We are signed up for the Sicily tour in April 2024. We are big golfers and want to experience golf in Sicily if possible. So the thought is to arrive in Palermo a few days early, rent a car (or get a driver?) and go to the Verdura Golf Club and Resort in Agrigento for a few days to golf both of their courses. It is about 80km from the airport in Palermo. Then return to Palermo for the start of the tour. Looks like most car rentals return to the airport rather than to the city, so we would need to take the bus/train or driver to Palermo.
After the tour, rent a car and go up to il Picciolo Golf Club near Mt Etna/Taormina. This course is about 45km from the airport in Catania, where we would be flying out of the next day.
Any advice on this scenario? Recommendations for car rental agencies or drivers? Thanks!
Posted by
Kansas, United States
1082 posts
I took the Sicily tour and your going to love it! The golf outing sounds like fun, just remember that you will need to haul your clubs in and out of every hotel you stay at and sometimes there is a walk of a couple of blocks or up/down stairs. If your renting clubs as you go then there is no problem.
We played golf on the Rick Steves Scotland tour and as part of a afternoon activity that the tour guide set up for us and it was great.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
We will not be taking our clubs, just plan on renting them at the course.
We took the RS Heart of Ireland tour in 2019 and golfed 3 places prior to the start of the tour and 2 places after the tour. Great times!
We did a 2 week tour of Scotland on our own in 2017 and golfed 6 times, but had a wonderful time exploring the country as well.
Looking forward to Sicily! This will be our 4th RS trip.
Posted by
back in the Americas
725 posts
Four years ago I found this Palermo driver on Trip Advisor, Rosario Pizzuto NCC Privato Pizzuto Service. He had many excellent ratings and his prices were more budget friendly than other drivers I contacted. Tripadvisor has multiple private drivers listed so you can search there. Once I find a driver there, I contact them directly and never use a third party vendor. I used his services on three different days on that trip, two days to take us on daytours to multiple places and the third day to take us to my grandparents' town in Palermo province. Service was fine. He speaks basic English and was friendly and even though his website is in Italian, contact him in English and he will reply. I used the contact form on his website to reach out to him initially with my inquiry and then used whatsapp after that or email. He always replied promptly.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Great reference. I will look him up. Thank you.