r/sicily

I feel the need to create another warning for all tourists that may be as unaware as we were. Apparently, in Sicily, cars rented for tourists are targeted by criminal groups that steal stuff from rented cars, especially Fiat Pandas, which are easy to open for them without any visible damage.

Unfortunately, we didn't know this, and we parked near a beach, left our backpacks with all of our stuff in the locked car. We came back from the beach, and our stuff was just gone. Anything you can do is to report it to the police, but you will not see your stuff anymore. Now we are really fucked without all of our passports and electronics, and we are not even insured for it, so please do not make the same mistake as us.

Actually, do not leave anything in any car ever. We actually came back the second day to try to search for our stuff because they sometimes throw out the backpacks without the valuables inside, but we didn't find anything. You can find a lot of empty bags thrown outside near the road. Also, our AirPods were stolen, and we could monitor their location. A day later, they are already in Senegal. Together with our digital camera, iPad, two AirPods, and three passports and all our belongings. Since we could see the robbers were already in Catania when we came from the beach, we showed it to the police and they didn't do anything. I wouldn't necessarily expect the police to help you in a case like this. Please be careful.

Edit: for all the clever people writing here, we should never ever leave anything in our cars. There is a question: what the fuck are you supposed to do when you are doing a road trip? Maybe you have a camper van and you just have to leave your stuff in the car? Let's say you have your passports and cameras constantly with you, but you still might get robbed of all of your clothes and other stuff because here the thieves have no boundaries.

Another edit: read the reviews of the places where you are going or planning to park. We didn't do that, and after we noticed that the place where we park on Google Maps has at least one review that describes exactly what happened to us. The beach that we went to (Marianelli) has many of these reviews, so always check the reviews, unfortunately. All the stuff was also hidden in the trunk, and it was pretty much in the middle of a nature reserve, so we really did not expect this to happen, but it did.

Most posts in here recommend Taormina but warn there are tourists, while saying to stay away from places like Catania… what a joke. Probably over 80% of the people in Taormina are international tourists, nearly every shop geared towards them. It’s pretty but not nearly worth it unless you are specifically looking for a Disneyified experience. At least Catania has real people that live there.

Edit: It is a bit nicer at night when the cruise people have left, but my point still stands imo.

Edit x2: Yes, it has been a popular destination for awhile but the people I have spoken to in Taormina say the massive crowd influx specifically started after it was featured in White Lotus…

Hi everyone,

I am a new driver and I drive confidently in Germany but in the city and outside the city. We are planning a summer vacation in July for Palermo and Catania and I can not be sure if I can drive there. I generally have some parking issues but I am okay in Germany because rule is rule here. Do you recommend me to drive car in those cities or do I get really stressed with the chaos?

Ciao a tutti!

Quante volte vi è capitato, in viaggio, di scegliere un posto dove mangiare con recensioni altissime, trovandovi poi nel classico locale "acchiappa-turisti" a mangiare male e pagare il triplo?

Stiamo facendo una piccola ricerca proprio su questo: come scegliamo davvero dove andare a mangiare e quanto ci fidiamo di quello che leggiamo online. Ci interessa un punto che spesso viene sottovalutato: perché i gusti di chi vive in una città (i "local") sono così diversi da quelli di chi ci passa solo per un weekend?

Se avete due minuti, ci dareste una mano enorme compilando e condividendo questo brevissimo questionario:

https://forms.gle/AJsFbd9KWQ2mGpZ68

Due info veloci:

- Il sondaggio è anonimo e si finisce in meno di 5 minuti.

- Non servono dati sensibili: la mail è opzionale solo se volete ricevere una mail a ricerca conclusa.

Grazie a tutte le persone che decideranno di collaborare!

We are looking for some suggestions on where to stay in Sicily, and things to do. We are husband and wife traveling for the first time without our toddler. We will be flying in from Rome after staying there for two nights and will be in Sicily for 4 nights. We are looking for a mix of beaches, hikes, a nice dinner, local life, moderate affordability. We are torn between staying in Palermo, Cefalu and Taormina. Any suggestions would be very helpful 🙏

Hey Everyone,

I will jump right to the point, I am planning a 30-40 day stay in Sicily around Nov - Jan (no fixed date yet).

I need suggestions on which locality can be a good base for me.

Context -

- We will rent a Car (I got IDP)

- We are in a WFH situation where we have full days from Friday to Sunday available to explore the coastline and all known places.

- We LOVE cooking so we plan to cook most of our meals at home via grocery shopping, mainly weekdays , and have brunch out + weekend more often dining out.

- We really don't mind exploring slowly and walking loads (so maybe park away from the prime location we might be visiting on weekends in a safe space and walk the area)

I do have some places shortlisted at Catania. But there might be more places. Tried the AI route for recs and it hallucinated most of the time.

If you guys have different recommendations please let me know !

Please ask any questions if it feels like I missed adding some more context.

Cheers and thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

Currently planning a 17 day trip to Sicily for my honeymoon and I currently have 5 days carved out for the Islands but upon further research, I'm starting to think that it may be worth just using those days to fully explore the mainland as my partner doesn't like to hike. Is there enough to do/see on the islands, and is it a must see?

Thank you!

We unfortunatly had pretty bad Carbonara in Palermo on our first day here (very very oily, didn‘t taste like much)..
Tomorrow is our last evening here and we‘d really love to have one truly great carbonara before we leave.
Thank you for any restaurant recommondations :)

Hey all. I’m an African-African male (33) from the United States. I’ve wanted to move to Italy for years, perhaps even to settle down, specifically to an area in Tuscany or Sicily. As for why, there are several reasons, some deeper than others: my last name has Italian roots, my lifelong fascination with Rome, my love of Renaissance art, my appreciation of their perspective on family and honor. So far as Sicily specifically, I feel like I relate to their being between multiple worlds.

