This is just a brief, no-frills report on one aspect of my visit to Sicily this past September, because I had promised to report back to someone on what the driving was like. I think it was Leely, but I can't remember for sure, and since I don't know when I'll get around to reporting on the whole trip, I decided to just post this - my experiences and a few tips. I'm sorry it's so late but I hope it's not too late and I hope it helps with planning for anyone who wants to know about the driving.

In short, driving in Sicily was a real pleasure, and much easier than I'd anticipated. The roads are clearly marked and well maintained, and for the greater part, pleasantly uncrowded.

I used the autostrada and secondary highways for longer distances, but did a lot of exploring on country roads and rarely got lost, altho' I occasionally asked for directions, just to be sure. There are plenty of signs, even on the country roads, and as long as you know your destination, you should be fine. It does help to speak Italian b/c most Sicilians don't speak English, but it's not fatal if you don't. The Sicilians go out of their way to be helpful.

One thing came in very handy, altho' it wasn't planned that way. My rental car had a GPS but since I don't use one at home, I told the young man at the rental agency not to bother setting it up for me. He left the screen open with just the map and it turned out to be very helpful b/c it always assured me that I was heading in the right direction and also gave an idea of distance, so altho' I didn't use it for detailed instructions, it did come in handy.

I brought large and detailed Michelin and Touring Club Italiano maps with me, and never used either one. Instead, I used a very simple map of Sicily that was given to me at my hotel in Erice and it was more than sufficient.

I always make it a point to plan my route in advance each day, and also ask the hotels I'm staying at for directions to the hotel so I'll be prepared, and always allow enough time to arrive at my destination before dark.

I had the car for only the first 10 days of my trip and did most of my driving exploring western and southwestern Sicily. I picked it up at the Palermo airport and drove to Castellamare del Golfo for the first night on the AS. It was an easy and direct drive of less than a half hour.
From there I drove to Erice, another easy and direct drive on secondary roads, and again with directions from my hotel in Erice.

On the subject of Erice, I had been very apprehensive about driving up a steep and winding road to the hilltown, but it turned out that there are three roads leading up and the one you take from Valderice to the Porta Trapani (and the parking lot) is newer, much less steep, and very easy to drive, so I needn't have worried. If you're heading to Erice, my advice is to take that road and park in the lot for the duration of your visit.

From Erice I took the AS to the Castelvetrano/Selinunte area, with a stop at the temple of Segesta. From Segesta, I took the AS and local roads to get to my agriturismo, which was situated in the country between Partanna and Castelvetrano. Again, advance directions helped me in finding the agriturismo.

I explored the area for five days mostly on local roads, and one day I drove to the salt pans of Marsala and Trapani on a secondary coastal highway, which was direct and easy. Driving thru' the town of Marsala was pretty stressless and I found my way to the salt pans there, and then followed the same road to the salt pans in Trapani. I did have to occasionally ask for directions, especially leaving Trapani since I had come on local roads but was taking the AS home so I had no point of reference. That was a day long trip and I arrived back at dusk, but by then I knew my way around the area and it was no problem.

I also drove into the town of Castelvetrano (the S115 takes you right to the main street, Via Roma), parked the car and explored on foot. While I was there I noticed that the heavy in town traffic practically disappeared during "pranzo", lunch hour, so it might be a good idea to drive into unfamiliar towns and cities during early afternoon if possible). I drove to Sciacca and did the same thing: parked the car and explored on foot. Selinunte was also easily reached on local roads from where I was staying.

From Castelvetrano I drove to Agrigento for one night. I was advised to take the highway instead of the coastal road and did so. Again, I had advance directions to the hotel which helped a great deal. Once or twice when I was on a traffic circle and wasn't sure where to turn off, I just drove around the circle a few times till I got my bearings and figured out the way. It helped and was preferable to taking the wrong exit!

The final drive was from Agrigento to Siracusa where I turned in the car. Again I followed the advice to take the Autostrada, a good idea b/c the trip was around 3.5 hours. Like any strange city where you don't know your way around, it was a little confusing finding my way into Siracusa, and then Ortigia, but with a few wrong turns, and backtracking, and a phone call to the hotel, I managed.

Obviously, I didn't drive through any of the more populated cities like Palermo, Messina or Catania, and probably would not ever attempt doing so, and western Sicily is not as crowded as the east coast, but my experiences driving were all positive and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Thanks. I'm saving this information for our trip to Sicily in April.

Thanks, panecott. I am the person who asked that you report back. I've driven in Sicily, but not solo, and it's something I would consider doing in the next couple years (or sooner).

Good tip about Erice. And where did you stay in Agrigento?

Those roundabouts are what got us so lost the last time; we always just guessed which exit to take instead of repeating the circle until we were sure.

