Q: When to Visit Sicily?

The best time to visit Sicily is from late May - late September when the weather is nice and warm, perfect for exploring the beautiful outdoors of Sicily. Despite Sicily not getting as many tourists as Italy's mainland, it can still get extremely crowded in popular places like Palermo and Valley of the Temples and so if you wish to avoid that, be sure to stick to the shoulder seasons around May or September. Winter is not recommended since many restaurants and hotels in remote regions of Sicily are often closed for the season except for a few guest houses and bed and breakfasts, so for this itinerary, I highly recommend you stick to the recommended period.

Q: How to Get to Sicily?

From the US , there are no direct flights to Palermo but you can easily fly into Rome via JFK, Miami, and LA offered by ITA Airways, and from there, you can catch a low-cost flight operated by Ryanair or Alitalia. The entire journey should take around 13 hours with the trip from the US to Rome taking about 12 hours and from Rome to Palermo taking about 1 hour. You can browse through great direct flights from here . From Europe , you should be able to easily fly directly to Palermo from most major cities like London, Berlin, or Barcelona via Ryanair or any other major airlines at a very affordable price. From Asia , there are also many direct flights to Rome operated by local carriers from cities like Singapore, Seoul, or Tokyo or you can go with connecting flights which are often a bit cheaper. There are many flights from Asia that connect via middle east countries like Emirates via Dubai or Etihad via Abu Dhabi. The journey should take approximately 12 hours direct. From Rome, you can then catch a flight to Palermo in about 1 hour via airlines like Ryanair, etc. To find a cheap flight to Sicily, I would recommend you use Skyscanner or Expedia to look for the cheapest route and schedule so you can compare and pick the best one.

Question 1

When to Visit Sicily?

Accepted Answer

The best time to visit Sicily is from late May - late September when the weather is nice and warm, perfect for exploring the beautiful outdoors of Sicily.

Despite Sicily not getting as many tourists as Italy's mainland, it can still get extremely crowded in popular places like Palermo and Valley of the Temples and so if you wish to avoid that, be sure to stick to the shoulder seasons around May or September.

Winter is not recommended since many restaurants and hotels in remote regions of Sicily are often closed for the season except for a few guest houses and bed and breakfasts, so for this itinerary, I highly recommend you stick to the recommended period.

Question 2

How to Get to Sicily?

Accepted Answer

From the US, there are no direct flights to Palermo but you can easily fly into Rome via JFK, Miami, and LA offered by ITA Airways, and from there, you can catch a low-cost flight operated by Ryanair or Alitalia. The entire journey should take around 13 hours with the trip from the US to Rome taking about 12 hours and from Rome to Palermo taking about 1 hour. You can browse through great direct flights from here.

From Europe, you should be able to easily fly directly to Palermo from most major cities like London, Berlin, or Barcelona via Ryanair or any other major airlines at a very affordable price.

From Asia, there are also many direct flights to Rome operated by local carriers from cities like Singapore, Seoul, or Tokyo or you can go with connecting flights which are often a bit cheaper. There are many flights from Asia that connect via middle east countries like Emirates via Dubai or Etihad via Abu Dhabi. The journey should take approximately 12 hours direct. From Rome, you can then catch a flight to Palermo in about 1 hour via airlines like Ryanair, etc.

To find a cheap flight to Sicily, I would recommend you use Skyscanner or Expedia to look for the cheapest route and schedule so you can compare and pick the best one.

Question 3

How to Get Around Sicily?

Accepted Answer

Sicily, like the rest of Italy, is very well-connected by trains and buses and these are the 2 modes of transportation you will be relying on most for this itinerary.

By trains: The trains here are quite ok with a reliable enough schedule with a chance of 5 - 10 minutes delay and excellent coverage. They are operated by Trenitalia and you will be using them when you travel from one city to another.

Due to how short the transit time is sometimes, and how trains here have the tendency to be delayed, always give at least 20 minutes of transit time if you can. You can book a train ticket online beforehand which is extremely convenient.

By Bus: Buses are also a great way to get around Sicily, especially in a direction from West to East and vice versa. The bus schedules in most places in Sicily are often available online and you should be able to easily reserve seats online without having to be at the bus station beforehand. This and Flixbus are my preferred modes of transportation when I want to move around quickly and directly.

By Rental Cars: You can also rent a car straight from the airport in Palermo and drive around Sicily but for this itinerary, you won't need it. If you insist, keep in mind that the traffic in cities like Palermo and Catania can get extremely jammed during peak hours and parking lots can be a challenge to find at times. To Rent a car, hit the link below:

Rent a Car in Sicily

Question 4

How Much Money Do I Need for one week in Sicily?

Accepted Answer

From this one-week itinerary, we can calculate approximately how much money you will be spending here as follows:

Accommodation: For 9 nights in Italy, you can expect to pay around 192 EUR for accommodation minimum considering you are staying in hostels.

Food: For 8 days, 3 meals a day in Sicily, you can expect to pay around 192 EUR for food considering you eat out every meal. It will be cheaper if you cook it yourself.

Transportation: For this itinerary, you can expect to pay approximately 70 EUR for transportation from city to city, usually on trains or buses while most of the places we are visiting can be explored for free on foot.

Activities: Depending on how much you want to follow my itinerary you can expect to pay approximately 50 EUR for activities like museums, entrance fees to attractions, and more.

Total Budget for 8 days in Sicily: 504 EUR

Question 5

Is it Safe in Italy?

Accepted Answer

In most places outside of big cities in Sicily, it's pretty safe but when it comes to cities like Palermo and Catania or any other big cities in Europe for that matter, it's best to always exercise precautions by not leaving your belongings unattended and always, ALWAYS keep an eye out on your belongings at all times.

Keep your hands in your pockets when entering or exiting crowded places like a metro or a train station and make sure you are holding your phones and wallets tightly.

Other than that, you should be fine traveling around Sicily. I didn't have any problems in Italy when I was there for about a month. Keep your wits with you and you will be fine.

Question 6

Which tourist SIM card is best for Italy?

Accepted Answer

There are 4 major carriers in Italy, TIM, Vodafone, W3m, and Iliad, that offer prepaid sim cards tourists can buy while they are traveling in Italy. Unfortunately, with the rise of esims, having to be in the country to buy a sim card at a store is quite inconvenient and not ideal.

If you have a smartphone that supports esims, I highly recommend you take a look at this esim. They have a variety of data packages, price points, and durations for you to choose from ranging from 1 GB for 7 days costing only 5 USD to 10 GB for 30 days costing 22.5 USD.

The setup is fast and instant and you can buy it prior to your trip so you don't have to scramble your way to get one at the airport after a long flight. The data speed is also equivalent to what you get with a local sim card with 4G speed across the entire country.

Or if you are traveling to Italy as part of a bigger Europe trip, I highly recommend you get the regional Eurolink esim which will give you access to data from over 39 countries across Europe. I have personally used this esim on my 3-months trip around Europe and it has worked wonders.

For more information on esims in Italy, click here: Check Italy's Available eSim.

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