Sicily-for those who have had cars and those who didn't

what were you able to see that you otherwise would not have seen

We drove for about 2 weeks in SE Sicily. We parked the car and left it in Ragusa, Caltagirone, Ortigia, Catania. It wasn't really a question of whether we could see things, but rather flexibility of schedule. For example, we could visit the Baroque towns of Ragusa, Noto and Modica on our schedule.

Also, we stayed in a lovely villa outside Giardini Naxos and from which we visited Taormina, Mt Etna and Castelmola. Those would have been doable via public transit and tours, but the car gave us significant flexibility.

It depends on your itinerary and the locations you plan to visit. A car is not needed to see Palermo for example, and from Palermo you can easily visit Cefalù by train. But if you plan to visit smaller places in the countryside, like Segesta, Selinunte, etc. or if you plan to roam around a lot, then a car offers more flexibility and you can accomplish more in a day, rather than relying on buses.
To minimize rental fees, plan your itinerary accordingly so that you keep the car only for the days when necessary.

On our trip we didn’t spend more than three nights anyplace. Once we arrived in Erice, Monreale, and Taormina we parked the car. What the car gave us was the flexibility to visit a couple towns on the same day without wasting time sitting at a bus station. We were also able to make some stops where busses don’t frequently or ever go, such as Scala de Turchi , Caccamo castle, or the salt farms at Trapani and Marsala. A car made it easier to visit the ruins at Selinunte. In Agrigento we stayed at a B&B that was a mile or so down a dirt road. We couldn’t have gotten to it using public transportation. From the B&B we walked to the Valley of the Temples. We did take busses from Monreale into Palermo, and from Sigonella into Catania just to avoid driving in those cities.

Driving wasn’t demanding, but one needs to be defensive yet aggressive at the same time, always staying at or below the speed limit. In towns, some streets can be very narrow, and one must always watch for the ZTL zones.

We were in Palermo, Cefalu, another small town along the coast, Piazza Armerina to see the Roman Villa, near Agrigento to see the Valley Temples, and Ortigia/Syracuse.

We only used a car for Piazza Armerina and Agrigento, every place else by rail or bus. These two places are able to be done by public transport, just plan on more time, and you may not see all the things you could with a car. We were able to fit in another Roman site, the related museum in another town, a couple beaches, and could get a place in the country with a pool.

If you want to stick to Trapani, Palermo, Cefalu, Taormina, Catania, and Syracuse/Ortigia, then no need for a car. Getting to and around the interior and south coast is not as handy by public transport, takes some planning, and some things may just be too much trouble to see.

We traveled Sicily totally by public transportation and have visited nearly every place that has been mentioned in the replies here. The difference is: we've spent a total of five weeks in Sicily. There is no doubt that you can fit more stops into a day if you have a car. But all the drawbacks to having a car has meant that in 19 trips to Europe (up to six weeks at a time) we have rented a car for only four days: in Tuscany to visit some of the smaller hill towns.

Thanks for all the insights. Yes, I do think it is the stopping at multiple places in one day and going to places that are not easily served by public transportation that is the issue. Unlike Janet, we don't have five weeks, as we both are still working. I think we could manage the driving; it is the eye popping price that really gives me pause.

Paul--where did you rent and return a car?

One option I have come up with is to rent in Trapani and return in Catania. I would like to go to the salt flats and some of the ruins in that area. The other area I would like to see that isn't well served by public transportation is the wine country north of Mt. Etna. So one thought is to drive from Trapani to there stopping in Celfalu for a couple nights. Another idea is to use a private driver for a day in both areas.

Car rental is pricey, but with the favorable exchange rate now, the price has gone down a bit. We had previously booked a 15 day rental with Hertz, through AutoEurope (the Canadian website) as that was the lowest price for fully inclusive mini car, like Fiat Panda. I just rebooked the same itinerary and car through AutoEurope, with Europcar as the rental agency, and saved a little over $300.

We like to be on our own schedule and not have to tailor our days to bus or train schedules. We're not staying in either Palermo or Catania this trip, and many of the places we're staying offer free parking. I also tried various scenarios, with dropping the car off a few days early when we reach Ortigia, and arranging a driver to the airport for departure day: not only was the rental not significantly cheaper, the cost of the transfer offset the savings completely -- including the parking fees for those nights. So it pays to research several different scenarios before making any decisions.

We rented, and returned, through Avis in Catania, at the airport. There may be better sources/locales, but that worked the easiest and cheapest for me, I have Avis Preferred due to my business days, and an old...but still active...code in my profile got me a negotiated rate. I don't recall the rate, probably still steep, but, I believe, worth it.

