Page 132 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

first place to get your bearings and leave your vehicle.

Parking Finding a parking space can be a real problem, though you’ll find somewhere
eventually if you drive around for long enough. Metered parking costs €1 an hour
(maximum 3hr) – either feed the ticket machine or buy a parking scratch card
(biglietto parcheggio) from a nearby shop. In some areas, you will be ushered into a
parking space by an unofficial attendant, who will expect a tip of 50 cents to €1. It’s
much less hassle to use a garage, especially if you have to leave your car in Palermo’s

old quarter overnight: useful ones include L’Oasi Verde (Corso Tukory 207,
southwest of Stazione Centrale), Central Garage (Piazza Giulio Césare 43, in front of
Stazione Centrale), Via Guardione 81 (near Stazione Marittima, behind Via Francesco
Crispi) and Via Sammartino 24 (town centre, off Via Dante). It costs €10–20 per day
to garage-park, usually less when arranged through a hotel.

Leaving the city Take Via Oreto (behind Stazione Centrale) for the Palermo–Messina

(A19) and Palermo–Catania (A20) autostradas; Corso Vittorio Emanuele (westbound)
for Monreale; and Viale della Libertà (northbound) for the airport and Trapani.

Car rental Avis, Via Francesco Crispi 115 ( 091 586 940); Hertz, Via Messina 7/E
( 091 323 439); Maggiore, Stazione Notarbartolo 79 ( 091 681 0801); Sicily By
Car, Via Mariano Stabile 6/A ( 091 581 045). All of these also have desks at the
airport.

BY TAXI

Taxi companies and ranks Palermo’s three taxi companies – Auto Radio Taxi ( 091
513 311, www.autoradiotaxi.it), Radio Taxi Trinacria ( 255 or 091 6878,
radiotaxitrinacria.it) and Sicilia Uno ( 339 408 5713, siciliaunotaxipalermo.com)
– all charge the same rates. The minimum fare is €4.50; if the driver doesn’t want to
switch the meter on, agree a fare you are prepared to pay first – not a bad strategy if

there is more than one taxi driver about, as they may well bid for custom. There are
ranks at the airport, train and bus stations, piazzas Castelnuovo, Verdi and Matteotti
and at Via Roma.

Drivers For a good reliable official taxi driver who charges less than most call Pino
328 374 5341, who will do the airport run for €40, and Stazione Centrale to the port
for €10.

BY HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE OR APE

Taking a horse-drawn carriage, a carrozza, is a suitably kitsch way to see the city, or
you could take a tour on a Piaggio Ape, a three-wheeler pick-up. Both tout for
business alongside Piazza Pretoria, outside the port and by the cathedral, and should
charge around €20 per person for a tour of the city.