Travel in Sicily for the first time.

Have we become so addicted to those gadgets that we have forgotten the existence of maps*?
*) »A picture or chart that shows the rivers, mountains, streets, etc., in a particular area«

You will incur data roaming charges if you use your smart phone abroad. That could amount to large sums of money, so you have to research your options, including signing up for an international data plan with your provider or buying a local SIM with an Italian number in Italy.

Your phone apps will work exactly the way they work at home. Not sure what you mean by translate. If your map apps are set for English, they will continue to work in English. Your phone apps will not suddenly start speaking Sicilian dialect the minute you land in Catania. I know they are 'smart' phones, but not yet that 'smart'.

The best way not to get lost in Sicily is the same way you'd use not to get lost in America. Use maps, road signs, GPS navigators, ask people for directions.

It's too early to see weather forecasts for April now, but you can see averages here:
http://www.holiday-weather.com/catania/averages/
Be aware that temperatures vary greatly with altitude. Catania is at sea level and temperatures are mild, even in winter, but it snows on top of Mt. Etna.

We used a Garmin GPS in Tuscany last summer. Base on travel advice, we purchased one before leaving home. It was a lifesaver. There were so many roundabouts. Our friends traveling with us were also very glad the brought theirs form home as well.

In the city, like when walking around Rome we used "google maps," and "city maps to go" on our iPhone. Be sure to download them first.

I also really liked the "find me" feature in our iPhones. That was really useful when trying to meet up with your traveling partners.

Our cellphone provide is T-Mobile which has a good plan when traveling in Europe. It has been mention here.

Will all of your time be in Sicily? You have time to really see the island. Are you looking for daytrips from Catania, or can you spend several nights away?
The highway system is good, if you have a good Michelin or Italian Touring Club map you should be fine.

Places of interest would be Acireale, Siracusa, perhaps the Aeolian islands if you have nights away. Other destinations might also require a night or two stopover, post again if you are interested for advice.
In the meantime, Lonely Planet or Eyewitness guides can give you a good overview of Sicilia.

Will any Garmin work or do I need special cards for Italy?

thank you to those of you who were actually helpful ...

Re the Garmin: You need to have maps of Europe loaded into it. I think some come that way; and with other models, you purchase them separately. Oh, and a note of caution . . . Our Garmin took us on some bizarre routes, a couple of which we ultimately abandoned. Do have a good map as back-up, and maybe even print out viamichelin directions. We found it worked best to use the map and stick to autostrade as much as possible. The Garmin was best for getting to a specific destination, like a hotel, museum, etc., once we were in or near the town. It was also very useful for getting us out of town efficiently.

Garmin will work, but to navigate in Sicily you will need to load a Micro SD card with European maps (they usually come with North American maps only if purchased in America). You can buy it on the Garmin website or also (generally cheaper) on Amazon.

Without a GPS, I'd still be trying to get out of Palermo. You can purchase a Garmin Nuvi with both North American and European maps - try to get "lifetime" maps if you do or you can get only NA maps and either purchase download or SD card for Europe. If you have an unlocked smart phone, you can either get a local SIM card or you might want to use T-Mobile just for the time you'll be abroad. T-Mobile offers some great data plans at reasonable rates but incoming or outgoing calls are .20 a minute. This might be a convenience if someone in the US needs to call you, they just dial you US T-Mobile number.

I've used my Garmin GPS extensively in Europe and a year and a half ago on a two week trip through southern Spain and Portugal I ran Google maps app on my iPhone concurrently with the Garmin. Both gave basically the same directions. This fall I'm visiting Corsica, Sardinia and smaller cities on the boot. I'm only going to use the iPhone. If you decide on the phone option, get a mount for it so you won't be staring at your lap and putting yourself in danger.

Catania is a great place and an easy drive to Mt. Etna. You also might want to drive around the volcano and visit some of the smaller towns along the way. Make sure you visit the fish market in Catania and have some arancini. I would reconsider using Catania as your only "hub" city. Going to Agrigento, Cefalu, Palermo are not easy day trips. Read the itinerary for Rick's Sicily tours for more ideas. If you visit the villa outside Piazza Armerina to see the Roman mosaics, stop in for a bite at the Ristorante Pizzarie Teatro - best warm antipasto I ever ate!

I had a car for about 10 days in Sicily, from Palermo to Catania, no GPS and not even a good map (would have been helpful once or twice). I had exact directions (google) to get out of Palermo from the rental location and it was easy. If you need to get to specific locations in cities (like a hotel), get driving directions in advance. Pretty much everything else is well-signed.

I drove into Catania once (to the excellent WWII museum). The only problem was that traffic moved at a crawl and if I hadn't been a little aggressive, I might have been stuck until everyone else got home and went to bed - it was like bad traffic in big cities (e.g., New York). That experience makes me wonder if Catania is a good base, unless you're on the outskirts, near the highways.

As Zoe and Philip indicated, Sicily is big. If you want to see more than the area near Catania, you need to split your stay. Just driving to nearby Syracuse will take an hour.

