SICILY: need opinions re part-driving/part public

I would consider to train from Palermo to Agrigento and pick up rental car there and then return it at Ortygia. We did the reverse. We used Avis. We took an Uber from our AirBnB in Ortygia to rental car office just outside of town. Had it for 3 days for the hill towns and Agrigento and returned it near the train station in Agrigento and took the train into Palermo. Our AirBnB in Palermo was walking distance from the train station but Uber worked well there too. We watched some youtube videos about driving in Sicily but didn't find it too bad for what we did.

5 nights in Palermo is probably quite a bit. I presume you intend to take a day trip to Cefalù by train while there.
Personally I would not stay that long in Catania at the tail end. I would stay only the night before your flight out.
I would use those nights to stay, with your car, in Western Sicily after Palermo. In that area you can visit Segesta, Trapani, Erice, Scopello, Zingaro Natural Reserve, Selinunte, San Vito lo Capo, etc. Just choose a base anywhere (I liked Scopello) and drive to the others.
Another option could be a couple of nights in Taormina or nearby Giardini Naxos.
Ortigia, where you are planning 3 nights (=2 full days) could be a base for a day trip to Noto. One day you will need to see Syracuse Archaeological park. Ortigia is small and can be visited in the evenings while you stay there. You can park your car at the Talete covered parking lot, in Ortigia.
I would rent the car on your way out of Palermo and return it in Catania the day you arrive to spend the night before your flight.
Concerns with gasoline situation are exaggerated. Gasoline is not going to run out in the next month. Italy has a huge refining capacity and actually exports refined oil products. Less than 10% of crude oil imported by Italy comes from the Persian Gulf. Half of it comes from Africa (mostly Libya, Algeria, Nigeria), most of the remaining 40% comes from Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, principally), Europe (Norway, UK) and the Americas (USA and Brazil). Actually Italy imports more oil from the U.S. and Brazil than from the Persian Gulf. The risk so far is for jet fuel, since Europe refines only 60% of its needs for that product, not cars. In terms of gasoline price, the cost is currently €1.80 per liter (about $8 per gallon), actually less than a couple of years ago, since the Italian government has eliminated several gasoline taxes recently during this crisis. The cost of gasoline, although higher than in the US, will not impact your budget much at all. The distances you will be traveling are not that long. I can guarantee you that your entire gasoline expense will not be more than $150 for your entire trip. That is not even a dinner for two at an inexpensive restaurant in your NYC.

Ortigia, where you are planning 3 nights (=2 full days) could be a base for a day trip to Noto

And/or a trip to Modica. We visited both Noto and Modica on our first Sicily trip, and far preferred Modica, for its setting and architecture, plus the chocolate! Parking in Noto was a pain, too, but easy in the lower town of Modica. Do see both the upper and lower towns.

The Villa Romana at Piazza Armarena was easy by car, so I’m glad you’re not trying to do it by bus. But a private driver vs. driving yourself? As Roberto suggests, keep your car for longer. If gasoline prices and availability were truly life-changing, vacation-altering next month, private drivers would have to jack their prices way up to compensate, so you’d be paying for that either way.

I think your itinerary is quite a good one. I did a tour there that was quite similar in terms of time allocation (main difference was 3 nights in Marsala area instead of Siracusa, spending only part of one day in the latter, which I think was sufficient but certainly longer in Ortigia is more typical ) so I can’t advise about public transport as opposed to rental car, but definitely try to see the Roman villa even if it’s a bit of a hassle to get there, it’s amazing. I love Palermo and don’t think 5 nights is too long, especially if you don’t rush too fast, take time for the markets and the smaller churches, museums and gardens of which there are a lot, a daytrip (Cefalu sounds nice and Rick likes it, but our tour went to another town), and of course Monreale is a must see. While you could trim Catania to four nights, I don’t think you should reduce it to one. Catania is an underrated city IMO that has a solid day’s worth of things to see in its center, including a really good World War II museum which is not commonly found in Italy if you have any interest in that period in Sicily, and it’s a great base for day trips to Mt. Etna and Taormina, which presumably you intend as I don’t see them elsewhere on your itinerary. Of course Taormina is lovely and well worth it, but it is small and very touristy, I like Catania much better as a place to stay and am glad our tour did that for four nights.

Thanks to each of you - your opinions helped and we decided to keep the car. The itinerary is set --- our 5 nights in palermo include a long day to Segesta and Eriche with tour guide and a good 1/2 day in Monreale. Plus a food tour in the evening in Palermo. We just 'getting lost' and wandering into churches or odd places and it won't feel like even enough time for that. We are hoping to get to Noto - but now I have to figure out if there's a carpark that will keep us out of the ZTL zone PLUS PLUS PLUS PLUS - and this is the thing we are worried about with the visit to Villa Romana and other stops along that route - our luggage in the car. Worried about our cpap machines more than the clothing. Is the carpark at the VR safe? I guess if we decide to stop in Noto we could, perhaps, find one of those luggage lockup services. Unsure.

