, Noto, Modica, etc.

Or the north west, around Norman Cefalu.

Planning a first trip to Sicily in October. Will Airbnb and possibility rent a car. Any suggestions and hints welcome.

We drove from and to Trapani a few years ago. The interior is rugged and the roads are quite narrow in some areas. We took day trips to other places, but found it always took longer than we thought it would. We were pulled over by the traffic police on a country road near Piazza Armerina. They wanted to see our documents: of course, we had forgotten to have our passports with us, which they were not happy about. Then they asked to see my partner’s driving licence. It was a very old paper licence, in several pieces and mostly illegible because of wear. He kept it in a sandwich bag. They were certainly not happy about this, and muttered some thing to each other about taking us to the station, or giving us an on the spot fine. I stepped in and told them we were waiting for a replacement from the DVLA, but said “ You know how bureaucracy is! If they go any slower they will be going backwards! “ They laughed and let us go on our way. So, always have up- to- date documents ( you may need a Green Card after Brexit) and smile! ( BTW I’m not a fluent Italian speaker, but I think they are always pleased if you try, and I have always found Italians very forgiving of mistakes.)

www.visitsicily.info/en/archaeological-sites-in-sicily/

We did it like Jura in sections. It’s the Ancient Greek temples and other sites we found particularly fascinating, but there’s so much of interest that it’s better not to rush.

oops forgot Ragusa. We have been to Sicily 5 times in recent years- and done it in sections.

Have you visited all the wonderful local towns- Modica, Scicli, Noto, Ortigia, etc?

Wow! Thankyou so much for all your advice everyone.
We will have a rethink and maybe visit Palermo on another visit ?

I think it would be hard and not too enjoyable to do it in one day.

Palermo is, however, well worth a visit.

And if you go to Palermo - it is so worth while visiting Norman Cefalu not too far ..

Not knowing what your purpose is, makes it hard to advise. Certainly not worth driving up and back in a day.

We have been to Sicily a few times and driven, but would not undertake that route and back in a day. We took a bus from Syracuse to Palermo- the road is good in parts but can be quite windy and mountainous and takes at least 3 hours. If you’re staying in Syracuse and want to see Palermo, I’d suggest taking bus and staying overnight.

Looking at map of Sicily, places don’t look that far apart, but because the centre is so hilly, it takes much longer to travel than you would expect.

If hiring a car, beware, as they are very good at finding some small scratch, claim you did it and charging hundreds extra!

It's over three hours driving each way - so 6 hours plus there and back.
Might be worth an overnight unless you are going to see just one thing (or visit someone for an hour or two).

You can do it in a day, but one way only. It is not Motorway - personally, I would do an overnight half way. From Catania it is quicker to go by MWay to Messina and then across North Coast. You could still do that and stop in Taormina for the night.

The only time I was in Sicily we were interrailimg and backpacking. Let us know how it went! When are you going?

We have driven all over Sicily on numerous occasions. I would say the drive from Syracuse to Palermo should take around three hours depending on traffic. I wouldn’t fancy doing it just for the day but it depends on what you are planning to do in Palermo. Lots of things close between 1pm and 4pm.
Best of luck anyway.