I would love to see photos if you are so inclined, even just a few, now that we can add photos.

Glad you had a good trip!

lol, panecott, your experience is so different to ours I wonder if we went to the same island!

Partly I think that the explanation may be provided by the fact that you were mostly in the west of Sicily rather than the east, though I see that you did go to Siracuse and Ortigia where we had a pretty hair-raising experience on our first day when we were arriving from the airport; it wasn't so bad when we left a few days later. Perhaps we were particularly unlucky on our first day, or perhaps Mondays are always like that.

We also probably brought some of it upon ourselves - staying in the centre of hill towns like Ragusa which are only reached by negotiating a series of switch backs, attempting to get from A-B along what looked like the most direct route, not knowing that half the road would be missing for a good part of the way, wanting to explore places that could not be reached by sticking to the autostrada and main highways. If you stick to those, park in your hotel car parks, and don't try to drive through any big towns or cities, you will probably be fine.

And lest I be accused of being a shrinking violet or inexperienced driver, I have driven in central London many times, can negotiate the M25 without going grey, and frequently drive long distances by myself. We had satnav and maps, and I speak Italian. But I would not try to drive in Sicily again, let alone by myself.

Glad to help, tuscan and Leely.

Leely, I don't think you should have any qualms about driving solo. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again -- and just might do so soon enough!

In Agrigento I stayed at the Collaverde Park Hotel. I chose it b/c it was within walking distance to the temples (albeit a bit of an uphill hike on the way back) and also b/c it had at least one room - the one I booked - with views of the temples. It was lovely. There are also views of the temples from the hotel gardens, which was a nice plus. It was just up the road from the Villa Athena.

The hotel was quite nice, a full service hotel with lovely gardens, plenty of lobby spaces, restaurant, bar, lounge, and parking. The only thing it lacked was a pool, but for one night it was fine. And if you plan on visiting the Scala dei Turchi from there (which I did) you can swim at the beach if you want to.

As for photos, I took thousands but I still have not downloaded them b/c this computer gives me too many problems with photos. Some "computer expert" messed up my photo program a while back and they just download with no organization whatsoever, and it's impossible to find any particular photos. So I don't bother to download them for the time being and they are all still on my cameras. I do intend to get a new laptop very soon and I hope to get my photos organized - from several recent trips! I'd be happy to share them once I get them downloaded and organized.

My experiences of driving in Sicily mostly mirror annhig's. Of all the places I've driven in Italy, Sicily was by far the worst.

annhig, I confess that after reading your Sicily trip report I hesitated to go to towns like Ragusa, so I didn't! I do try to keep things as simple as possible so I don't get myself crazy and as you said, avoiding really remote places and big cities makes things easier.

I could have taken a day trip to one of the baroque towns from Siracusa with my Italian school, or even taken the train on my own, but I got so relaxed and lazy on this trip that after class I usually went back to my hotel, got into my bathing suit, and went to swim off one of several swimming platforms along the lungomare. It was a real vacation.

I arrived in Siracusa on a Sunday so maybe traffic was lighter than usual, and I turned in the car the next day so that was the end of my dealing with traffic.
And yes, western Sicily is much less populated and much less touristy than eastern Sicily. I loved that area.

My worst experience driving in Italy, or anywhere in Europe, was in Puglia -- and even then it wasn't terrible most of the time. But the drivers were the most aggressive I encountered, and I did drive through a number of cities. On the open roads and in smaller towns, it was fine.

panecott,

I am so glad you detailed your Sicily driving experience! Your experience was pretty much exactly the same as mine. Solo driving, no problem. Detailed Michelin maps, yes, but not really used. Figure out where you need to be going before starting, yes. Multiple trips in a roundabout when uncertain, yes. Erice not big deal, definitely not. Backtracking and taking a couple of wrong turns, yes, not really a big problem. Knowing if your hotel has parking, yes. Well marked roads, yes. Driving on the secondary country roads - yes definitely a pleasure. Light traffic, yes.

The only difference was I took my personal Tom Tom with freshly loaded Sicily maps and it worked very well for the most part. The only town I had difficulty in was Piazza Armerina trying to get to Villa Romana.

Not trying to drive in the major cities, no, not a good idea. Not that the driving is difficult, but trying to navigate in a strange city, watch traffic, and having no parking anyway, are all reasons not to bother.

I hope you loved Sicily as much as I did!

Dayle, I recall your mentioning on one of the Sicily threads that you had no difficulty driving in Sicily, and that was very encouraging to me. So thank you! And not being overly intrepid does keep things simple. This was not my first visit there but I've always taken the trains in the past.

As far as loving Sicily -- I fell in love with it on my first trip there many years ago. This was my 5th time there and I'm already thinking about # 6! It's the island of my heart and I so enjoy hearing that other people love it too, and appreciate all it has to offer.