We were also concerned about our luggage and did a similar road trip. We did end up leaving things in our rooms as much as possible. But on a few occasions, Villa de Romana in particular, we had to leave it in the car. Fortunately, we had no issues. I recommend placing things in the truck if possible or otherwise covering them with beach towels etc. We also bring a long cord lock (like used for bikes) and lock our luggage to something or at least together - to make it a harder and less attractive target. Also, if you use the paid parking closest to the entrance it will be more secure, since there will be many people around. Have a great trip!

Thanks Heather. That is a great idea…front of the paid lot. It’s the one day we have to hope for the best as we will be in transit all day.

So, we parked at Villa Romana de Casale obliviously. We did park as close as possible to the entrance. And, we did not open the trunk. There was plenty of activity to discourage illicit activity but we saw no reason for concern. And, we had no problem. Relax and enjoy!

I was just in Palermo and I noticed how difficult it would be to drive in that city and how ZTL zone signs were often so far away from the actual roadway that most drivers could easily miss them.

Driving out of the cities seems pretty straightforward, but I would avoid city driving.

Glad to hear you’re keeping the car. I feel it’s pretty essential to seeing the breadth of Sicily. I also had/saw no issues parking at Villa Romana. It’s a busy place. I have a hard time picturing any strong arm break-ins there, but obviously you want to keep your luggage out of sight. Keep any small bags with you and don’t open the trunk to get at them.

There's lots of street parking in Noto. It's really not rocket surgery to avoid ZTLs.

Responding to Chris, immediately above, we drove uphill into Noto the day we visited, in the week after Christmas 2012. Was ZTL even a thing back then? We had no ZTL problem, but there was very little on-street parking available. We finally saw one spot open after seeing car after car parallel-parked along a street, and my husband started pulling into it, and a women suddenly emerged from a doorway in the building we were trying to park alongside. She vehemently chewed us out in Italian. although there was no signage prohibiting parking there, and with all the other cars parked along that street, it was an obvious parking space, although probably in front of her house, and she would have none of it. We left, heading back downhill, and parked in a small pay lot just outside the town entrance.

Things have undoubtedly changed in 13+ years, although I seriously doubt that street has undergone urban renewal, tearing down of houses and widening of the street, creating parking spaces galore. If that woman’s still there, she probably hasn’t relented, now allowing parking where she’s not happy about it. And thieves wouldn’t dare think of breaking into a car on that street, with her present!

Driving in Palermo is very rough, Catania is worse. Just did 4 days in Palermo and felt like a day was all that was needed.

Once you are out of the city, the highways are very easy to traverse. I wish they would add view points to their highways cause the countryside is very beautiful.

Between Palermo, Agrigento and Syracusa it's mostly highway, with roundabouts coming into the towns (later 2 is way more manageable)

I didn't do trains because I always loved road trips, but I'd suggest train/taxi for Catania. Worst city I've drove in and I've lived in Thailand and drove in Indonesia and I prefer those any day over driving in that city.

Glad to hear you kept the car! As Roberto mentioned, the gas crisis seems to be exaggerated based on what we saw on our trip. We just spent 10 days in Sicily picking up a car after we wrapped up our time in Ortigia, drive to Cefalu, and dropped it in Catania. We filled the car once, just prior to dropping it off. It was about 3/4s of a tank and $76. We were fortunate that we ended up with a hybrid, but I didn’t find the gas prices particularly shocking depending on what you drive at home. I also did not see any stations, even up in the small mountain villages, that were out of gas. Not to say it can’t happen, but you should be fine. Have an amazing trip!!

Personal experiences (after 6 trips to Sicily):

1) Driving in Catania is absolutely nuts. I presume the other Sicilian cities are similar. Unless you intend to spend lots of time outside the cities, I'd recommend public transportation.

2) Buses in Sicily seem very nice compared to the US. Comfortable, clean, and full of tourists, unlike in the US where they are mostly used by non-tourists who can't afford other means of transportation.

3) Trains are hit and miss. Some are very comfortable and clean. Some are smelly and noisy. Some never show up (do to strikes or theft/damage of railway resources). If you reserve a train, make sure you have a bus as a fallback.,

4) Uber sometimes costs more than taxi, and sometimes takes forever to show up (due to the app or headquarters taking forever to select a driver willing to do the pickup).

5) Whatever transportation you take, packing light will help. Small (carry-on sized) suitcases are a lot easier to transport, stow, and monitor than big ones.