Touring on Sicily?

[steveindenmark]

Does anyone hav any experience touring on Sicily.

Jannie and I no strangers to cycling but have never toured on cycles. We intend to go to Sicily in late April with our lightly loaded road bikes and stay in hostels, hotels etc, so there will be no heavy camping gear.

Has anyone been to Sicily and have they any suggestions?

Steve

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I have to say that I didn't find Sicily great for cycle touring. It was very hot, mountainous and the driving scared the hell out of me. Having said that, the island is very beautiful and the locals friendly. I think it could be a good place to go, but it wasn't for me. I much preferred Greece.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I've not cycled there, but yes, the standard of driving is ... 'interesting'.

 

[BrumJim]

If you do, go to Stromboli, and get a guided tour up the volcano. An experience that you will never forget.

 

[lulubel]

It was very hot

It won't be very hot in April.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

If you can, cycle up Etna. My biggest regret is that as I was with my kids, I had to take the car up. The climb looked fantastic!

 

[xilios]

We weren't very impresed with Sicily. Friendly locals but a lot of roadside garbage and dead animals, especialy near large towns. They definately don't care about the place they live in. Traffic is ok compared to the rest of Italy.
Driving around the island would probably be beter.

 

[StuartG]

Driving around the island would probably be beter.

Sailing around it would be even better ...

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Sailing around it would be even better ...

This is what the rest of my family did, while I tried cycling. I totally agree. Sailing around Sicily is a great way to see the island - but it's VERY expensive! Consider only if you have deep pockets!

 

[steveindenmark]

I am a sailmaker and sailing round it sounds like a bit of a bus mans holiday

So Sicily is off the table.

Somewhere warm and sunny at the end of April, that is worth having a pedal round. Any suggestions?

Steve

 

[ColinJ]

Somewhere warm and sunny at the end of April, that is worth having a pedal round. Any suggestions?

The Costa Blanca? The weather was usually good (sunny, 16-25 C) in mid-March when I used to go, so it should be really nice at the end of April. There are some good climbs a few kms inland such as the Coll de Rates and Puerto de Tudons. Try asking User for detailed advice.

Otherwise .. Tenerife? There is a good article on cycling there in the current edition of Cycling Weekly and the Tenerife-training website is worth a look.

 

[Alun]

Somewhere warm and sunny at the end of April, that is worth having a pedal round. Any suggestions? Steve

I'm going with a mate to Puerto Pollensa, Majorca at the end of April, hiring a couple of bikes. I've got some routes sorted.

 

[xilios]

You can check out Crete. We did that last June and had a great time. We flew with Ryanair into Hania took a cab to a (prebooked) hotel near the bus station, checked out the town in the evening and the next morning the local bus to Paleochora (southwestern corner) for some hiking this time. We didn't book a room ahead we just got off the bus and asked around, many bargains to be found there even in June. There are also many places to hire a bicycle.
And this time of year you won't get too worm with all the hills.

 

[lulubel]

It's nice here

If you want to get plenty of climbing in, Ronda's a good place to start from/base yourself.

 

[smith4188]

Does anyone hav any experience touring on Sicily.
Has anyone been to Sicily and have they any suggestions?

You only seem to have received negative comments about Sicily. I had an entirely different experience towards the end of June last year. I cycled from Messina (the city the ferry arrives at from the Italian mainland) down the east coast to Pozzallo on the south coast on the way to Malta and then back via more or less the same route. I had no trouble with the driving (the UK still has the worst driving in Europe, at least for cyclists), the roads weren't too busy (despite what I'd been led to believe) and there was some truly gorgeous coastline. I enjoyed it.

Cheers,
Steven