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Sicily car hire: bring your IDP
Collect at Catania or Palermo airport. Carry an International Driving Permit and a physical card in your name, and watch for ZTL signs.
Home / Sicily
Collect at Catania or Palermo airport. Carry an International Driving Permit and a physical card in your name, and watch for ZTL signs.
Catania and Palermo hold the cars, and 43 of Catania’s 51 also turn up in Palermo’s list; 40 of Trapani’s 41 are Palermo cars too. Times are clear-road drives; car counts are for Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026.
Taormina is about 55 min and Ortigia in Siracusa about 55 min, both by motorway.
Etna’s Rifugio Sapienza is about 1 h away, the last part on mountain roads that close in snow, and volcanic ash has closed the airport itself.
Catania’s historic centre is a camera-watched ZTL for residents and authorised cars.
Out at Punta Raisi: 34.1 km and about 50 min to the Quattro Canti along the A29 and the city ring road.
Mondello is about 45 min from the terminal and Castellammare del Golfo about 55 min.
Driving into the old-centre ZTL in its hours takes a day pass on the car’s plate, and only some engine classes may enter; some companies meet you with a shuttle bus.
Trapani-Birgi airport listed 41 cars for the same week, 40 of them also in Palermo’s results: one pool, not a second.
Drive on from Palermo airport to Trapani town (about 1 h 30 min) or up to Erice (about 1 h 30 min); 37 Palermo cars could be left at Trapani airport (airport count of 22 October 2026), some for a drop-off charge.
Where every car in the Catania and Palermo searches could be collected, for 7-day Sicilian hires beginning on 16 November 2026, on 18 January 2027 and on 14 June 2027 (all priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026), plus what the two airport operators publish (read 23 October 2026).
All Catania cars, across all three priced weeks, were collected at the airport itself. 3 of them could also be brought into the city instead (airport count of 22 October 2026; Catania hires 16 to 23 November). Piazza Duomo in central Catania is 9.1 km from the terminal (about 15 min if the roads are clear).
The three Palermo weeks told the same story: each car was handed over at Falcone Borsellino airport (PMO). It sits at Punta Raisi, in the town of Cinisi rather than in Palermo, so the Quattro Canti lie 34.1 km off (about 50 min, free-flowing).
On the map: Catania Airport · Palermo Airport
51 Catania cars and 59 Palermo cars, Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026.
Not one of the 51 Catania or 59 Palermo cars came without a deposit. The amount is printed on each car, so weigh it against the price when you compare.
Neither airport had a car that took the deposit in cash. Bring a real, raised-number card to the Catania or Palermo desk; it must carry the lead driver’s name.
Even a car flagged “No credit card” holds its deposit on plastic: the 7 Sicilian cars we priced one by one (23 October 2026, for hires running 16 to 23 November) accepted credit or debit. Whether debit works is stated on the car and again on the voucher.
Sicilian bookings take an advance online, worth 15 to 20% of what you pay for the car; on the 7 quoted cars it came to 15% on some and 20% on others. The remainder is settled with the company when the keys change hands: by card on every car, and in cash on 35 Catania and 36 Palermo cars in the airport count of 22 October 2026. Check that your car takes cash before you count on it.
We ran the same 16 November week at 19 destinations (Sicily read 22 October 2026). The Palermo search was one of only two with no zero-deposit car and no cash deposit at all. Some of those searches cover an airport only and others a whole city, so take it as a rough guide, not a league table.
Etna, Taormina and the south east start at Catania; the capital, the west coast and Trapani start at Palermo. Results show only the cars at the airport you choose.
See how big the deposit is, whether debit will do, how old the driver must be and which cover levels exist. The advance holds the car; you then get a voucher by email telling you who the Sicilian company is, how to phone it and where it meets you.
Licence, International Driving Permit and the deposit card. Then settle what is left in a way that car accepts.
