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Now that Sicily is open....

We have a trip to Sicily that was continued to early September 2021. We are being told that that Italy has opened (at least to fully vaccinated Americans). Because we are paying for a high-priced tour, we would like to know that there are no restrictions being imposed by Italy, Sicilian and/or local Sicilian governments that would render our trip less than a premium experience. We can postpone the trip if so.

Here are our questions:
(1) Are any closures or restrictions on dates and times on sights such as museums, archeological sites, and churches in Sicily?
(2) Are there any restrictions, such as hours for dinner, and hours for bars, in various cities, specifically Palermo, Agrigento and Taormina? and
(3) Are there any curfews in any of the towns in Sicily?

As always, I really appreciate the Rick Steves' Forum input Thanks very much!

Posted by
5953 posts

Anita- I am not sure anyone could answer your question with any certainty. Things are changing daily/weekly. What is open or allowed now may or may not be in Sept.
We are going to Italy (not Sicily) in Sept as well and I am just keeping my eye on all the places we want to visit for changes in open/closed times/ticket availability etc knowing full well that all may be different in Sept. I just spent the morning researching tix to Last Supper. At this point they are open with shorter hours and are only booking entrance at a week out. Hoping that changes- I will just keep checking weekly I guess and grab tix when/if I can.

For curfews, restrictions, etc check here frequently
https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/homeNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=english

Posted by
2461 posts

No restrictions imposed doesn't mean things are open like they were before the pandemic. I would check online anything you are interested in.

We are going to Venice in August. It is a replacement for a cancelled trip from 2020 so am familiar with the pre pandemic schedules. Museums are not open same days or hours as before.

Posted by
5953 posts

Museums are not open same days or hours as before.

I'm finding this is the case with almost everything- do not rely on guide books- check the official websites frequently

Posted by
11294 posts

Things are changing daily/weekly. What is open or allowed now may or may not be in Sept.

This is very important. You have to accept this, or else you should postpone your trip.

Posted by
14799 posts

As others have said, no one can predict what will happen in September. The situation is fluid and is constantly changing.

If you are traveling with a tour company and not a tour you put together yourself, they are surely monitoring the situation. You might see a change of schedule regarding visiting certain sights on certain days but they will want to deliver as much as possible to what they promised.

As Harold said, if this is making you uncomfortable, perhaps postponing or rescheduling the trip may be the right move.

Posted by
7 posts

Thank you all for your insights and recommendations, which are very helpful. I agree that what is true today could be very different in a month or two. I am keeping my travel plans, but I will be monitoring as we get closer to our departure date. I have been advised by my travel agent that it is really important to get flights booked because there is much uncertainty with limited and cancelled flights and over-demand for various foreign destinations. Nothing is easy with international travel during a pandemic! Thank you again.

Posted by
7448 posts

Moving ahead cautiously is best. I think anyone planning on traveling the rest of this year probably needs to concentrate on one country as opposed to 3 or 4, and develop an itinerary for flexibility (If Southern Italy should flare up in cases...head North).

One also needs to consider that airlines, hotels, tours, and others in the tourism industry are scaling back on cancellation freedom, "non-refundable" will once again mean non-refundable.

I expect that things will not be like the "good ol' days", that a mask will be required many places, some places will be limited in entrance, or closed. We visited New Orleans for a day or two, and what we saw were many places just disappeared, others remain closed, some new places popped up (High end soap stores and massage places seemed to snap up vacancies), and a good number of the long-time reliable places made it through. I imagine Europe will have some of the same.

Posted by
321 posts

i am in palermo right now. day 4 of a 33-day trip. i will be heading to trapani, enna, syracusa, catania, and messina. these do not include multiple day trips from each location. what i can say from the ground, at this moment is the country is open. many people are wearing masks in public. more so than in the usa and people are avoiding entering post offices, banks, and pharmacies en mass. nightlife though is in full swing and restaurants look filled as usual. took the train to cefalu yesterday and agrigento today. no crowds at all, just regular announcements to keep your distance and wear masks. entrance to the cappella palatina was well controlled but apparently, that is always the case. mass was on in the palermo and cefalu duomos. there were big crowds watching the italy/austria game at bars a couple of nights ago. in a nutshell i am moving round (so far) as if nothing really happened. i am fully vaccinated but i always wear an n95 mask anyway. now, what the situation will be in a couple of weeks, let alone in september, who knows. the d varient is worring and per many experts a new wave is likely in the fall. will it be as bad as the last 3? again no one knows. prudent thing would be monitor, not only usa news but also italian. google translate does an adequate job of translating italian new sites.