We arrive in the early evening and would like to stay south of the airport for the night after our long flight. Look for an airport shuttle to the hotel. We are planning on travel in to Siracusa and also Villa Romana del Casale. I am unsure if we can travel by train to Siracusa and Ragusa and rent a car to get to Piassa America?
How is the driving in Sicily?
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6535 posts
We rented our car at Catania airport. Siracusa is about an hour drive from the airport. Driving on the main roads in Sicily is fine. The rural roads are poorly marked (may not even see the road number or distance to the next town), so have a GPS. Many are in poor repair, but not terrible. Outside of the cities there isn’t a lot of traffic. Near cities you need to be aggressive. To Sicilians, lane markings are suggestions only, so two lanes could easily turn into four. If you are nice and let one car in, three others will take advantage of your kindness and cut in front of you. Double and triple parking is commonplace. Speed limit signs can be confusing because of how they are placed, but don’t go over the limit. In Piazza Armerina by Villa Romana Casale, the limit in places of town is only 20km (12mph). So, to answer your question, driving in Sicily is interesting.
Since the airport is just outside of Catania, maybe stay in the city, then go back to the airport to pick up the car. There are a couple hotels very near the airport, one being Hotel NH Catania Parco Degli Aragonesi, Viale Presidente Kennedy. NH hotels are generally nice hotels and a chain throughout Europe. If you’re retired military, you can stay on the nearby military base at Sigonella.
Posted by
near San Francisco
4616 posts
If you decide to rent in Ragusa, there is a Hertz office 5km outside the Ragusa old town centers. There is another at the Ragusa Comiso airport, but that's about 40 km from the Ragusa old town centers where you would likely stay.