I really just want to know what I would need to expect. To be clear, I know appearance has a lot to do with how we’re (AA) perceived in general and while fully American (post-1780), I actually have been told I have strong African features, which I assume will be a negative based on comments I’ve read. However, I also dress well, am well-mannered and speak articulately, so I assume that will help.

Really would like honest and raw/unfiltered feedback on this, as it’s something I’m seriously considering!

Sto pianificando il mio terzo viaggio in Sicilia e ho il dubbio se includere o no le Isole Eolie. Voi che siete del posto, o che le conoscete bene, cosa mi consigliate?

Update: I have found this bus route. Can anyone confirm they have got on this bus from Palermo Politeama bus stop? I have sent them an email.
https://www.tarantolacuffaro.it/public/142.pdf

I'm finding it difficult to interpret the website.
https://www.tarantolacuffaro.it/it/index.asp

Original Message: 4 of us visiting Palermo and Mondello in September 2026. I would like to visit the temple and theatre at Segesta. Can anyone recommend the best way to get there? Either from Cattedrale di Palermo or from Piazza Mondello. Bus, Coach, Tour, Taxi, Hire Car? We do not want a whole day visiting erice or anywhere else, just Segesta. Thank you.

Hi friends!

I'm going to Sicily for a week, arriving about 7 days ahead of a wedding near Palermo in early August this year. Wedding festivities begin / family gets in to Palermo about 3 days before the wedding and planning day trips and such 2 of those days (Cefalu and Mondello). We'll be staying in Palermo City. This leaves us with about 4 days (excluding travel time) to explore and plan ahead of the wedding.

Our question is, do we head straight to the West side of the island and explore there the 4 days before we head to Palermo, or do we start on the Eastern side of the island and explore that area first instead?

We like to hike, sight-see, and relax. Strong preference towards activities rooted in nature (beach, ocean, mountain, farmland etc). I also have my scuba cert and would be interested in that. Knowing we have to go to Palermo halfway through the trip, what is transport from one side to the other? Better to rent a car or just take public transit/taxis? Honestly any input is wonderful! TIA!

Hi everyone,

I’m coming to Palermo next fall for my master’s studies, and I wanted to ask about the job market for international students in Palermo and nearby cities.

I keep hearing that it is very difficult to find work specially if you do not speak Italian well, and I wanted to hear from people who actually live there or have studied there. How realistic is it to find part-time work while studying, especially for someone who is not fluent in Italian yet?

I would really appreciate any honest advice about:

• Part-time job opportunities for international students
• Whether English is enough for any jobs
• How important Italian is in daily life and work
• Job prospects in Palermo compared to nearby cities

Thanks in advance for any advice or personal experience.

Hello I hope you're all well. I am going to be driving from England to Malta and I'm just checking that I'm correct in thinking, when using the ferry crossing from Villa San Giovanni to Messina I don't need to book it in advance and I can just turn up and wait for the next ferry. Thank you.

Hi guys,

My friends and I will be going to sicily in a few weeks time, we will be going for around 8/9 nights and want to know which places we need to tick off the Sicily Bucket List.

We will be going around pretty much the whole island more or less, but we will be based primarily in Palermo and then Catania.

Obviously we are gonna do Etna, go cliff jumping in the north of the island, go to Syracuse, visit old towns of both Palermo and Catania etc etc, but which towns and beaches and villages are exceptionally noteworthy and worth visiting ?

P.s. Also I'd be grateful if anyone told me where the best nightlife is as well, where is dangerous and where the best places to go out in the evenings are as well. Thanks 😄

I would love to visit Sicily, we are a family w 2 teenagers. Our holidays start August 16th. Is it really too hot and crowded then to visit a few cities like Catania? (Siracusa, Ragusa, Taormina) I was thinking 3 or 4 beach days and maybe late afternoon evenings in each city? Help?! Thanks everyone ☺️

Hello. Is it possible to do a day trip from palermo to favignana as a day trip without a car? I checked rometorio and results are not coming up. I would appreciate any tips and advice. We have 5 days in palermo and already planned a whole day for Cefalu. Any other day trips we can do without a car? We want beaches and coves mainly. 😄

The Infiorata di Noto is one of those things that sounds made up until you see it.

Once a year, the maestri infioratori – a guild of local floral artists – spend an entire night on their hands and knees on Via Nicolaci, a Baroque street in Noto, composing enormous picture-perfect artworks entirely from flower petals, seeds, and leaves. Each square metre requires thousands of individual petals, placed by hand. By dawn, the whole street is a carpet. By Tuesday, it's gone.

This year is the 47th edition, and the theme is "Pop Culture Tells Its Story" – so the compositions will feature the likes of Andy Warhol, Freddie Mercury, Marilyn Monroe, and The Beatles. Made of flowers. On a UNESCO-listed street. In Sicily.

The main event is 15–19 May, but the programme actually runs from late April to 28 June! Admission is €5. The bell tower of San Carlo Church next to Via Nicolaci gives you a bird's eye view after 85 steps – worth every one of them.

A floral masterpice made by students for last years ScuoleInFiore

Bonus: the season ends on 28 June with the Frecce Tricolori – Italy's aerobatic display team – doing a full air show over Lido di Noto. It's their only Sicilian stop of the year.

Happy to answer questions if you're planning to go!

You can read the full programme in English on my site:

https://www.casabandello.it/en/guide/47th-infiorata-di-noto-a-floral-carpet-in-the-heart-of-baroque-sicily