One of these days I'll get around to writing my report.

Wow, lucky you! 5 trips and you must have been able to go so many places! I'm jealous.

Don't be jealous. Go Back!!

Please don't get me wrong, I loved Sicily. But in retrospect we should not have stayed in Ragusa [absolutely murder to get into and out of and to park] or Taormina, or to be strictly accurate, Castel Mola which is way up above Taormina and is probably the worst place to drive to I've ever come across in my life. And that includes the non-road we drove along in the south of Crete which was mainly concrete blocks. Piazza Armerina was a doddle by comparison.

If I go again I'll do a tour or hire a driver, or better still go with a language school.

Panecott - how was your experience there? I don't know why but I thought that you were going to one in Palermo.

We love Sicily despite the fact the driving was insane. It is your responsibility to know when someone is pulling away from the curb or a scooter will make a u-turn in front of you at 40 MPH. Ironically they all drive exceptionally safe on the autostradas, just to confuse you. Do not resist it, embrace the Sicilian style of driving. I did and took off someone's sideview mirror at the Palermo Airport.

We love Sicily despite the fact the driving was insane. It is your responsibility to know when someone is pulling away from the curb or when a scooter will make a u-turn in front of you at 40 MPH. Ironically they all drive exceptionally safe on the autostradas, just to confuse you. Do not resist it, embrace the Sicilian style of driving. I did and took off someone's side view mirror at the Palermo Airport.

Oh, annhig, I didn't misunderstand. I know from your trip report how much you loved Sicily and I realize that some places are more challenging than others.

As for the Italian school, it was the Italian Academy and was very nice. They had classes every morning in a nice facility, and offered optional activities in the afternoon. It was right near that modern church of the Madonna della Lacrima, that looks like a giant tent, about a half hour's walk from Ortigia.

There were 6 people in my class and we were roughly on the same level. I enjoyed it but I honestly don't think I learned very much. For me it was more of a review rather than learning anything new, but since my Italian was getting rusty, the review was helpful. Maybe if I had taken two weeks it would have been more productive, altho' I'm really not complaining.

I think class size is very important and 6 seemed a bit much to me. I think at this stage of my Italian career I would probably benefit from private or semi-private lessons with a lot of conversation and the ability to ask specific questions to clarify and refine certain things.

About 18 years ago I took a two week course in Cefalu at what used to be Solemar-Sicilia and is now called Solemar Academy. At the time I was there, they didn't have their own facility and offered classes at student apartments that they provided, or at a hotel with which they had an arrangement. I stayed at the hotel, La Kalura, about a 15 minute walk outside of Cefalu and there was one other woman in my class. She was German and her Italian was a little better than mine and it was a great experience. I learned from her and from the teacher, who was excellent. She taught us not only the fine points of the language, but also worked on pronunciation, and mine improved immensely. It was an overall totally positive experience and I learned a lot.

Solemar now has its own facility and I believe they are now accredited, but I think their prices are still very reasonable. I almost went back there in September but I really wanted to spend more time in Siracusa so I chose the Italian Academy. No real regrets but I'm seriously thinking of going back to Solemar either this year or next. They also offer some excursions. Sicily keeps calling me back.

IMdonehere, lol, that's the spirit. Just do it - he who hesitates is lost.

<<IMdonehere, lol, that's the spirit. Just do it - he who hesitates is lost.>>

or in Sicily, more likely dead!

Thanks for the description of the language school in Siracuse, Panecott. We visited that church on the way back from the Archeological site so I know exactly where you mean. The Solemar one does sound more attractive from a learning pov, but I have a yen to see Palermo so that might be my next language school venue, though of course I may fall in love with the one in Bologna. I do think it's a good way of seeing a place especially when they offer excursions and activities, as most do, and I don't fancy doing Palermo on my own!

>>> or in Sicily, more likely dead! >>>

Hahahaha.

Are you planning to take a course in Bologna, ann?

I agree that it's a great way to experience a place and I've always had great experiences.
BTW, Cefalu is just about an hour from Palermo by train.

When I took of the side view mirror, my niece screamed and I said, "I'm not stopping. This is Palermo and I don't know who might own that car."

Thanks for answering Ann's question, panecott. I've taken a couple of Italian classes (just one-week courses), and I like structuring my trips around them. But I'm probably at the point where private lessons would be more useful. Last summer I took a class in Venice, and we students had such vast differences in vocabulary that we could barely talk to each other, even though we had all tested into the same level.

I do enjoy meeting the other students, though. This last time our class was composed of a young guy from Japan, a young guy from Venezuela, a Swiss teen, a young woman from Moscow, a woman from St. Petersburg, and a woman from Krakow.