Sicily

In article ,
(Dan Stephenson) wrote:

I wish to visit Sicily some day, by car. I have driven in rual
England, Wales and Scotland, on those single-lane roads bound by
overhanging hedges and/or stone walls. I am used to those. Am I ready
for Sicily?

The roads are generally of a pretty high standard. (There are lots of
very long and spectacular modern viaducts, BTW - anyone know why these,
rather than going up and down the sides of the valleys?)

Traffic in the towns can be bad though it didn't strike me as worse than
the rest of Italy; parking is often a problem.

Vehicle crime is supposedly very common in Palermo and many people advise
paying for secure parking there (or finding a hotel which offers it),
although you needn't worry too much elsewhere (except maybe Catania?).

If driving over the mountains be aware that conditions can be dramatically
worse than at lower altitudes and change very quickly.

In article ,
(Dan Stephenson) wrote:

I wish to visit Sicily some day, by car. I have driven in rual
England, Wales and Scotland, on those single-lane roads bound by
overhanging hedges and/or stone walls. I am used to those. Am I ready
for Sicily?

The roads are generally of a pretty high standard. (There are lots of
very long and spectacular modern viaducts, BTW - anyone know why these,
rather than going up and down the sides of the valleys?)

Traffic in the towns can be bad though it didn't strike me as worse than
the rest of Italy; parking is often a problem.

Vehicle crime is supposedly very common in Palermo and many people advise
paying for secure parking there (or finding a hotel which offers it),
although you needn't worry too much elsewhere (except maybe Catania?).

If driving over the mountains be aware that conditions can be dramatically
worse than at lower altitudes and change very quickly.

I am just back from a week touring around Sicily in a rented car.
I would say first that I was never so glad I had a SMALL car!!!
Like the other posters say, the narrow streets are an education.

Another point - there is a singular lack of traffic lights on Sicily.
Several large, busy cross roads (e.g. three in Barcelona) were pretty scary.
My advice is to avoid eye contact!! :-))

Other piece of advice - if looking for parking in the towns look for the
BLUE painted
markings. This means you pay!! But it's not much and there is some chance
you'll find
some vacant. Otherwise I agree parking is impossible on town streets.

Enjoy

Dee

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...
In article , sbp
wrote:

But other than camping, Sicily is great. If you know every inch of your
vehicle you'll be fine with the narrow roads. And believe me, they are
everywhere and narrow is an understatement. Unfortunately, originally
from
the US, I am used to too much space on the roads so I was never "aware"
of
the size of my car, if that makes sense.

I wish to visit Sicily some day, by car. I have driven in rual
England, Wales and Scotland, on those single-lane roads bound by
overhanging hedges and/or stone walls. I am used to those. Am I ready
for Sicily?

Thanks in advance,

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

I am just back from a week touring around Sicily in a rented car.
I would say first that I was never so glad I had a SMALL car!!!
Like the other posters say, the narrow streets are an education.

Another point - there is a singular lack of traffic lights on Sicily.
Several large, busy cross roads (e.g. three in Barcelona) were pretty scary.
My advice is to avoid eye contact!! :-))

Other piece of advice - if looking for parking in the towns look for the
BLUE painted
markings. This means you pay!! But it's not much and there is some chance
you'll find
some vacant. Otherwise I agree parking is impossible on town streets.

Enjoy

Dee

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...
In article , sbp
wrote:

But other than camping, Sicily is great. If you know every inch of your
vehicle you'll be fine with the narrow roads. And believe me, they are
everywhere and narrow is an understatement. Unfortunately, originally
from
the US, I am used to too much space on the roads so I was never "aware"
of
the size of my car, if that makes sense.

I wish to visit Sicily some day, by car. I have driven in rual
England, Wales and Scotland, on those single-lane roads bound by
overhanging hedges and/or stone walls. I am used to those. Am I ready
for Sicily?

Thanks in advance,

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

In om,
Alessandro Riolo typed:
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...

There are some towns (Erice, for example) where the roads are
very old, and therefore extremely narrow. The first time I
drove
there I came to a T where I had to make a left turn into a
one-way street. It took me the better part of 15 minutes

Being a former Erice's citizen (nowadays Trapani's) I can
assure you
there are some turns who are that hard also for local ones ;-)


Sure. True, I wasn't used to the narrowness of the streets, but
it wasn't just me--the street were very narrow, and anyone would
have had the same problem I did, if their car was the same size
as mine. Some people might have done it faster than I, but I
can't believe it would have been easy for anyone.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

In om,
Alessandro Riolo typed:
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...

There are some towns (Erice, for example) where the roads are
very old, and therefore extremely narrow. The first time I
drove
there I came to a T where I had to make a left turn into a
one-way street. It took me the better part of 15 minutes

Being a former Erice's citizen (nowadays Trapani's) I can
assure you
there are some turns who are that hard also for local ones ;-)


Sure. True, I wasn't used to the narrowness of the streets, but
it wasn't just me--the street were very narrow, and anyone would
have had the same problem I did, if their car was the same size
as mine. Some people might have done it faster than I, but I
can't believe it would have been easy for anyone.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

In article ,
(Alessandro Riolo) wrote:

wrote in message
...

There are lots of very long and spectacular modern viaducts,
BTW - anyone know why these, rather than going up and down
the sides of the valleys?)

Of course, and this reply is valid for all of Italy and most of
European countries: it is to save fuel.

Thanks, that makes perfect sense. (I was fixated on wondering why they
would be easier or cheaper to /build/, and foolishly hadn't thought about
their use!)

In om,
PJ O'Donovan typed:
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In om,
Alessandro Riolo typed:
"Ken Blake" wrote in
message
...

There are some towns (Erice, for example) where the roads
are
very old, and therefore extremely narrow. The first time I
drove
there I came to a T where I had to make a left turn into a
one-way street. It took me the better part of 15 minutes

Being a former Erice's citizen (nowadays Trapani's) I can
assure you
there are some turns who are that hard also for local ones
;-)


Sure. True, I wasn't used to the narrowness of the streets,
but
it wasn't just me--the street were very narrow, and anyone
would
have had the same problem I did, if their car was the same
size
as mine. Some people might have done it faster than I, but I
can't believe it would have been easy for anyone.

Why fight the narrow streets? When I stayed in Erice several
nights in
11/96,
I recall parking the car in a parking lot outside the city
wall, and
walking to the hotel and around the town.


Of course. I did the same when I sayed there for several nights
too. But the first time I drove to Erice, I wasn't aware of how
narrow the streets were, and had the exeprience I related.

Even on that first day, after I finally made my left turn, I
immediately drove straight out of town, parked outside, and
walked back in.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup