TRAVEL TIPS FOR SICILY | |||
Review of Sicilian campsites | |||
Bottom of this page | Return to Index Page | ||
|
SICILIAN
CAMPSITE LISTINGS: In planning a camping trip to Sicily, the most useful campsite listings are given here:
|
Italian Camping Caravan Europe |
(English edition), published each Spring by the Touring Club Italiano ISBN no: 88-365-296-31 Price £14.95 Web site: www.touringclub.it (Volume 2), published annually by the Caravan Club ISBN no: 1-85733-401-9 Price £11.99 Web site: www.caravanclub.co.uk |
In our
evaluative review of Sicilian campsites, the campsite name
in column 1 is cross-referenced to its page number in these
2 listings (abbreviations: IC = Italian Camping and CE-2 = Camping Europe Vol 2) |
||
SICILIAN CAMPING WEB
SITES: These web sites may be helpful in locating Sicilian campsites: |
www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/italy/sicily www.campeggi.it/campeggi_Sicilia.asp www.camping.it/english/sicilia/ |
DISCOUNTS
AT SICILIAN & ITALIAN CAMPSITES:
|
In seemingly
all Italian commercial dealings, the favourite word is
SCONTO, translated as DISCOUNT. Shops for
example vie with one another to offer the biggest sconto;
you will even see them promoting themselves as
scontissimo. So it is with campsite prices: never
accept the initial price proposed and always ask for a sconto (it will be expected). The most useful expression in
your Italian repertoire should be "Mi può fare uno sconto?"
("Can you offer me a discount?").
Almost all Sicilian campsites were prepared to offer a 10% sconto on production of a Camping Card International - CCI; you can also try basing your request for a sconto on other factors if you feel you are being asked too high a price (eg no hot water, facilities are inadequate). The golden rule is: always ask for a sconto If you don't carry a Camping Carnet (Camping Card International), this is a worthwhile small investment; it will cost you £4.50 and lasts for a year. Not only does it provide the basis for a sconto, it also gives a degree of camping insurance. Since it also carries passport details, you can offer this in place of your passport; European campsites are entitled by law to hold some such official document during the period of your stay. |
CAMPING GAZ
IN SICILY: |
Despite
Camping Gaz International's claims that their refills are
available throughout Europe, we all know how difficult it
can be actually to locate suppliers. And of course Sod's Law
applies more to Camping Gaz than anything else: your
cylinder will always expire on a wet night just as your
supper is reaching perfection. We therefore felt it useful
to share our experience of exchanging our Camping
Gaz 907 (2 kgm) cylinders for refills in Sicily.
Travelling
'out of season' we only found 2 campsites stocking Camping
Gaz 907 exchanges: Sabbiadoro Camping near Avola and
Marinello Camping at Oliveri Shops stocking sports, camping, sub-aqua, fishing or boat chandlery equipment (key words to look out for are 'sub acqua, pesca, nautica, campeggio) or ironmongers/hardware (ferramenta) shops are other possibilities. Two such that we used were in San Leone near Agrigento and in Gardini Naxos (Tutti per il camping). A useful expression is 'Una granda bombola per il Camping Gaz' - 'A large cylinder for Camping Gaz'. |
GUIDEBOOKS, WALKING GUIDES
AND MAPS FOR SICILY:
|
Bookshops will sell you an entire library of such works, enough to fill your camper; those we found most helpful were: | |
Rough Guide
to Sicily
Landscapes of Sicily |
published by
Rough Guides, April 2005 ISBN no: 1-84353-426-6 Price £11.99
published by Lonely Planet May 2005 published by Somerset Books London, 2006 published by Sunflower books, 2006 |