TRAVEL TIPS FOR SICILY
                                             Review of Sicilian campsites 
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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:







CAMPING CARD INTERNATIONAL:

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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:


 


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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
(see details on our Campsites in Sicily page).

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:
 

 


 



 


  


 


 

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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


Lonely Planet - Sicily


Blue Guide Sicily


Walking in Sicily
- Cicerone Guide

Landscapes of Sicily
- walking guide

Maps of Sicily

published by Rough Guides, April 2005
ISBN no: 1-84353-426-6  Price £11.99

published by Lonely Planet May 2005
ISBN no: 1-74059-684-6  Price £12.99

published by Somerset Books London, 2006
ISBN no: 1-905131-12-7  Price £15.95

published by Cicerone, 2006
ISBN no:  1-85284-395-0  Price £12.00

published by Sunflower books,  2006
ISBN no: 1-85691-302-3  Price £10.99

We found the most legible and detailed overall map of Sicily was Sheet 14 (Sicily) of the Touring Club Italiano's 1:200k road map series. For advice and supply of Sicilian maps, consult The Map Shop at Upton-on-Seven on:
www.themapshop.co.uk/sicily.htm
A word of caution however: the 1:50k and 1:25k maps are hopelessly unreliable and unhelpful, and at these prices are not worth buying. The maps given in Cicerone and Sunflower are more than adequate for walking.

 
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