We are looking at a 10-12 day stay in Sicily next October after a trip to Iran. We are 2 women who are fully capable of driving but might want to reduce stress by finding a wonderful driver to take us around our itinerary. Has anyone used a driver in Sicily? We will plan our own trip but would like to leave the driving to someone else!

For most things in Sicily, there is no reason to drive at all -- use public transportation!

BTW, with only 10 to 12 days, you will need to be very selective, as Sicily offers so many highlights that can't be easily reached and seen in that time frame. Whether you decide to travel with a driver or to use public transportation, I think you would do well to think through your priorities well in advance so you can plan a trip that best suits your interests. FWIW, of the half dozen guidebooks I used when planning my time in the area, I thought the Rough Guide was far and away the best in terms of coverage of things one might want to see or experience.

Sicily is amazing -- enjoy!

I seem to be shadowing kja on Italy posts...we've probably run into each other on vacation.

I'm someone that has to drive themselves and have never taken public transportation in Sicily so can't comment on using it rather than hiring a private driver. What I did want to offer was a potential contact for Sicily tours and maybe a driver. It's a woman named Elaine Trigiani who does culinary tours in Sicily and Tuscany. She is a friend of a friend and she was very helpful when we went to Sicily. Her website is http://www.elainetrigiani.com/.

If you get to the beautiful town of Modica, you should look into staying at Casa Talia...it was fantastic and a place that Elaine recommended to us. We also loved the valley of temples on the southern coast and are big fans of Erice on the western side of the island. The passeggiata in Trapani is very enjoyable.

I frequently use public transportation in Italy (I live in Italy, without a car), but I wouldn't have enjoyed my trip to Sicily if I didn't have a car at my disposal. I don't know how kja defines "most things in Sicily", but I'm guessing plenty of the wonderful places I went were not on kja's list because it would have been a real pain using public transporation to get there, especially if the weather was either rainy or too hot. In fact, I'm pretty sure most people rent a car to tour Sicily. The train system is not good and many people do NOT enjoy bus travel.

Can't help you out with a recommendation for a private driver, since I rented a car, but for cost comparisons and reviews, you might want to check out Tripadvisor for that as well as picking up names here.

Here are two trip reports on visiting Sicily using public transportation:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...sportation.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...n-november.cfm

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the input and the contacts. I think we will do the rental car given your thoughts and those of others.

Losaltos

If your screen name is taken from your city, in California, then you can drive in the Sicilian countryside and small towns with no problem. I enjoyed my 9 days driving solo very much. If you can drive in CA you can drive in Sicily!

Of course, study your route well, be familiar with place and town names along the way, have a detailed paper map for backup, and use Tom Tom for a GPS.