progol

I'm looking to rent a car in Sicily for our upcoming trip in May. I plan to rent through AutoEurope, picking up in Ortygia/Syracusa after 3 nights there. We will be ending our trip in Palermo, but our previous stop will be Erice. I have a few questions and I'd appreciate your suggestions:

1) In Ortygia/Syracusa, which office location is best to pick the car up? We'll be staying in Ortygia and leaving to go to Modica from there.
2) Am I better dropping the car in Trapani and taking a bus to Palermo? I like the idea of avoiding driving anywhere near Palermo and arriving by bus sounds more relaxing. If yes, where do we drop the car? If you recommend we drop off the car in Palermo, what office/location do we want to drop the car?
3) What size do you recommend? I know we want a small car but one large enough to hide the luggage in the back. What is the best size for both safety (driving through narrow streets! and hiding luggage).

Thanks all! Appreciate any recommendations you have!
Paule

progol

Oh -- it will be my husband and me, and we will have 2 small carry on suitcases and 2 small day packs. We don't need a large covered space, just large enough.

kja

I did my travel in the opposite direction, but picked up in Palermo at Piazza Matteo Boiardo (which you can reach by Palermo's subway and which is JUST off the autostrada) and dropped off in Siracusa, just blocks from the entrance to Ortygia, at Corso Umberto N. 54. That said, I think the idea of dropping in Trepani makes sense.

FWIW, I booked through gemut.com, who work -- as I understand it -- exclusively with Auto Europe, but who offer a free 24/7 English phone line if any problems arise. And they've always given me excellent advice about what size vehicle to rent in light of safety, gas efficiency, and maneuverability.

yestravel

We had either the Fiat panda or Punto, whichever is the larger of the 2. It worked fine and we had the same luggage as you describe. Also could negotiate the tiny streets in some of the villages.

progol

Many thanks, kja and yestravel. Very helpful.

Kja, never heard of gemut.com -- I will look into it. Sounds like a great service.

On TA, it was suggested that dropping at Palermo airport would be a straight drive with an easy bus ride into town. I'm playing out the scenarios but also don't want to overthink it. I'd like to avoid driving into Palermo if possible.

Dayle

Progol,
I did the opposite. Picked up in Trapani and dried on Ortigia. Booked thru Autoeruope and the used Hertz because my desired locations were not served by their preferred Sicily agency, Europcar.

I booked an Economy class since traveling solo, and pretty much expected to get "upgraded" which I did. My car was a brand spanking new Fiat compact with more than enough covered space for my 24" and small day bag.

Drop location was just over the bridge on Ortigia and easy to find. Both agents were super nice and the whole process very easy and stress free.

I would drop at the Palermo airport if I were you. It's quite a long ways outside the city and small. It should not be difficult and taking the express bus in to Palermo easier than busing from Trapani.

kja

Lol, Dayle -- I hate upgrades! They just mean bigger, less fuel-efficient cars than I want. ;-)

Dropping at Palermo's airport is well worth considering, as long as the drop-off time makes sense given the bus schedule.

Dayle

kja,
In this case I fully expected the "upgrade" and since it was only to a compact size, I was fine with that!

One other thought for you progol - I have never picked up or dropped at an airport in Europe. Always at small towns or smaller cities. I have heard that there are LONG lines at airports for car rentals. When I've been at the small offices, I literally have been the only customer in sight!

If someone else can relate their experience with renting/dropping at the Palermo airport, it might help you decide which would be easier, Trapani and bus or airport and express bus.

From what I have seen, there are also extra fees for renting from an airport location.

bon_voyage

We dropped off at the Palermo airport, no problems. It was a Sunday so that may have helped re the relative lack of traffic. In general, we found the highway driving in Sicily easy in comparison to our home turf in Southern California.

Leely2

I picked up at Palermo airport, easy-peasy, no crowds, no line, was a weekday around 10am.

As for size, we reserved a midsize car. There were three of us and we wanted to make sure all our luggage would fit fully covered in the trunk. Ended up with an Alfa Romeo Giulia, which was great fun to drive, zippy, good pick up on hills/mountains and not too big for narrow city roads.

progol

Many, many thanks for everyone's advice.

The more I think about it, the more Palermo airport makes sense for the drop off. I had initially considered dropping the car off in Trapani the day before we leave Erice, but then we'd be stuck with our luggage, leaving Erice, and trying to find the bus while schlepping our luggage. Not such a great idea!

So, keeping the car till we leave Erice makes more sense -- and, I'm told, the drive to the Palermo airport is a straightforward one, with a bus from the airport, so that will be the simplest drop off to avoid driving into the city to drop off the car. It will be a weekday, so hopefully, not too many crowds. I'm going to guess it will be late morning when we arrive.

willit

Palermo is definitely not the most fun place to drive. The lane markings are strictly for decoration.

One word of advice - unless things have changed in the last two years or so, there are no easy to find fuel stations near to the airport - the closest one was around 5-10Km away. This is worth knowing if you are expected to return the car full.

progol

willit,
Great advice, thank you! We'll make sure to plan for the stop before we get to the airport.

Paule