We are a group of six adults travelling in Sicily in October 2017. Plan to stay in one airbnb for the week that we are there, so loading/moving luggage from place to place is not an issue. It might be tight, luggage wise, getting from the airport to our accomodation, but it is only a 10-15 min ride, so we are thinking that we can double up for that short ride.
My question is--there are regular 7 passenger vans and also 9 passenger vans available. The 9 passenger styles seem to be huge and more than we need for our day travels. Also, the 7 passenger vans are offered in automatic transmission (preferable but not a necessity) and the 9 passenger vans are not. Any thoughts, suggestions, input would be appreciated.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7804 posts
Hi - we really enjoyed our visit to Sicily in December 2012. There were just 2 of us, so a small car was adequate, and it had a manual transmission, which also was OK -- for us. Compared with some places in Europe, the highways were actually comfortably wide enough, not multi-lane super highways, but not super-narrow lanes, either, so a bigger vehicle wouldn't necessarily be unwieldy. However, depending on where you'll be driving, there are some towns that are incredibly atmospheric and well-worth visiting (Erice, Agrigento, Caltagirone, Noto, Modica, etc.), but the streets can be very narrow, and parking spots very short. The smallest vehicle that would work for you is recommended, if you'll be driving around and needing to park during the day or night. That's actually pretty much the standard policy for driving anywhere in Europe . . . probably saves money on gas, too.
Posted by
Washington DC
27646 posts
Yes, the problems will arise when you need to leave the highway.
It would be very helpful for us to know where you're staying and what day-trips you are considering making by car.
Posted by
Slovenia
470 posts
A note regarding the 7-seater "vans": As opposed to the 9-seaters, they aren't really vans but more like minivans. In essence, they are 5-seaters with two foldable seats in the trunk area. In some cars, those two seats are perfectly comfortable for adults, but in others, they can only comfortably fit children or adults of a very short stature, so they can end up being a bit of a gamble depending on what make and model you'll get. The 9-seaters, on the other hand, are indeed quite large and cumbersome, they are basically passenger versions of commercial vehicles.
Have you considered renting two compacts instead? If you don't mind splitting into two cars everytime you move around, it could even end up being cheaper than getting a single van, be it a 7 or 9-seater.