rkkwan's Sicily and Amalfi driving trip report
Mar 14th, 2007 | 06:32 AM
#81
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 210
Likes: 0
Having just returned from a week's vacation in Sicily, I wanted to add a postscript to rkkwan's wonderful trip report.
If I were starting my own thread, it would read: Driving in Sicily: Trafico Intenso. No kidding, there are actually road signs in some places that say "trafico intenso"! But even if the driving was, well, intense, I'm glad we rented a car because of the flexibility it gave us, and the opportunity to see some less-visited parts of the island.
That said, I have several pieces of advice:
First, on driving in Palermo: Don't do it. It is truly terrifying.
Second: Get a roadmap BEFORE you arrive in Sicily. I assumed the rental-car agency would have a map that would get me from the airport into Palermo, or at least that I could buy a map at a gas station. Wrong on both counts.
Third: Take advantage of the 2 to 4 pm siesta. We avoided congestion on some heavily-traveled roads by scheduling driving time during the afternoon when there is relatively little traffic.
Finally: If possible, rent a car that is small but lets you sit relatively high off the road (for example, ours was an Opel Agila). This is helpful when trying to navigate narrow streets or get in and out of tight parking spots.
If I were starting my own thread, it would read: Driving in Sicily: Trafico Intenso. No kidding, there are actually road signs in some places that say "trafico intenso"! But even if the driving was, well, intense, I'm glad we rented a car because of the flexibility it gave us, and the opportunity to see some less-visited parts of the island.
That said, I have several pieces of advice:
First, on driving in Palermo: Don't do it. It is truly terrifying.
Second: Get a roadmap BEFORE you arrive in Sicily. I assumed the rental-car agency would have a map that would get me from the airport into Palermo, or at least that I could buy a map at a gas station. Wrong on both counts.
Third: Take advantage of the 2 to 4 pm siesta. We avoided congestion on some heavily-traveled roads by scheduling driving time during the afternoon when there is relatively little traffic.
Finally: If possible, rent a car that is small but lets you sit relatively high off the road (for example, ours was an Opel Agila). This is helpful when trying to navigate narrow streets or get in and out of tight parking spots.
