# Driving to Sicily



## Cyclewalkbob

Thinking of going on a C&CC guided tour to Sicily.

What are the roads like and what is it like driving on them?

We normally go to France and Germany and wondered if it was worth driving all that way

Many thanks


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## hmh

Definitely worth going 'all that way' to Sicily.

Needn't be such a long way, you can get a boat from Genoa to Palermo, that is probably what we would do . . .

The roads are much like those in parts of Italy, often small and winding; the big headache is their parking, they tend to pull into the kerb leaving the rear of the car sticking out into the road. You have to behave like a Sicilian, whack your horn to get someone to move . . .

If you are w/ a guided group you should be absolutely fine though, we went on our own and found it to be one of the safer destinations, Mafia notwithstanding, better than some parts of Italy and France, and much better than Spain.

If you look on our previous postings you should find a write-up, w/ co-ordinates for stopovers.

Our favourite town was Syracusa, and best beach to park up in January was Portopalo di Menfi, near Sciacca. In summer Sardinia might be nicer though, and cater to a better class of tourist . . .

If you have seen Inspector Montalbano you have seen what the scenery is like, though they only show you the pretty old buildings, not the tatty modern stuff scattered hither and yon.

Helen


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## christine1310

We drove all down through Italy to get to Sicily and it was a really long drive. Couldn't stand the thought of driving back through again, so we got the boat from Palermo to Genoa. It's a nice crossing and not too expensive.

The roads on Sicily are ok but Sicilian drivers are a bit crackers. Don't let that put you off going as it's has some fabulous places to see and the food is lovely.

I did put a reply on a post about Sicily ages ago with details of some of the places we stayed. You can also see photos etc on my web site - link below.

Christine


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## Cyclewalkbob

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice

We are now thinking of going by ourselves and take the Genoa-Palmero ferry there and back.

Anyone used it and what is it like?

Thanks again
Bob


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## selstrom

Going by yourselves is a good decision.

You may find it cheaper to sail from Livorno to Sicily as you can camp on deck April to October.

This link will take you to a blog of a couple who are currenly on Sicily, may contain some useful info.

http://ourtour.co.uk/home/updates/


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## Jean-Luc

Cyclewalkbob said:


> Thanks to everyone who has given me advice
> 
> We are now thinking of going by ourselves and take the Genoa-Palmero ferry there and back.
> 
> Anyone used it and what is it like?
> 
> Thanks again
> Bob


Having been down as far as Naples I think you have chosen well to take the ferry.

We found a fair proportion of the roads including some sections of the motorway system to be absolutely shocking, something to do with the Mafia just putting blacktop over earth without foundations I have been told. We actually used a section of dual carriageway which had weeds growing through the blacktop on lane one, which had been coned off it was so bad.

And as for the drivers 8O 8O

But I must say in fairness that the Italians we met while there were very friendly and sociable  except when behind a steering wheel


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## bigcats30

If you still decide to go I promise you now if you try and drive safely you will probably crash.

It seems any form of road markings/lights/laws do not apply there.

You have to drive like them and then you will be fine. 

(remember to keep beeping the horn for no reason and you will fit in)

It's frickin chaos :!: (you was warned)

The Pizza's are awesome though :wink:


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## hmh

*driving to Sicily*

Yes, we have used the ferry, it was fine. We have used GNV ferries quite a bit over the years.

What time of year are you going ?

If as someone suggests you go from Livorno for a cheap Camping on Deck option, we found we could park up beforehand at Marina di Pisa, which is a nice little seaside resort - you can get a public bus in to Pisa to see the leaning tower - and you can even park the night before you sail at Livorno port itself, we did that on the way to Sardinia in April 2009.

Our co-ordinates for the port would be useless to you as there were roadworks there at the time, but those for Marina di Pisa should be on our Sardinia trip, on this forum.

If you stay in Palermo, use a campervan site, (look at our write-up on Sicily, amongst others ) and wander about the town on foot.

Better to head out into the country, find a small place, chill, get the hang of it, and take in Palermo on the way out.

Ditto Monreale, which is a lovely old church, deserves to be seen, but don't tackle it until the end, would be our advice.

Have a good trip, we are somewhat envious !

Helen and David


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## Cyclewalkbob

We look possibly to go in May for about 20 days on island


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## hmh

Hi again,

I am not good at this posting a link business, but there are lots of co-ordinates for overnights in a posting at the end of Page 2 of this topic on Sicily:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-115493.html&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=ferries&start=10

Cheers!

Helen


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## Cyclewalkbob

Thanks so much everyone, particularly hmh.

We are really excited, booked the ferry and now just waiting to go!

Cheers

Bob


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## hmh

*driving to Sicily*

The wild flowers should be amazing, as they are on Sardinia in April/May.

It might be worth looking them up online in advance . . . we found we could join the Italian library system and took out a book of local wildflowers.

They blew us away, all sorts of bee-orchids, butterfly orchids and tiny purple irises all mixed up with grass and weeds and litter, but I think that is because they probably have to let them flower and go to seed, as they will often be specific to the island.

The overall effect is tatty but very natural and beautiful.

If you have a tablet or laptop w/ a dongle you can get a 3G card from someone like TIM, from memory it might be 20 euro, 10 for the card and then 10 for the first month. You need to find a town with a TIM shop, preferably somewhere like Sciacca, so as to avoid Palermo initially.

Once you have got the card, we found you could go back a few months later and buy a further month, don't know how that would work years later though.

We found we had better reception away from, say, a cafe with wi-fi, we think they were blocking our signal, but are not very clued up on this subject . . .

Helen


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