Does it really take five hours to drive from Siracusa to Agrigento?
 

We're driving from Siracusa to Ragusa and then on to Agrigento on a Saturday in June. Via Michelin says it's 144 km and takes about 2 hours via S-115 E). While browsing in a bookstore through "Italy for Dummies" they said the drive takes 5 hours. Can this be so? Any info will be appreciated.

We left Siracusa at 10:15. We stopped in Cantalsetta (?) and walked around a bit (no big deal) and we stopped at an AutoGrill and had lunch. We arrived in Agrigento at 2 PM, so taking our time it took us 3 hours and 45 minutes.

I went from Siracusa to Noto and it took a lot longer than I expected because of heavy truck traffic and some construction. I wouldn't expect to spend 5 hours to get to Agrigento, but I wouldn't attempt it as a day trip from Siracusa if that was part of your consideration.

My limited experience driving west out of Siracusa would suggest to me that it might be a shorter trip to drive via Catania, Enna, Caltanissetta and then Agrigento - although further at 225km, Viamichelin estimates the journey at 2.5 hours - but I believe that, whereas I could easily see the 144km via coastal roads taking over 3 hours.

Certainly my attempt to drive to Noto and Ragusa took me 3 or 4 times as long as I would have expected by distance alone. This was due to a combinaton of roadworks, heavy trucks and low posted speed limits.

The best route is likely to be south around the coast via Gela. I have done that and seem to recall less than 3 hours.

Thanks so much for your good information. We feel much better about the travel time.(Bob, your pix were very good . Thanks for sharing.)

Five hours to go 84 miles?

Yes, It took us five hours to get from Agrigento to Siracusa. And we had a GPS!