Any tips for driving in Sicily? I am a safe driver with around a million miles driven in the US- but I've never driven outside of the country (I've also driven many different types of vehicles).
I know I'll be driving a van- most of the time in the rural areas of northeastern Sicily, but will also be driving in other areas. I also picked up my international driving permit.
I've heard that the roads can be very narrow.
But not to dwell entirely on the negative: Somebody did post here that they actually drove a van in Italy, and they lived to tell the tale. However, they also mentioned $150 per gas station fill up, $8.50/gallon and a big tank will do that. Because your American credit card may not work at rural Italian gas stations, have enough cash on you to pay for gas.
Bob, I did stare in amazement at a few trying to get their RV's into the old part of Monreale. But I presume your van is for the archeological equipment and won't be as large. Yes, the some roads may be narrow and in places, hairpin corners. Truck/bus drivers generally toot their horns on such corners to indicate their presence on the road. You will hear them as you drive to Erice. But the back roads offer much better views and places to stop, admire, and photograph.
Yeah... for the equipment and team members/students. We will have more than one vehicle.
I'm expecting a smaller European passenger van with a stick shift (from talking with my boss). Not a problem- Most of the cars I've driven were sticks, including a couple of old vans.
I've heard that in some areas, the local drivers drive, shall we say, rather wild. I'm also curious about differences in roads, etc. I plan on reading up what I can before I go- but would also like tips from people who have driven there.
Bob, I found the drivers in Sicily more courteous, even to pedestrians. There is less traffic also, except for the two bigger cities obviously.
The biggest challenge for the driver of a van in Sicily will not be wild drivers or whether they are courteous or not, those will be minor irritants compared to the biggest challenge which will be if you have to drive into a town or village--the 10 or 12 foot wide streets with a 5' wide car parked in the street and you have to get the van past the parked car, or making turns from one narrow street into another. Avoiding driving into towns or villages would be a big help, if that's possible but for most of us that's where we're sleeping.Check to see if your van has the feature allowing you to retract your side view mirrors flush to the car. This seems to be a common feature on Italian vehicles--I wondered why when I picked up my first Italian rental car--back when I was still a young pup and didn't know what I didn't know. "Gee, that's odd, why would you need that feature?" Yeah, I found out. A common kind of damage that American drivers have is damaging the side view mirrors. These stick out about 8" in the average car, and there are going to be times driving that van in Sicilian villages and towns when you won't have 8" clearance on each side of the van.Last year on the plane back from Italy, I was exchanging rental car driving experiences with a Texan who'd also rented a car, and he said "I just decided to knock the sideview mirror off on the first day, just to get it over with, because I knew it was going to happen sooner or later." He didn't know about the retractable mirrors button.
Retractable mirrors button? Now THAT'S an interesting feature. I've never heard of such a thing. I'll keep my eyes open for it.
From what I've read, it would be very useful. I was thinking of folding the mirrors against the door- but that's better yet!
I'll be driving in and out of Catania (such as to the airport but not likely much IN town) a few times, down to the museum we're working with a few times a week, to and from the site (a couple of times a day), and on the weekends we're going to visit some of the different sites around the island and places like Etna.
Avoid driving in the large cities, like Palermo, Catania and Messina.
Stay on the autostradas when possible.
Keep your doors locked to avoid scams by motorcycle-riding snatch thieves
And pull in your mirrors!
By the way- I like the idea of courteous drivers (I always try to be that way). I rarely drive over the speed limit here in central Florida- and I regularly get honked at or yelled at for driving the speed limit in the SLOW lane!
Would obeying the speed limit create problems over there? I'll quickly admit to being a careful and cautious driver- it's kept me out of a lot of potential accidents.
(Not to mention saving a lot of gas!)
Your worries are somewhat founded-- but I would not dwell on them. Last year we drove a mini-van rental throughout Sicily and had few problems. Driving the peed limit will make you stand out. Not that the drivers are rude, but they will be blazing by you on the left.
The autostrada is easy as pie, but the towns do get a bit interesting. Catania was difficult to navigate, but the only place we really had trouble was Cefalu. Narrow streets and hairpin corners.
Enjoy! Having a car is the ONLY way to see the island.
Bob,
My husband is a great driver and has driven over 40,000 miles in Europe. All of western Europe including Paris and Rome. He found the mostly challenging driving to be in Sicily. Maybe because we are getting older we found the driving in Palermo and a couple of other bigger cities to be challenging. However outside the cities the roads are great even the narrow ones. Drive your speed and trust the more agressive Italians and Sicilians to miss you--even if it is just barely.
Have a wonderful time.
Paula and Tony Oppermann