We did not head to Trapani or further West than Heraclea Minoa, and our next stop was Syracuse without a car.

Added info:

With the car (had for 6 or 7 days) we stopped in Piazza Armerina for two nights, wonderful couple of restaurants and maybe the best gelato of the trip, did Villa Romana del Casale, and then visited Morgantina, and then the related museum in Aidoni. There are good buses to Piazza Armerina, and taxis to the villa, but we would not have been able to do the rest by public transport easily, or at all.

Then we stayed at a place just near the Valley of the Temples, without a car it would need to be a place in one of the towns, but this was our relax time, did the temples, but visited some markets and beaches along the coast, including Heraclea Minoa. For us, being able to do a meal or two, and sit by a pool made the car effort worth it.

it really depends upon how comfortable you are regarding driving in unfamiliar areas. We picked up the car after our 4 nights in Palermo and drove heading west around the perimeter of the island. While in Palermo we did take a train for a day to trip to Cefalu. Our first overnights were in Erice which I must admit was very difficult to get to. But once we were there for 3 nights we took the funicular to Trapani. Then we drove to Piazza Armerina which was a great drive and only stayed for 2 nights. We stopped along the way at our leisure in more remote towns for lunch and adventure. The next stop for overnights was Syracusa. We did not use the car for the 3 nights there, Then we drove north to Taormina for 4 nights, where we returned the car upon arrival. We hired a driver to take us to Catania airport for our return trip to USA. So I liked the option of driving when and to where we wanted. I do realize that although we had the car and did not use it for several days it was wasted money but the convenience is important to me. After doing my research I decided a car was a better option.

Enjoy Sicily I know you will.

Lorie

I started with a few nights in Palermo, then train to Cefalu for 2 nights and back to Palermo to pick up a car. I day tripped around the coast and Greek temple sights for 3 days, then day at Agrigento, stayed overnight in Piazza Armerina to visit Villa Romana del Casale, and ended with several nights in Ortigia before dropping the car in Catania. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I had originally intended to return the car in Ortigia and use public transportation but when I checked, it was cheaper to keep the car until my departure. It was convenient to have the car in Origia, and though I didn't used it every day, the parking was free.

I appreciate all the information presented here. I have driven in many countries when we have traveled...and on both sides of the road. However, in Rick Steves' Sicily book, he discouraging driving in Sicily because of the dangerous and erratic driving of the Sicilians. What has been the experience of others in Sicily? We are traveling in early October.

I went to Sicilly from Malta using Catania as the gateway airport. I had no problems at all getting to the following towns/ cities by bus: Siracusa, Noto, Ragusa, Taormina, Catania Airport, and Catania (the bus also passed a bunch of other towns on the way to those listed where I could have disembarked as well). A car would not have been preferable as the buses were cheap, air conditioned, modern, and totally stress-free (no parking costs was a bonus too). Catania Airport had good connections all over the island.

On the other hand, if I was trying to get to some really out-of-the-way destinations (small interior towns or lodging that is not centrally located), I wouldn't hesitate to rent a car either, but that was not the case on my trip.

We stayed in Scopello for several days and a car was necessary. We used it to go hiking/beach in the Zingaro reserve, drive to Segesta, Trapani, and Erice, and we stayed in a countryside villa so needed the car to even get to the villa and to town for restaurants.

No car in Palermo and the bus worked fine to Monreale from Palermo. We took a cab back, but the bus was available, just a longer wait than we wanted.

No car needed in Siracusa. We stayed on Ortygia and used the bus to get to sights in mainland Siracusa. We did drive to Etna from Siracusa. I’m sure there are organized day trips doing this, but I don’t like those and there wasn’t a convenient bus.

I think like most places a car is useful when going outside of towns, into villages and rural areas. Not useful in cities or connections just between big cities. How much city vs rural visiting you do will affect how much you need a car.

Thanks for the responses. I had not thought of going to Cefalu from the airport. We will fly in and out of Palermo so would like to save it for last.

And yes, it is a matter of cities vs country snd then of course, how efficient you want to be.

Still haven’t decided anything but you all have given me lots of food for thought.

It seems to me that there are many places in Sicily that remain off the tourist roads and for a curious tourist, renting a car is a must. By the way, I'm surprised that you managed to save so much money on car rental. Was it a special promotion from a car rental service?

I can’t imagine seeing Sicily without a car. We picked up our car up from Palermo airport and dropped it off in Ortigia. We hired a driver to take us to Taormina and to Catania airport.