Assuming Covid restrictions DO lift sometime soon, I am seeking a long term furnished rental for 2-4 peoplein Sicily for approx. 60-90 days or longer, starting in January. Any major city will do, provided it has a good transportation (rail/bus) hub as we would like to do some serious exploring of the island. Can anyone suggest a suitable rental agency that could hook me up? Not looking for anything special- just comfortable and with easy access to markets etc. My budget would be up to 1200 Euro a month, more or less. Palermo, Syracuse and Catania would be my first choices but anything with a population of at least 10,000 and a good selection of restaurants would do.
Posted by
Washington DC
27196 posts
You've identified the three major areas I'd look at, but I urge you to research transportation options before committing to just one base. Sicily doesn't have a lot of railroad track, and the trains are not especially fast. There's a good bit of bus service, but that isn't fast, either, so staying in just one place is going to significantly reduce your convenient day-trip options. When people ask about shorter trips to Sicily, I usually suggest they spend time not only in the three places you mentioned but also in the interior and around Trapani--and that doesn't get you to Agrigento. (I don't know anything about visiting Agrigento, Segesta or Selinunte.) It also doesn't allow you to see the Aeolian Islands.
You can explore rail travel times on the Trenitalia website. For bus service you can start with Rome2Rio.com, but don't trust the travel times, frequencies or fares displayed on that website. Keep drilling down to find the name of the bus company serving the route you're looking at and go to its website for accurate information.
You mentioned possibly staying longer than 90 days. Are you aware that if you're an American without an EU passport, you are limited to 90 days within any rolling 180-day period unless you apply for and receive a long-stay visa? That time limit applies to the entire area of the Schengen Zone, which includes most countries in continental Europe. Both the day you arrive and the day you depart are counted. Overstaying that time limit may result in a substantial fine and being banned for years.
I'm sorry that I have no information for you on Sicilian rental agencies.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15213 posts
An Italian website that shows short term rental apartments is www.idealista.it, or also www.casevacanza.it
You can also try the vacation websites such as www.airbnb.com, www.vrbo.com, www.hometogo.it, www.wimdu.com.
The websites in the latter list tend to be more expensive for monthly rentals. They are more geared to weekly rentals.
You should choose Palermo as a base for West Sicily and the Catania or Siracusa area for the East. You can't really visit Sicily from one base only. The island is too huge.
I also recommend a car for occasional outing in Sicily as public transportation isn't always the best option for some destinations.
www.autoeurope.com
It's a broker based in Porland Maine that specializes also car rentals.
Their contracts are with the major rental car companies in Europe (Europcar, Hertz, Avis-Budget)
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7396 posts
We’ve had great stays elsewhere in Italy through Vacanze in Famiglia http://www.vacanzeinfamiglia.it/?lang=en , and they appear to list places in Sicily. Roberto’s got a great list of other options, though.
It’s much more interior, but I’d certainly consider Caltagirone as a place to stay for a few months, if I had the time. And on the southern coast, Agrigento is fantastic, albeit potentially with really hot temperatures.
Posted by
OP
Canada
15 posts
Thanks ACraven for your great advice. I have used those websites on previous trips to Italy. I can’t see staying longer than 90 days for our first go round but I do have travel plans for other places including the UK so I would probably take a 2-3 week break in England part way through and try a different location for the second part of the trip. That should hopefully prevent any issues with overstaying ( I’m Canadian) but I’m sure the rules will be the same
Posted by
OP
Canada
15 posts
Thanks Roberto and Cyn. Great advice. We spent 3 weeks in Sicily in 2019 and did break it up with stays in Palermo and Catania. Our next trip will probably be similarly split but there are so many places we have yet to explore that we’ll need to split it up using multiple “basecamps of 3-4 weeks in 2 or 3 locations.