Advice re scenic driving route from Palermo Airport to Agrigento

You might plug your itinerary between Palermo and Agrigento with its intermediate destinations into suggested stops on www.Wanderlog.com

We left luggage in our car in Agrigento while we toured the sites. Nothing was taken. Of course hide it as well as you can, throw a blanket or beach towel over it all. There were buses parked in the lots and their drivers stood outside their buses which felt like a sort of protection.

Be prepared that a lot of the rural areas still enjoy the siesta, and particularly Sunday can be pretty challenging to find places open from 2-4p.m. so you might want to put together a picnic instead.
One place I would urge you to stop is at the Temple at Segesta, a short 54km from the airport. The hills should be covered with flowers while you are there.

Thank you for your quick replies ! Blanket over the luggage sounds like a good idea.

To simplify my question - can anyone recommend a scenic interior driving route from Palermo Airport to Agrigento?

We will actually skip Agrigento and head east towards Ragusa, our final destination.

Just curious, how bad are the back roads really? Do people set up armed checkpoints where they demand payments and hold travelers hostage until sufficient funds are transferred? Or run up and smash the windows and steal whatever they can while you’re stopped at a red light? Those things do happen in lesser developed countries but I’d be surprised in Italy. Or is the risk more that someone will break into the car while you’re not with it?

I had outlined a route from Palermo Airport that initially headed south to Partinico, and then thru many small villages via interregional roads (yellow on the Michelin map) to cut over to the SS189 . The TA destination expert (140K posts, very well respected on the Sicily forum) - stated the backroads of Palermo province can be challenging and not well signed. Just heeding that person's advice.

Oh, okay, thanks! So it’s just small roads and the risk of getting lost. I was concerned there were safety issues.

Sorry, I was incomplete. The TA Sicily destination expert also warned against having unattended luggage in the parked car and I see this same advice from multiple people contributing to the Sicily forum. The destination expert advised that if we did stop for lunch - to consider an agriturismo which I assume means they have their own private parking lot.

Next month I am going to Sicily. I have been to this area twice before, including on the back roads from Palermo to Partinico. I was not driving but nothing scary about them. Two lane highways. My grandparents were from the small town of Borgetto which is right next to Partinico. Right outside of Partinico is a pretty little village called Borgo Parrini, which was brought back to life by Modernist paintings and decorations sort of Barcelona style on the building facades and alleyways. Borgo Parrini
Also, if you are into religious sites, on that same route is the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Romitello, who is the beloved patroness of the Golfo di Castellammare region. The sanctuary sits high on the mountainside and the views from above are very picturesque. It also has a small museum. The original church is very old and is closed for renovations but a new church is on the site. Speaking of that region, the seaside town of Castellammare del Golfo is a direct drive up the coast from the Palermo airport. It is small, has a seaside castle and is also pretty. Nearby Scopello on the coast has outstanding natural beauty. If you have never been to see the ruins at Segesta that would more or less be on your route.

On my upcoming March trip, we are also going from Borgetto to Agrigento by inland roads. We have hired a driver to take us. We will stop in Gibellina, a small interior town that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968. A new town was built nearby with lots of sculptures and architecture to make it an outdoor living museum. The old town ruins were completely covered in concrete but they preserved the streetscape. Pretty eerie looking. Not your typical tourist site but we think it will be interesting to stop there and see it. Not far from Prizzi is the town of Palazzo Adriano in whose main square the movie scenes from Cinema Paradiso were filmed. I have not been there but that is the kind of place I would like to visit.

Pat - thank you for your feedback! The original plan was to go from Palermo Airport to Partinico and then smaller roads (yellow on the Michelin map) thru Corleone to Palazzo Adriano and Prizzi and onwards to catch the larger SS 189 to Agrigento.

When you say 2 lane road to Partinico - do you mean 2 lanes for each direction?
Anyone with any experience visiting Corleone or Prizzi (either as driver or being driven there) and can tell me what the country roads are like around there? paved vs not paved? one lane each direction or just a wide country road where a driver has to pull onto the shoulder to let oncoming traffic pass? Getting a little nervous about the driving excursion - the more info I have the better !

You can use Google maps satellite photos to see what the road looks like (how many lanes, etc.). You can also use the a Google Maps Street View feature to see the actual,road from a driver standpoint. The road from The Palermo airport to Corleone, via Partinico, the. To Agrigento is largely a two lane highway, one lane per direction. Traffic will be light.

Regarding the possibility of being stoped by bandits at a gun point, that is rather rare. But Sicilians are humane people and before they dissolve your body with acid they make sure you are dead first, so that you won’t suffer. So don’t worry and happy travels.

As Roberto suggested, just open Google Maps to street view and you can see and follow any route you want. Also if you go to youtube and do a search by the names of towns you want to pass through or visit you will find lots of short videos where you can get a feel for the roads in the area. Some are two lane, one in each direction, sometimes cars are parked alongside the road. Some are narrower. Many of the roads in these old towns are very narrow and just one lane. The main streets will be wider. The big highways were quite modern and wide.

Roberto and Pat - thank you for reminding me about google maps/street view etc. I will check things out later in the week when I have some more time ! Your replies are more encouraging than the one reply I received on TA which was, basically, stick to the autostrada. We have heard the interior of Sicily is beautiful and wanted to be able to explore on our drive from Palermo to Ragusa.