Chapter 3

30 July (Cosenza to Palazzolo Acreide - Siracusa Province, Sicily)

ROAD Cosenza – Lamezia Terma – Villa San Giovanni
Ferry from Villa San Giovanni (Reggio Calabria Province) to Messina (Sicily)
Messina – Catania – Sircausa on the freeway
Siracusa – Palazzolo Acreide on normal road

DISTANCE
395 Kms (245 Miles)

FREEWAY COSTS
Cosenza – Villa San Giovanni free
Messina – Catania Euro 3.50

The road from Cosenza to Villa San Giovanni just got worse and worse. The pot holes, bridges suspended from hills, single lane traffic with trucks and buses travelling at high speed made for a very eventful journey. My wife wanted to rest but could not relax enough to do it, although she had to just shut her eyes at times as she says she could not bare to watch.

Finally we reached Villa San Giovanni where we could take the ferry from Italy to Messina in Sicily. This is only a short 20 minute trip and tickets are not purchased online, we were told that they could only be bought on arrival at the port, so we proceeded to enter the queue for the ferry and to see how it all worked. We followed all the signs for Caronte and Tourist as this seemed to be the most widely talked about company and also is private and not state run. Once in the queue we watched what others were doing and realised that there is no ticket counter where you buy the tickets whilst in your car, but that you have to get out and go to the ticket counter, however, there is no place to stop the car. This is where having a passenger is handy! I continued to drive and my wife ran to the ticket counter and purchased the tickets.

They cost 33 Euros for the return tickets (you only pay for the car and not the passengers). Once we had the tickets, we continued in the queue. As fast as one ferry leaves, the next is arriving, so boarding the ferry does not take long. In Italy time is money and cars are boarded on the ferry and it leaves as quickly as possible. The ramp is lowered and lifted for the cars before the ferry is stationary, so that the minute it stops, cars can disembark!! It is not a requirement to leave your car and go to the decks when you take the ferry.  We did find out at the end of the trip that tickets for these ferries can be purchased at all petrol stations within about 100km before the ferry docks. We cannot confirm this as we did not see or use this option, but apparently it can be done and would certainly make it a little less stressful.

Once we left the ferry, we travelled through Messina which is a busy city in Sicily. We made our own way onto the freeway to get o Palazzolo Acreide which is where we had arranged our accommodation. The quality of freeways is good in Sicily. The freeway finished in Catania and from there we had to make our own way to Siracusa in order to reach Palazzolo Acreide.

The road was single lane for most of the way. At certain point, the Sat Nav instructed us to turn off to reach Palazzolo Acreide and from this point, we had difficulty with the road, as we found ourselves on a very small mountain road which was of very poor quality. After a while on the road we waved down a local person travelling on the road by car and he told us it was not a good road to be on, and to rather turn back. He then allowed us to follow him to the main road again and assisted with directions. We turned back to Siracusa and made our own way to Palazzolo Acreide. One thing we learnt quickly in Sicily, is to follow the road signs or maps rather than the Sat Nav, in ALL cases.

Palazzolo Acreide is a lovely place. It is quieter than the tourist spots and suited us well. We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Colle Acre. This is a family run 4 Star Hotel with a personal touch. The owners daughter speaks good English and took great pride in sharing her knowledge of local tourist spots and how to reach them. We would definitely return to the same hotel.

From there we visited the Amphitheatre in Palazzolo Accreide (you only need to pay for adults who are entering and children are free). The amphitheatre is open and not enclosed, thereby allows you to really experience the place.

The next day, we travelled to the bottom of Sicily and stopped at the Isola delle Correnti. This is almost the same latitude as Tunisia, which is very nearby. We spent a couple of hours at the beach there. This is a lovely beach, mostly visited by locals. The sea is warm, clear and very clean, with a soft sandy beach. On the way to Isola delle Correnti, we passed through Noto and Pachino. Noto is famous for its Baroque buildings and certainly is a pretty town which is well worth seeing. Pachino is one of the last villages before reaching the bottom of Italy and has much Arabic influence. It looks like it could have been lifted out of North Africa and put in Sicily. Again – well worth passing through.

After stopping at Isola delle Correnti, we drove up to Siracusa via Portopalo di Capo Passero. Because we had so much to see in one day, we did not have much time in Siracusa. It is a large town split into two (old and new) with a bridge separating the two. We would love to have had more time there, especially to see more of Ortigia (the old town), which has a lovely castle (fortress) at the end which faces the sea.

Ferry from Villa San Giovanni to Messina (Sicily)

Ticket Counter

Hotel Colle Acre

Noto

The southern point of Italy

A Road from Isola delle Correnti to Portopalo di Capopassero (Sicily)