If you are planning on driving in Sicily, these useful tips for driving in Italy should help you get around Sicily safely and without TOO many stress headaches!
What you can expect from this article…
- 1 Should you take a Road Trip in Sicily, Italy?
- 1.1 Renting a Car in Sicily – Tips to save a fortune!
- 1.2 Italian Road Tolls in Sicily
- 1.3 Roadworks in Sicily
- 1.4 Hairpin bends in Sicily
- 1.5 Italian drivers
- 1.6 Driving on the right
- 1.7 Car Crime in Sicily
- 1.8 Choose your Accommodation wisely.
- 1.9 Parking in Sicily
- 2 A Packing List for A Sicily Roadtrip
Should you take a Road Trip in Sicily, Italy?
I’m a huge advocate for self-drive holidays. There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting on a coach passing by somewhere amazing thinking ‘if only I could explore there!’ With a driving holiday, you can stop when somewhere catches your eye, take lunch by a pretty view and change your plans at short notice.
[bctt tweet=”With a driving holiday, you can stop when somewhere catches your eye, take lunch by a pretty view and change your plans at short notice.” username=”@globetrottergp”]
Italy has a bunch of amazing Italian road trips from driving country lanes in Tuscany to coastal drives along the Amalfi Coast. But a Siciliy road trip is something special…
However, driving abroad, especially in Italy, can be challenging at times when you are not used to the roads and the rules. Driving in Sicily is no exception. Italian road trips can be incredibly rewarding however it is not always the easiest way to travel! Crazy Italian drivers (otherwise affectionately referred to as road hoggers,) narrow pot-holed roads and the craziest hairpin bends you’ve ever seen.
Yes, driving in Sicily is not exactly easy. It is, however, rewarding!
Would I do another Sicily road trip?
Absolutely!
So you need to decide if driving in Sicily is your thing or not! So I suggest you answer these questions before you embark on your Italy road trip!
- Are you a confident driver?
- Are you happy driving in new cities back home?
- Can you keep calm in high-stress situations?
- Are you happy to be flexible on holidays?
If the answer is no to any of these questions, you may want to think twice about your mode of travel! That or convince a more confident driver to come with you. Driving in Sicily is a lot of fun so that shouldn’t be too hard to persuade them!
But if the answers were all a resounding yes, then you should add diving in Sicily onto your Italian bucket list!
So here are a few Italy travel tips to help your Italy road trip go smoothly…
via GIPHY
Renting a Car in Sicily – Tips to save a fortune!
These days it’s super easy to hire a car online however, it’s also easy to get completely shafted by the hire company.
We’ve all been there. We find an amazing deal. Only €8 / day you say?! Awesome. You click through only to be hit by all the extortionate extras and suddenly your car hire is more like €30-40/day. Not so awesome anymore!
Luckily I have a little travel hack for you! Two actually!
- Say no to any fully-comp insurance policies. Yes, you need one for peace of mind. No, you do not need the one the car insurance company is offering! If you live in the E.U. head over to Moneysupermarket.co.uk. There you can buy an annual policy covering you for ANY time you hire a car in Europe for the next 12 MONTHS for just €40! That’s a fraction of what it’ll cost you with the hire company – I was quoted over > €200 with mine! And even better, if you take a 2nd or 3rd trip that year, you are instantly covered so your next policy will work out EVEN cheaper! Win-Win! Whilst as far as I’m aware, this policy is only for travel in Europe, I am sure there are similar policies to be found for other places! (Pssst, I had to claim on my insurance policy recently after a trip to Iceland. They refunded the money, it was easy!)
- Again this is more of a tip for Europeans but is super useful. These days there is a reciprocal agreement with phone networks across the E.U. This means your data, minutes and texts carry over to any country you visit within Europe. Therefore say no to the expensive €10/day sat nav and instead use google maps on your phone. Most hire cars have a USB point these days and you can buy an inexpensive phone holder which slots into the air vents.