One search per airport, Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026; car classes from the airport count of 22 October 2026. Read “typically” as the middle day price of that Sicilian airport: half the cars sit below it, half above.
| Sicily search | Catania (CTA) | Palermo (PMO) |
|---|---|---|
| Cars listed | 51 | 59 |
| Typically, per day | €23 | €28 |
| Compact | 22 | 25 |
| SUV | 22 | 24 |
| Family | 7 | 10 |
| Minivan | 3 | 7 |
| Automatic | 18 | 20 |
| Manual | 33 | 39 |
How many cars were open to book, and the middle day price, for 7-day Sicilian hires beginning on each date; all priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026.
| Airport | Sicily, 16 November 2026 | Sicily, 18 January 2027 | Sicily, 14 June 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catania: cars | 51 | 38 | 43 |
| Catania: typically, per day | €23 | €40 | €83 |
| Palermo: cars | 59 | 49 | 52 |
| Palermo: typically, per day | €28 | €44 | €79 |
What the roads are like between the airports, up the volcano and through the seasons. Road code, CAS tolls, Polizia di Stato, regional and UK government notes all read 23 October 2026; drive times are clear-road routes.
CAS charges on the A18 from Messina to Catania and the A20 from Messina to Palermo: its 2026 class A toll is €3.80 from Messina Sud to Catania Nord and €10.40 from Messina Nord to Buonfornello (the sheets do not say which class a car is). Airport to airport you cross the interior on the A19 and finish on the A29, about 3 h 30 min over 241.5 km; we could not confirm whether those two charge, so read the sign at each entry. An unpaid CAS toll leaves a notice that CAS says can be settled at no extra cost within 15 days, and Telepass lanes are only for cars fitted with the device.
Rifugio Sapienza is reached on the SP 92, which Catania’s Città Metropolitana calls the Nicolosi to Rifugio Sapienza road; allow about 1 h from Catania airport on a clear road. Snow and ice close it by ordinance: on 29 January 2026 the stretch from the Monte Pomiciaro junction past the Rifugio to the Silvestri craters stayed shut to every vehicle, after a wider closure from 22 January that also took in the Mareneve road on the north side. Roadworks have run parts of it as alternating one-way traffic too.
The Polizia di Stato gives Italy’s standard window for winter tyres or chains on board as 15 November to 15 April, but each road owner decides, shows it with a sign that applies even without snow, and in several parts of southern Italy the duty is not applied. Tyres marked M+S count. We found no Sicilian order for this winter, so follow the signs and ask the company before a mountain trip.
In August 2026 the regional government reported Catania airport closed by a new eruption and its ash, with over 100 special bus runs laid on to Palermo and Trapani airports. In periods of heightened activity the UK government says to check with your travel provider or the airport; keep the phone on your booking switched on so the rental company can reach you.
UK advice flags wildfires through the extended summer, with care needed when driving through woodland, and heavy winter rain that can cause local flooding. The Polizia di Stato’s 2011 guide adds: in fog, slow down and do not overtake where the road has no centre strip, and in a tunnel keep to the right.
The UK government points out that a green walking light does not stop cars turning right across that crossing, and that drivers do not always stop at crossings even though they are required to. The EU’s summary of Italian rules warns that misusing the motorway emergency lane is penalised.
If you have an accident on a Sicilian road, clause 6 of the Italy terms applies: let the rental company know at once, and see that the police write up the accident as well, unless the Sicilian company has agreed to something else. Skip the call or the report and the cover on that car lapses, leaving you to pay in full. After an accident the UK government says to call 112, and it lists 118 for an ambulance and 115 for the fire brigade.
Stopped on the carriageway outside a town where others cannot see you in time (for example at night or in poor visibility), set out the triangle (the 2011 Polizia guide puts it 50 metres or more back) and put on a high-visibility vest or braces before you step out, on a hard shoulder or lay-by too (art. 162).
Taken from Italy’s road code, the Codice della Strada, as published on the official Normattiva site (each rule carries its article), the rental terms and advice from the UK government, all looked up on 23 October 2026.
Each city runs its own zone. Sources are AMAT for Palermo, AMTS for Catania, the Comune di Siracusa for Ortigia and the UK government for the sign, read 23 October 2026 unless dated otherwise.
From Italy’s rental terms and pages published by the two ferry companies (read 23 October 2026).
Clause 8 of Italy’s rental terms reads: “Rental cars are allowed to travel only on paved public roads.” It names no road or area, so before you follow a track to a cove or an agriturismo, ask the rental company.