Thank you for all the tips ... I am still planning to stay, mostly, in Catania. I have rented a house there for a month. But ... I love road trips and for me, it's not just the destination, it's also the sightseeing along the way so I am fine with having to travel a bit. And ... if I do find that one of the areas I want to see is too far, I can adjust and get a hotel for the night.

Any tips on the best paper map to carry with me?

Has anyone just included a local GPS with their car rental and if so, how did that work? I am finding that to use my phone there, it will make sense to buy a local card in Italy and have a new number while I am there. I will be spending three weeks in Rome before traveling to Sicily for a month so I could potentially run up quite a roaming bill, as I have recently discovered.

About the Italian sim card ... Is that something the store installs and programs for me? And if that is the case, when I get home, do I have to have my phone re-programmed by Verizon with my original card put back in?

Thanks ....

When I go to Italy, I use a cheap (30 euro) phone that I bought from a TIM store a couple of years ago. I just add minutes to it. I take it to any TIM store, hand it over, ask the salesperson to activate it and put 20 euro on it (if you buy a phone in Italy it usually has 5 minutes loaded to begin with). I also ask them to set the language default to English (although I still get TIM alerts in Italian, usually about how many euro I have left), and set the clock (I am high maintenance when it comes to anything with a plug). This is a basic pay-as-you-go phone.

One place that might be a long daytrip from Catania or perhaps an overnight (in Piazza Armerina) is the Villa Romana del Casale, which is always being restored to expose more mosaics and frescoes. I try never to miss going there, always something new.

thanks ... does the Italian phone a smart phone ... with email and gps ....?

sorry ... should say, is the Italian phone a smart phone? :-)

My iPhone is unlocked. I went into the Tim store with it.
Although Wind also offers a good deal, Tim seems to have the best coverage for Sicily.

I paid for the SIM card, then took a one-month renewable plan. I added a North American calling option. Then pre-paid 10 euros credit to pay for the calls to N.A. (at a greatly reduced rate). I get 2 or 3G data with it - enough to deal with e-mails and consult Google maps and browse the websites I need (timetables, bookings, attractions, etc.). It cost me 30 euros for the first month and 20 euros for the second month (including a full top-up of the pre-paid credit).

I had to have my passport in hand to buy the SIM card. The gal set it all up for me. I did have to go back the next day to get help fiddling with the phone's settings, until the data plan could get picked up properly. The use of the maps on the go have been priceless!

I wait for when I can use a free wi-fi connection, for uploading photos to FB and to back up to the Cloud.

If you plan on day tripping from Catania to places like Siracusa/Ortigia or Taormina, I can recommend that you consider just taking the train for those days. Service is frequent, cheap, and no parking hassles.

Great, thank you!

Forgot to mention one very positive by-product of having a Tim SIM card and Italian phone number:

I get my calls returned right away and it makes it very easy to connect with people here (B&B, store/restaurant owners, taxi, guides, etc.).

ok, thanks again!

Sicily is wonderful, I'm sure you'll love experiencing it! Just FYI, my two very favorite places in Sicily were the hill town of Erice in the far northwest corner of the island, and Taormina near the far northeast of the island. There are many other lovely cities and towns, and ancient ruins, all over the island as well. Perhaps you have a special reason for selecting Catania as your base, although that would not be my selection. In Catania, I did enjoy the fish market and the WWII museum, which focuses on the Allied liberation of Sicily in 1943, something that I knew absolutely nothing about until my visit to this excellent, relatively small, museum. I hope you will have the freedom to spend a good number of nights in other locations, as Sicily is a big island, with very interesting and enjoyable spots in all parts, and driving back and forth to Catania every day would certainly get old in a hurry, and rob you of enjoying the early mornings and evenings in many places.

Thank you ... good information.

I chose Catania because it is a coastal city and has an airport and because some of my family is from there. I will likely use trains and buses for a bunch of my travels and if I start losing daylight, am not opposed to spending the night somewhere else.

Most cities in Sicily are coastal :-) and Palermo has an airport too. Many fly into Palermo and out of Catania. My visit was a month later in the year and the western side of the island was much greener and the wildflowers were much more abundant, absolutely gorgeous. The beaches and sea views were beautiful everywhere but the water will be way too cold for bathing.

If you can change your rental, I urge you to spend at least a week in the west. There are wonderful Greek temple ruins, charming towns, stunning church mosaics and much more.

Drive times from Catania (and a few recommended sights):

• Agrigento - 3.5 hours (temples, archaeology museum)
• Selinunte - 4.25 hours (temples)
• Cefalu - 3.25 hours (seaside town, cathedral)
• Piazza Armerina - 2 hours (Roman villa, gorgeous mosaics)
• Palermo/Monreale - 2 hours, not including lots of slow traffic in the city (Monreale cathedral, Palatine chapel)

All of these are relatively easy day trips from a well-chosen location on the western side of the island.

thank you ...

http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html

I have T-Mobile. I just download the maps Offline and the GPS works fine. Also, data is free in Sicily with Tmobile. Cant beat that!!!