For those of you not from the E.U. it may work out cheaper to buy an Italian sim card with plenty of data than hire one of the extortionate satnavs! Or even better, bring your satnav from home! (As long as it’s set up for worldwide maps.)
Driving in Sicily tip | Rent the smallest car which meets your needs for driving in Sicily – you’ll thank me when you are navigating Sicily’s notoriously narrow lanes!
[bctt tweet=”Rent the smallest car which meets your needs – you’ll thank me when you are navigating Sicily’s notoriously narrow lanes!” username=”@globetrottergp”]
Remember it’s almost always cheaper to pick up and drop off at the same airport. There are, however, exceptions. I once managed to get an absolutely awesome deal on a campervan in New Zealand. Someone had rented it from north island and dropped it off on the South Island. It needed taking back home so we offered to do just that and got it super cheap! It’s always worth asking!
And really it goes without saying, make sure you shop about for the best deal as they can vary hugely!
Depending on which country you are visiting from, you may need an international driving license so check first. Check out E-ITA for international drivers licenses for Italy.
Italian Road Tolls in Sicily
There are road tolls everywhere in Sicily, especially in the North. You pick up a ticket at the first toll booth then pay for it at the next booth. I had a little panic when I came across my first one just outside of the airport not having yet been to a cashpoint! Fortunately, this one had a manned booth and accepted card payment! Phew! However, not all do so I suggest you head to a cash point at the airport before you pick up the car!
On another occasion, I was charged over €9 and only had €5 left in my purse. Don’t panic if this happens to you. There is a button to press for assistance. The person at the other end clearly didn’t speak English but after 5 minutes of speaking Italian at me and me not understanding a word, he eventually gave me a new ticket. Again, not understanding Italian I had no idea what to do with this! But I gave it to a guy at another toll booth and he sorted it for me and I was able to pay for both. Fine avoided! Phew!
Driving in Sicily Tip | Carry lots of spare change!
Roadworks in Sicily
Whilst driving in Sicily, you will notice there are roadworks EVERYWHERE! However, there never seems to be anyone working on the roads or even evidence that any work has been started! Just a lot of cones prohibiting you to drive normally! I’m sure they do it to frustrate the tourists!
You will also notice that the road conditions can be poor with a lot of potholes. So take your time and don’t feel that you need to keep up with the crazy local drivers!
Hairpin bends in Sicily
One of the things which makes driving in Sicily so challenging is the hairpin bends! There are a lot of them! The plus side is that this will make your Italy road trip incredibly scenic. It will also make it stressful. Take your time and if you can’t see if there’s oncoming traffic, do like the locals do and honk your horn!
Italian drivers
Probably the most challenging things about an Italy road trip is the Italian drivers! Their driving is like their personalities – firey and passionate! They will gesticulate a lot, drive right up to your car to push you along, overtake even when there is oncoming traffic and they NEVER stick to the speed limits!
The good news is that you do get used to it after you have been driving in Sicily or Italy for a while. You also learn to expect the unexpected and adapt your own driving accordingly! Especially at roundabouts!
Driving on the right
So many UK travellers tell me this is what worries them most about taking an Italy road trip or a road trip anywhere where they drive on the right!
I won’t deny, it feels weird at first. The number of times I walk to the passenger’s door by mistake!! But you do get used to it very quickly!
Roundabouts can be the most challenging part but even then, it doesn’t take long before driving on the right in Italy just feels normal. Just take your time when you first get the car hire especially at junctions!
Car Crime in Sicily
Car crime is high in Sicily. In general, I felt very safe walking about but I never felt entirely safe leaving my car in deserted car parks.
Make sure you don’t leave any valuables in the car. If you absolutely have to (I had to leave my drone in their once when I wasn’t allowed into The Valley of The Temples with it) hide your valuables somewhere that isn’t instantly obvious. I put mine under the car seat.
