Hi, our family of 2 adults and 3 kids want to work out how much would we need to expect to pay for two weeks in sicily. That would include us being able to enjoy beer,wine and gelato of course. Accomadation has a seperate budget.
Thanks for your help.

Hi there,

in order to get more info about Sicily, could you specify what cities are you visiting? Sicily is not too expensive but it all depends on where you are staying anf if you want to buy things in supermarkets or pubs or restaurants.

Let us know and I'll try to help

As you can imagine, people travel to Sicily with budgets that vary greatly.
Without more information from you, this is a difficult question to answer. If you could tell us exactly what costs you're interested in?

Where do you intend to visit? How many places, which places? Do you intend to drive or take public transit?

Note that renting a car in Italy is extremely expensive. With five people and their luggage, I would suggest that you expect to pay at least $150 per day, more if you need an automatic. (But you can check on this yourself at any booking website.)

And driving in Sicily can be....hmmmm.... exciting. Some places are especially challenging (i.e. the steep road above Taormina behind a huge tourist bus in a stick shift). Keep a good sense of humor and remember, you can always turn around when you make a mistake...eventually. (Not trying to discourage you from driving...I'd do it again.)


Either get a GPS or buy the biggest map you can get of Sicily (the Touring Club Italiano -TCI- has the most detailed roadmap of Sicily I think, at 1:200,000). It's sold at most large bookstores in Italy.

Then, if you don't have a GPS, print out from the internet (e.g. Google Maps or www.viamichelin.com) the maps and directions for the towns you'll be driving to.

Restaurant meals are not cheap (we spent maybe 25-30 euros each at a reasonably priced place, with wine. More for a special dinner overlooking the temples at Agrigento.)...but you can cut costs by eating just gelato for lunch (a very good idea in July), eating at a pizzeria, or shopping at the "deli" counter of the local groceria, and bringing home good bread, prosciutto and salami, olives, and fruit as a picnic.

Most guidebooks will tell you the cost for entry to the places you're likely to want to visit, but figure on about 7-10 euros for entry to most sites and museums (less for kids).

Does this help?

If they don't want to drive they could opt for coaches and/or trains. I'd suggest the first ones.

I could provide some suggestions for my city Palermo

we're not sure exactly where we'll stay but something like one week east coast and one west, or south (renting an apartment). As for transport I,d go with trains and buses so I can stare out the window. It's the general cost we're interested in, breakfasts, coffee, pizza. With three kids we don't aim for the "nice" resturants, simple places are more enjoyable , and I like shopping at the local deli/supermarket for the occasional home cooked breaky or picnic lunch. Then there's normal sightseeing ; museums, castles , towns & beaches. I know "how much" is a hard question to answer, but roughly we hope for around 200-300 euros a day. Whats our chances?
Thanks

No worries! I would say that should be more than sufficient.

Expect 3-6 euros for gelato. Local wine can be inexpensive - I've often found bottles for less than 5 euros.

If you stay at a hotel, breakfast is often included (or can be had for a price.) If you stay at an apartment, probably best to fix your own breakfast. An Italian "bar" will have espresso or cappucino and a cornetto (croissant) or pastry and perhaps orange juice. But Italy just doesn't have restaurants that serve large, cooked breakfasts.

I'd suggest you to stay in Palermo when you'll be visiting the west coast, and from here take trips to Agrigento in the south, or to Monreale to visit its Dome, so that you could visit the Temples. As to the east coast, I'd definitely suggest to stay in Catania, and from there you could visit lots of places as Taormina, Messina, Siracusa, Ragusa.