Cars in each airport search carrying each level, Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, from the airport count of 22 October 2026.
| Level | Catania | Palermo |
|---|---|---|
| Cars listed | 51 | 59 |
| Basic coverage | 50 | 51 |
| Full Coverage | 47 | 54 |
| Full Coverage Plus | 0 | 8 |
| Theft Protection extra | 31 | 27 |
On Sicilian hires the standard policy excludes four areas (wheels, undercarriage, windscreen, interior), and no cover applies when damage is deliberate, vandalism or neglect.
The call and the police report after any damage (clause 6, set out under driving in Sicily above) are what keep this cover valid.
Times assume clear roads and no breaks, rounded up. Messina means the town centre, not the ferry.
Catania times start from the airport’s map point, not from the company’s meeting point.
Rental terms plus the booking partner’s data, Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, airport count of 22 October 2026.
Pick up at one Sicilian airport, drop at another. Car numbers for hires running 16 to 23 November, from the airport count of 22 October 2026.
Any five-seater will take you. Size the boot against your bags, remembering a similar model may be handed over.
3 Catania cars and 7 Palermo cars offered 7 seats or more (Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026). Use the seats filter.
Two cars, then: for hires running 16 to 23 November (priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026), neither airport had anything above 9 seats.
Book a booster or child seat as an extra; Italian law wants anyone under 1.50 m in a restraint that matches their weight.
Offered as an extra where a car lists it: 39 at Catania and 46 at Palermo for hires running 16 to 23 November (airport count of 22 October 2026). Each car shows its price, plus the age and licence it asks for.
Where a breakdown or some other force majeure event leaves your Catania or Palermo car unavailable, the company must give you another of that class or a better one, for the price and on the conditions you booked.
Not among the cars we read. For Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, priced at the two airports on 22 October 2026, every one of the 51 Catania cars and the 59 Palermo cars carried a deposit, and none accepted it in cash. A card carries it at the desk, and every car lists the amount up front.
Some will. Whether debit works is stated on each car and repeated on the voucher, and a Sicilian desk wants that card physical, embossed, personalised and in the lead driver’s own name. Cars badged “No credit card” still take the deposit on plastic: of the 7 quoted on 23 October 2026 (Sicilian hires from 16 November), each accepted credit or debit.
Yes. Our booking partner asks to see the permit and your national licence together, and neither may expire before you return the car. A Sicilian desk will not accept photocopies or digital licences.
On some cars, yes. In the airport count of 22 October 2026, for Sicilian hires running 16 to 23 November, 37 Catania airport cars could be left at Palermo airport and 33 could make the reverse trip. There is no separate drop-off line: on the cars we priced, the one-way total came to 1.3 to 2 times the same car’s round trip.
The rental terms say nothing either way, and booking offers no ferry option. Agree any crossing with the rental company first.
A ZTL is a limited traffic zone, usually a town centre, that a car may enter only with a valid pass; the UK government warns that a plate passing the sign is likely to be caught on camera. In a rental, the fine follows the plate to the rental company and then to you, and for someone living abroad the law allows it to be notified up to about a year after the offence is assessed. The renter pays the fine.
The A18 and A20 do. CAS, the operator, tolls the A18 from Messina to Catania and the A20 from Messina to Palermo; its 2026 class A rate is €3.80 from Messina Sud to Catania Nord and €10.40 from Messina Nord to Buonfornello. Whether the other Sicilian motorways charge we have not confirmed, so watch the signs. Paying tolls is down to whoever rents the car.
Only to drop your bags. The Comune di Siracusa lets hotels, bed and breakfasts and holiday homes inside the Ortigia ZTL register a guest’s plate for transit with luggage; parking inside the zone is not allowed, and the plate must reach the municipal police within 48 hours (rules read 23 October 2026). The hours of the zone change with the season, so look at the council’s ZTL page before you go in.
The road to Rifugio Sapienza, about 1 h from Catania airport on clear roads, is a public road, but the Città Metropolitana di Catania closes it by ordinance in snow and ice, as it did in January 2026. Our time says nothing about winter conditions, so check before you set off.
Compare what Catania and Palermo airports have on your travel dates.