Sicily

Hello, I am going to travel in Sicily by car and caravan.Tell me about your
expierience in Sicily ,especialy -campings etc.
Margaret from Poland

I currently live in Sicily but I can't add much on camping. I do know that
I do see campers driving the roads. I'm sure I've seen many camping sites
but I only recall two specifically...one in Acireale and one by the beach
just north of Taormina.

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.

If you have specific questions, that would make it easier to assist. My
personal favorite places in Sicily are:

Agrigento - valley of the temples situated along the southern coast. A row
of ancient ruins.
Taormina - probably the most resort area on the island, located in the north
east. Quaint little walking street with many shops, bars and restaurants.
Also has an incredible Greek theatre.
Erice - quaint town located on a hill in western Sicily. Awesome views,
nice castle.
Avola - the "grand canyon" in Avola is breathtaking. A long descent into
the bottom will take you to a lake incredible for swimming...but it's a
long hike back up to the top. Of all the Sicily books I've read before
moving hear, I read nothing of this much to my surprise.
Ortigia - small semi-island barely attached to Siracusa.

Hope you have fun!
Brian


"Ma³gorzata S³awiñska" <terapia@terapia.lodz.pl> wrote in message
news:cb1ovt$nqf$1@atlantis.news.tpi.pl...
> Hello, I am going to travel in Sicily by car and caravan.Tell me about
your
> expierience in Sicily ,especialy -campings etc.
> Margaret from Poland
>
>

In news:Xns951DBCE37161Canonrandomsequenceof@216.196. 97.136,
Mister Max <RemoveDoubles@bbuuten.net> typed:

> "Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> posted:
>
>> There are some towns (Erice, for example) where the roads are
>> very old, and therefore extremely narrow.
>>
>> But outside of such old towns, I never had a problem with the
>> roads. And such towns are small enough that you can just park
at
>> their edge and walk everywhere. Although driving through them
is
>> difficult, it normally isn't necessary.
>>
>> More of a problem than the roads is the traffic problem in the
>> cities.
>>
> I am an American. At home I drive a biggish car; I'm aware of
its
> size. In Sicily I drove an average sized (for Sicily) or small
(for
> the US) Tempo. In Sicily there are many fine Autostrade on
which you
> can get around very quickly. OTOH, there are little towns like
Erice
> with impossibly narrow roads - our hotel took our car and
parked it
> just outside of town. In Taormina we had to circle the town
twice to
> find our hotel.


And that can be hard to do because of the one-way streets.


> In Siracusa there was a "manifestatione" that caused
> a traffic jam coming in. And in Palermo, the road system is
chaotic
> and parking is impossible.


Parking is impossible in well-nigh every large city in Italy.
There's nothing special about Sicily in that regard.



> In other towns driving wasn't a problem,
> and between towns it was a pleasure.


My point exactly.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

In news:5c45ef96.0407130555.4c153e67@c om,
Alessandro Riolo <alessandro.riolo@sen.it> typed:
> "Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:<10ejfmehnpg1d06@corp.supernews.com>...
>
>> 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

"Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message news:<10f7vqt5f0dc5c6@corp.supernews.com>...
> In news:5c45ef96.0407130555.4c153e67@c om,
> Alessandro Riolo <alessandro.riolo@sen.it> typed:
> > "Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> > news:<10ejfmehnpg1d06@corp.supernews.com>...
> >
> >> 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. Same in Taormina, and June
04 in Pisa, Siena
San Gimignano, Montepulciano etc. and the French hill towns earlier.

I am 72 years old and my wife has some discomfort from diabetic
neuropathy,
so we had to go slow but made it fine by walking.

I guess the younger generation is conditioned to having been driven
around
in SUVs or station wagons.

In news:1f8593bc.0407140138.68ea8a99@c om,
PJ O'Donovan <Xentinc@> typed:
> "Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:<10f7vqt5f0dc5c6@corp.supernews.com>...
>> In news:5c45ef96.0407130555.4c153e67@c om,
>> Alessandro Riolo <alessandro.riolo@sen.it> typed:
>> > "Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in
message
>> > news:<10ejfmehnpg1d06@corp.supernews.com>...
>> >
>> >> 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