Sicily is a wonderful place, and traveling throughout this southern region of Italy can be challenging. Decisions about the various transportation options need to be based on several factors. These include location, time, convenience, goals, and budget.
Sicily is diverse, and while it’s true that many cities can be reached by train, they are not the high-speed trains commonly found on the mainland. Sometimes the time to reach a destination is longer than you would anticipate, since these trains make numerous stops.
Another consideration is the terrain. Much of Sicily consists of villages surrounded by hills or mountains, and for these locations, a car is a necessity. Small towns and villages dotting the countryside of Sicily are often reached by narrow, winding roads that challenge even the most experienced drivers. Although today’s GPS navigation systems have been updated, they are not always accurate when it comes to directions for some of the most out-of-the-way places in Sicily.
With the unreliability of the GPS, locating a destination in the countryside of Sicily almost always takes longer than expected. I have been lost on more than one occasion and hoping to find an English-speaking local for directions was almost impossible.
To say that driving here is stressful would be an understatement. If you plan on driving in busier, ancient city centers such as Palermo and Catania, expect chaos. In my experience, the drivers in Catania and Messina are the absolute worst. They park their vehicles anywhere, including the driving lanes and crosswalks.
Local drivers are often aggressive and make a trip more nerve-wracking than you might anticipate. For these instances, you may want to consider whether you really want to drive yourself or hire a private driver.
As a frequent traveler to Sicily, I have used all modes of passenger travel and have driven in Sicily myself in a rental car as well. A few stories based on my personal experiences may help you decide whether driving in Sicily is an adventure you’re willing to undertake.
In Cesarò, the village of my maternal grandparents, some of the narrow streets date back to times when only horses or donkeys traversed them. There is barely enough room for one small car to navigate these ancient streets.
The old streets were made for pedestrians, and worthy today of bicycles and possibly small cars. Although we had ordered a medium-size rental car, we ended up with a full-size Peugeot that definitely did not navigate well in this environment. We almost went down a staircase once and several times were going the wrong way on a one-way street.
In the city of Siracusa, we had a fun-filled day of sightseeing, but then, the good feeling suddenly ended. When we returned to the parking garage to retrieve our rental car, we discovered it had been damaged, much to our dismay. Whoever would have thought that a parking garage would be more dangerous than the streets of Catania?
After arriving in Palermo at night, the challenge of finding our hotel turned into a nightmare. It did not help that none of the streets were marked or that there are numerous roundabouts and a lot of traffic.
Finally, after more than an hour driving around in the dark, we reached our lodging, exhausted.
Of course, if you are planning to visit only a few cities that can be easily reached by train, then you can skip the entire issue of driving, But, if you really want to explore the countryside of Sicily, your options are to drive yourself or hire a private driver. Sometimes the additional expense is worth your sanity.
Have you driven in Sicily? I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.
Grazie and Ciao.
If you haven’t read My Love Affair with Sicily, you may want to check it out.
My Love Affair with Sicily
Available on AMAZON as paperback, kindle, and audiobook. Also available on Amazon UK
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