Also, park your car somewhere as public as possible. It will also help if it doesn’t look like you’ve come straight from the airport in a super clean shiny hire car – likely with a load of luggage in the boot! So a few empty drinks bottles on the passenger’s seat will do nicely! A local newspaper written in Italian, even better…
Check out this list of the best anti theft travel bags
Choose your Accommodation wisely.
Always check in advance if your hotel has secure parking. I use booking.com and I select a car park as a filter option. However, I would also ring ahead and double check.
I got stung here when one guest house I stayed at made me park in a public car park. Apparently, they had a car park once. 3 years ago. Not very useful to me! When I went to park the car, I had a group of shady characters loitering around – one even tried to brazenly look inside my car boot! Not only that, but the route back to my hotel was through dark alleys and had I known in advance, I would not have stayed there – nice as the guest house was!
Parking in Sicily
In general, the rules are:
Yellow spaces – residents only
Blue spaces – paid parking – sometime will need to get a ticket at a local shop or via an app on your phone.
White spaces – free parking – being a cheapskate, these are what I stuck too!
I used TripAdvisor forums a lot to find recommended parking areas. There is also a great ‘nearby’ feature on google maps which will show you where the closest parking to your location is!
Despite the difficulties associated with driving in Sicily, Italy, I would definitely still recommend an Italy Road trip! You get to see so much more and experience it all at your own pace! So follow these rules and you should be just fine!
via GIPHY
A Packing List for A Sicily Roadtrip
Here’s a few Sicily essentials that you shouldn’t leave home without!
- A phone holder for your hire car. Ditch the expensive GPS hire, download maps.me on your phone for offline GPS maps and take a phone holder to mount your phone (aka new satnav) to the air vent or window screen. This one allows you to do both.
- Packing cubes. You’ll be living out of your suitcase or backpack on a road trip so make life easier and get some packing cubes. This revolutionised my packing. These ones are great as they have a shoe bag and laundry bag included as well as various size cubes for all your clothes.
- A paper map. Whilst Maps.me is great, there are times when you need a good old fashioned paper map like this one, for example, if your phone runs out of battery.
- A kindle. It’s always great to have a good book to read in the evenings or over dinner, especially if you are travelling alone like I was. Save on space by getting a Kindle. The new kindles which you can see here are also waterproof so perfect for taking to the beach.
- A quick dry towel. You’ll no doubt be lured by the perfect azure water more than once as you drive along the coast. Make sure you take a travel towel which is light-weight, sand-free, antibacterial and quick drying like these fun colourful ones from Dock and Bay.
- Sun cream – and lots of it!
- Comfy Sandals. You’ll be doing lots of walking on this Sicily itinerary so make sure you have comfy footwear. Did you know UGGS makes sandals now? And they’re just as comfy as their fleece-lined boot-cousins! Check out how pretty they are here...
- A good camera. This is a seriously photogenic island, you’ll want a decent camera to do it justice. For beginner photographers, I’d recommend the Nikon D5600 which is what I started on. Alternatively, if you want a lighter camera then the Sony A600 would be a good camera to start with. I’ve recently upgraded to this one and so far I’m in love…
- 2 or more swimsuits. You will be swimming a lot, be it in hotel swimming pools or in the ocean. So pack at least 2 swimsuits. I love these ones, they are so pretty…
So now all that remains is to plan your Sicily Road Trip Itinerary. Luckily I have that covered and am working on that article right now! Check back in a few days to read it!
In the meantime, here are a few other posts you may be interested in:
5 Awesome Road tips in Italy and tips to make it happen
Trapani to Favignana – a day trip to Sicily’s own Caribbean.
10 day Sicily Itinerary
5 of the Best Restaurants in Taormina to Tantalise your taste buds!
A 5 day Tuscany road trip Itinerary
My Ultimate Europe Bucket List – for more travel inspiration!
My Iceland road trip guide – for another amazing road trip packed with beautiful scenery!
As always, I love to hear about your own ideas and experiences and of course, I’d really appreciate if you can share this article on Pinterest or social media to help spread the word about driving in Sicily!
