Transport - Sicily - page 642

Bus

Buses are generally the best way of getting around Sicily. They tend to be faster and more convenient than trains, if a
little more expensive, and have the added advantage of dropping you off in town centres (many Sicilian train stations are
situated a kilometre or so outside the town they serve). Buses serve just about everywhere on the island, although in rur-
al areas services are often linked to school hours and market opening times, which can mean leaving incredibly early or
finding yourself stranded after 2pm. Also watch out for Sundays when services are cut to the bone.
In larger cities, the main intercity bus companies have ticket offices or operate through agencies. In smaller towns and
villages, bus tickets are often sold in bars or on the bus.

Sicily's four main bus companies - AST ( 840 000323; www.aziendasicilianatrasporti.it ) , Interbus ( 093 52

24 60; www.interbus.it ) , SAIS Autolinee ( 800 211020; www.saisautolinee.it ) and SAIS Trasporti
( www.saistrasporti.it ) - cover most island destinations as well as cities on the Italian mainland. Although it is not usu-
ally necessary to make reservations on buses, it's best to do so in the high season for overnight or long-haul trips.

Car & Motorcycle

There's no escaping the fact that a car makes getting around Sicily much easier. That said, driving on the island is not
exactly stress free, particularly in the big cities where traffic congestion, one-way systems and impossible parking can
stretch nerves to the limit. But once on the open road, things calm down considerably and the going is generally pretty
good.
Roads vary in quality. Some, like the main autostradas (motorways), are good, but small rural roads can be dodgy, es-
pecially after heavy rain when axle-breaking potholes appear and landslides lead to road closures.
Sicily has a limited network of motorways, which you'll see prefixed by an A on maps and signs on the island. The
main east-west link is the A19, which runs from Catania to Palermo. The A18 runs along the Ionian Coast between
Messina and Catania, while the A29 goes from Palermo to the western coast, linking the capital with Trapani and
(through the western interior) Mazara del Vallo. The A20 runs from Palermo to Messina. Both the A18 and A20 are toll
roads.
After autostrade, the best roads are the strade statali (state roads), represented on maps as 'S' or 'SS'. Strade provin-
ciali (provincial roads) are sometimes little more than country lanes, but provide access to some of the more beautiful
scenery and the small towns and villages. They are represented as 'P' or 'SP' on maps.

ROAD SIGNS

Most Sicilian road signs are pretty self-explanatory, although it does help to know that uscita means exit and that
town centres are indicated by the word centro and a symbol resembling a circular target. Autostrada signs are in
green, main roads in blue, and tourist attractions such as archaeological sites (often referred to as scavi, meaning
ruins) are in brown or yellow.
One recurring problem is that of the disappearing sign. The big towns are well signposted but off the main
roads the situation is not always so clear cut. A typical scenario is that you're heading for a small town X, and
spot a sign off to the left; you follow it only to discover that it's the last sign you'll ever see for X. In these situ-
ations you'll have to resort to trial and error or satnav.