Sicily questions

You don’t want to drive in Palermo unless you absolutely need to. To avoid driving in Palermo we stayed in Monreale at a B&B with parking and took the bus into Palermo. I believe there is a bus from the airport into Palermo. The airport is 30+ minutes from the city.

Agree, that the one place in Sicily where you do not want to have a car is Palermo. You might consider what we did, which is to fly directly from Rome to Catania. We then drove on to Taormina which is lovely in itself and convenient to Mt. Etna and wineries. Highly recommend Emilio Sciacca for a wonderful wine tasting with a view of Mt. Etna: https://www.emiliosciaccaetnawine.it/en/the-company/emilio-sciacca-etna-and-wine-the-volcanic-nature/

From there we toured around Sicily, dropped the car on arrival to Palermo, enjoyed the city, took a taxi to the airport and flew back to Rome.

Happy planning!

I hope you can add some days to what seems like a very short trip so you can get a more comprehensive look at Sicily. To me, it's a shame to miss Ortygia (Siracusa) and the Baroque villages in that area--Ragusa, Noto, Modica and Scicli among them.

There's a lot to see in Palermo. Certainly the Monreale Cathedral is one of the island's very top sights, but I wouldn't want to spend multiple nights out in Monreale and commute into the city repeatedly by bus. And I agree with the others: Driving into or within Palermo is the stuff of nightmares.

(Greetings from Tacoma!) Having been to Sicily several times I agree with the advice to fly to Catania and leave from Palermo. Suggested itinerary: if you want time in Catania, take a taxi from the airport into town (faster and more pleasant than the bus). You can take tours to Etna so don't need a car for that. I can't comment on wine tours/tasting except that there are many options throughout the island. Take the regional bus from Catania or from the airport to Syracuse (about 1 hour) and walk or taxi the mile into Ortigia. If you rent in Catania at the airport and want to stay in Ortigia, parking is a real challenge (and a car is completely unnecessary). When you are ready to leave Ortigia, you can walk or taxi to the car rental agencies in Syracuse. You'll be able to get around easily to Modica, Ragusa (either park in upper Ragusa and walk to Ragusa Ibla, or leave your car in a Ragusa Ibla lot), Argrigento, the amazing Roman Villa with mosaics, the coast, etc. Then return your car at the Palermo airport and take the train into the city. And don't miss the Opera House in Palermo!
Have you driven in Italy before? Even if you have on the mainland, driving in Sicily is a different experience - much more intense, I would say.
Have a wonderful trip!

Hello,
I have been to both Italy and Sicily many times and never rented a car-remember, you need an International Permit (Triple AAA office) in order to drive there- and there are ZTL's (restricted areas) that you absolutely cannot drive in. If you accidently drive in or thru a ZTL you will incur a heavy fine and by the time the fines catch up to you in the US, it could be thousands of euros. To me that is not worth the hassle. I have also seen on this forum and many others where rental cars are broken into and damaged, items stolen, etc. Sicily is very easy to get around by bus, comfortable and efficient, and there are trains too, but buses are preferred. I flew into Catania one trip and took a bus directly to Siracusa, stayed there for a few days (lots to see and do), and then went to Catania. From Catania I did day trips to Savoca, Cefalu and Taormina. If you base in Palermo, you can take a direct bus to Agrigento very easy and a nice trip. Tickets purchased right on bus. From Palermo it is an easy bus to Trapani and from there Erice. I found no need for a car anywhere in Sicily. There are also trips to Etna from Catania as well.
Enjoy-here is a link to a great Air BnB in Catania
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/28537611?source_impression_id=p3_1755546882_P3twFM6-t3ZqFKtn

Thank you all for the feedback. It was not mentioned before but we are planning for about a 2 week trip with at least 10 days on Sicily.
I will be using your feedback to adjust my itinerary and using information from Rick Steves' guide book.

Locales will include: Villa Romana del Casale, Agrigento, wine tasting near Vittoria, Ragusa and a scenic drive described in the book, Siracusa, Catania, Taormina, Cefalu and Palermo. I just hope that we aren't spending too much time checking in and out of hotels. We will probably be spending a couple of nights in most of these cities.

Now just waiting to see when a favorable airfare is available.

Ciao

Another related question.

Can I rent a car in Syracuse and return it in Palermo?

Based on your earlier feedback, I don't want to drive in Palermo. I do want to have a car for the added flexibility to see more of the countryside. Plus, since we will be traveling in January/February I am concerned about availability.

Thanks in advance.

Catania will probably be a nightmare to drive in too. Anyway, since you have an idea of where you’re going to visit, look up parking lots at those places before going over and bookmark them in your navigation app. That will save you time when you arrive.

All the lodgings we stayed at (Agrigento, Marsala, Erice, Monreale, Cefalù, and Taormina) had free parking either on-site or very nearby. We visited Ortigia as a day trip and at the time (2018) the machines at the pay lot we went to after turning left as soon we crossed onto the island only accepted 1€ coins, nothing smaller. The pay lot we went to in Noto was a manned booth.

I would like to help, but I'm not following your plans clearly. I'm wondering if all of these stops are written in stone: "Locales will include: Villa Romana del Casale, Agrigento, wine tasting near Vittoria, Ragusa and a scenic drive described in the book, Siracusa, Catania, Taormina, Cefalu and Palermo."

You've said you want to spend "a bit" in Palermo to rest on arrival. And, presumably an overnight near Vittoria. So does that mean a total of 3 nights more or less? Let's say it is. So the remaining 7-??? nights, do you want to cover all of the above? Or are you selecting a few from this list? Sicily is deceptively large. Even with a car, traveling between some of these stops will take hours. Buses are often a better choice. With "at least 10 days", I think having two bases and doing day trips is most realistic. In addition to Palermo itself, from there, you could visit Cefalu (and Monreale, a must-do for lots of people, and several other nice towns.). From Catania, you could drive for day trips to Agrigento (2 hours each way; or you could go from Palermo); Villa Romana del Casale (1.5 hours each way); Ragusa (1.5 hours each way) Siracusa, Etna and Taormina within an hour or so. That makes for some pretty long days. Right now, car or not, it doesn't look like you have enough days. Can you add a few more days? Or maybe delete a couple of destinations?

Yes, you can normally rent a car in one city and drop in another. Sometimes people get bent out of shape over the one-way drop off charges. They are generally a couple hundred dollars, plus the usual renting caveats - dates of rental, size of car, standard vs. automatic, etc. So, if you really want to drive, you could do it in with a one-way itinerary. I'd check into the weather, though, for interior stops. It gets chilly there, and in January, altitude and precipitation might be a factor.

We've been several times and would happily return. Sicily is fantastic; the more time you can spend the better! Let us know how your planning goes.