Visiting Sicily and getting around the island is definitely most convenient by car! Yes, the Sicilians have a bit of an enthusiastic driving style, but don’t let that put you off! I always love the freedom of my own transportation, and simply adjust your driving style to the local ways.
Renting a car
For renting a car I’m usually a big fan of the broker AutoEurope. Only this time, loads of car rental agencies had a maximum age limit of 80 years. Since I was traveling with my Dad of 82, who also doesn’t mind doing his share of driving, I needed to find an agency that would allow that.
This is when I came across Centauro, for only €35 extra I could add him as a senior driver. The even bigger advantage was their premium all-in insurance and their top Google rating. No hassle with any damages at the end. (personal opinion, I wish I would get paid for writing this :D)
ZTL-zones
A lot of old Italian cities have ZTL zones (Zona a Traffico Limitato), which have limited traffic and only accessible for residents. Don’t accidentally cross into this zone, as you immediately get a hefty fine. The ZTL-zones in Sicily can be found on this website, select the city and view the map.
Parking
To avoid the ZTL-zones I had to park our rental car at parking areas just outside these zones. As I also wanted a minimum of walking distance with our suitcases, here is a list of places where we parked:
- Catania: we stayed at a hotel just outside the ZTL zone, here we parked on the street for free.
- Taormina: Parcheggio Lumbi, a free shuttle bus will take you into the city. The parking lot has plenty of spaces, but I advice to only enter with a small car, the flight going up is extremely narrow.
- Cefalu: As our hotel was on the North side of the old center, I parked for free along the street here, as spaces nearby were for residents only.
- Palermo: Parcheggio Castello is just on the edge outside of the ZTL-zone in Palermo. From here we only had to walk 8 minutes to our hotel.
- Agrigento: As we only spend the evening in Agrigento, we parked in the blue zone and put in some coins in the meter at the public parking spaces at Piazza Ravanusella.
- Syracuse (Ortygia): almost the whole island is a ZTL-zone, all the possible parking spaces are when you just cross the island, be sure to use the meter here to buy a day ticket.
Gasoline
In Sicily there is only one type of gasoline or diesel. Some of the gas stations have a service and a self-service area, where the gas at the self-service area is obviously cheaper. Be sure to drive into the correct slot.
