Advice on Sicily 11 days with Rick Steve's

While driving outside the cities and towns of Sicily is fairly easy, you’re taking on that cost and responsibility for two travel connections that are well served by public transportation. There is easy, regular service from Palermo’s airport to the central train station, with basically hourly trains to Cefalu from that station. Same with Catania to Palermo, well served by both train and bus. There’s no reason to take on the extra layer of hassle with a car.

Sicily has some of the best Airbnb values I’ve come across, and would recommend them. You’re out of tourist season in Cefalu, so I would hope you find some good value there. It will be very quiet, but lovely I’m sure. It’s also at the start of your trip, so I would not worry too much about the laundry aspect. There’s a terrific self-serve laundry in the town center if you need it, easy to find. Cefalu is small, so if you’re wondering about the area you’re staying in, you’ll never be more than a couple minutes walk from the town center.

jcl4.jenny
addressing #4. Did you look at the average temperature chart on the tour information page? We went in February when it was a lot cooler and managed without needing winter gear. Light layers worked fine. Most people (m maybe everyone) followed the direction to pack light and did fine with carryons. About half the people took advantage of laundry service at one of the hotel stops. Ask the tour leader where and when a good place for that will be when you have your orientation meeting. Plenty of advice available here on how to pack light.

Not sure what the point of spending all day in a car driving back to Palermo when there are places to see around Catania.

Thanks for the replies.

1. Apologies I didn't make myself clear - I would like to experience driving in Sicily (heard that the scenery is beautiful around the coast) if it does no impose inconvenience or risk. What route will be good?

2. I think I will be able to fit 10 days worth of clothes in the carry on, no problem. It would be great if we can do some laundry in between.

3. Do we need to bring anything nice for any special dinner on the trip - or a casual skirt and a shirt works alright?

4. We plan to stay in Catania for one more night after the tour. Should we plan to stay for more? What other locations should we consider to visit as we are extending our trip to depart in the early morning of 11/16 from Palermo?

I am a foodie and love to cook - often take cooking classes during our vacation. Are there locations where we can take Italian cooking classes between 11/13 and 11/15, Catania, Palermo or other city?

OK jenny. I can tell you that we did go by car from Catania to Palermo to catch a flight at the end of our tour. We were on the highway that went past Enna, the whole way, so that was pretty far from the coast. We saw a lot of pretty wheat fields, some snowcapped mountains to the north, and not a lot of towns or habitations. Once you get closer to Palermo there were of course more towns and traffic. Hope this is helpful info.

I follow a lot of food blogs, and this one gets mentioned a lot:
https://www.annatascalanza.com/

My wife and I did the RS Sicily tour in March/18. We arrived two days early and spent those two nights in the same hotel as the tour, so no need to change rooms. We were glad to have that extra time in Palermo, as the tour spends relatively little time there, and there’s lots to see and do. After the tour, we rented a car in Catania and drove to Cefalu for four nights, then drove to Palermo airport to drop off the car and fly home. In March the temperatures were pretty mild (but then, I’m from Ottawa), so a light rain resistant jacket was the only outer layer I needed.

After the tour, Cefalu was a good base for scenic car trips into the surrounding Madonie mountains, as well as along the sea coast. We stayed in an apartment rental right above the medieval lavatoio in the centre of Cefalu, and loved it. The centre is “traffic restricted”, but it was quite easy to drive around the restricted zone to a large pay parking lot at the edge of the centre, about a five minute walk to the apartment (you’ll be used to walking that far with your luggage by the end of the tour!).
For the 18 days we travelled, our RS expandable rolling carry-on sized bags plus small knapsacks were quite adequate, although we go expanded, and check the bags on our flights. We did laundry in Cefalu, but only because we could, and were there for four nights. As for driving, getting out of Catania, and through Palermo to get to the airport, was busy, but otherwise we barely saw another car on the road. The roads were excellent throughout, but GPS is essential. You CAN rent a car without an international driver’s permit, but you MUST have one if you are ever stopped by the police- so get one. And make sure to read up on the rules around the ZTL’s and speed cameras in Italy.

Buon viaggio!