Where to stay in Sicily

Sicily has two main airports. Catania airport, about 9 km from its city centre, serves the east: Taormina is about 70 km away and Ortigia, in Syracuse, about 64 km. Palermo Falcone Borsellino, about 35 km from Palermo, serves the west, with Cefalù about 72 km along the coast from the city. The two cities are about 208 km apart by road, and the A19 motorway between them has no tolls.

Agrigento, on the south coast, is about 158 km from Catania airport and about 161 km from Palermo airport. It works as a stop on a round trip more than as a base for the whole island.

Palermo is the capital and the base for the west, with Mondello beach about 12 km from the centre. Cefalù is a seaside old town with its beach below the houses, quieter than the city and close enough for a day in Palermo.

On the east coast, Taormina sits on a hill above the bays of Mazzarò and Isola Bella, with Giardini Naxos on the shore below and Etna in view. Catania is a working city at the foot of the volcano, and the Rifugio Sapienza on Etna is about 35 km from its centre by road. Ortigia, the island old town of Syracuse, is the base for the south-east, with Noto about 36 km away.

Around Agrigento, stays sit close to the Valley of the Temples, about 4 km from the town centre, and to the beaches of San Leone and the Scala dei Turchi.

The rule that decides most bookings is the ZTL, the limited traffic zone. Cameras read the plates at the gates, and entering without authorisation costs EUR 83 to 332, with the fine sent to the car's owner, which for a rental is the rental company.

In Palermo the central ZTL runs Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 20:00, plus Friday and Saturday nights. Most petrol and diesel cars can enter with a EUR 5 day pass, activated before entering, and hotels inside the zone can register a guest's car. Blue bays cost EUR 1 an hour, Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 20:00.

Catania's centre zone runs 24 hours a day. A hotel or rental inside can register the plate to unload luggage on the arrival and departure days, for up to 12 hours; for the rest of the stay the car stays outside the zone. In Ortigia the zone is closed to cars for most of the day, and a host inside can register the plate for transit only, since parking inside is not allowed.

In Taormina, the municipal car parks at Lumbi and Porta Catania are open 24 hours; 24 hours at Lumbi cost EUR 30 from April to October and EUR 20 in most of the winter, with a shuttle to the centre. For the road rules, the tolls and the ferry from the mainland, GetCar's guide Driving in Sicily: ZTL Camera Zones, Italian Speed Limits and Fines, Tolls and the Ferry covers the driving side.

Each comune sets its own imposta di soggiorno under Legislative Decree 23/2011, and the host collects it. Palermo charges EUR 3 to 5 per person per night in hotels by stars and EUR 4 in B&Bs, holiday homes and short lets, for up to four nights, with children under 12 exempt. Syracuse charges 4% of the price of the night, up to EUR 5 per person, for up to seven nights. Taormina charges EUR 1.50 to 5 a night by category and nothing from the eleventh night. Agrigento charges EUR 1 to 3 for the first four nights, and Cefalù charges only from 1 April to 31 October, for up to five nights. Catania set new rates from 1 February 2026 by resolution 218 of 26 November 2025; the new table could not be read, so its amounts are unverified as of September 2026.

Every licensed stay shows a national identification code, the CIN, outside the building and in every listing, and in Sicily also the regional CIR next to the property's name. At check-in every guest shows an identity document or passport, and the host registers each guest with the police within 24 hours. A 2024 Interior Ministry circular, upheld by the Council of State in November 2025, requires the host to verify the guest in person or by a video link at the door; a key box with a code sent after an ID upload does not meet it.

Cefalù charges no tourist tax from November to March. Taormina's car parks cost less outside April to October: 24 hours at Lumbi drop from EUR 30 to EUR 20. In Palermo, the night ZTL starts at 20:00 from May to October instead of 23:00, and the blue bays at Mondello are paid every day from 08:00 to midnight in the same months.

Book the base to match the flight: Palermo or Cefalù for Palermo airport, Catania, Taormina or Ortigia for Catania airport. For a flat inside a ZTL, send the host the plate before arrival so the registration is in place when the car reaches the gate.

A city stay with the west in reach: Palermo.

An old town on a beach: Cefalù.

Sea views and Etna from a hill town: Taormina.

Etna and a 9 km airport run: Catania.

An island old town on foot, and the south-east: Ortigia.

The Valley of the Temples and the south coast: Agrigento.