The Drought in Sicily
We are booked for the Sicily Land Tour September 2024. We are very excited but are saddened to hear about the severe drought conditions which may affect tourism. Can anyone shed any light on this?
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We are booked for the Sicily Land Tour September 2024. We are very excited but are saddened to hear about the severe drought conditions which may affect tourism. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Comments
Not heard about that specifically but it is always hot and pretty dry in Sicily so be prepared. We were there in April 2023 and even than it was hot.. I would be more concerned about the recent earthquakes. We loved Sicily.
Jamesnuber - What I read was it could start impacting hotels due to the water supply shortage. A lot of the water is apparently stored in a very old system of cisterns. If water shortage materializes into some form of restrictions it could present big tourism problems. The article seemed to imply it might be a summer month related problem. If so, perhaps they would only place restrictions during those months.
Does anyone have a feel for how long cruise ships can go before having to take on more water? They might be able to bypass the problem if they can fill up their water tanks prior to arrival in Sicily, the the ports they desire in Sicily, and then refill their water at the next port outside of Sicily.
Here is a link to an article that could provide some insight.
https://msn.com/en-us/travel/news/this-italian-vacation-hotspot-is-turning-tourists-away-as-it-runs-out-of-water/ar-BB1pvnro?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Most cruise ships make their own water. You can even buy watermakers for smaller sail and power boats. They work with a pressure pump and special membrane.
We are on the Land trip. I read that Agrigento is severely affected.
We did land trip last year. Sicily is semi-arid. Loved the trip.
We were on the tour in May. It is a fantastic tour. It appears that currently Agrigento is the most impacted but you do not stay there. The hotel for that night is 50 km away and you stay there for less than 24 hours, which is a shame because it is fabulous. Not to minimize the problem for sure, but I would say there is no need to worry. (yet).
For those who have been on this trip what is the dress code? Casual etc? Are evenings ever dressy? The hotels look gorgeous!
You are correct, the hotels are really nice, but it is a coastal vibe everywhere. Meaning think island dressy and not New York cocktail evening dressy. We did have about 5 men wearing jackets for the first dinner. For the final dinner, some people did not bother to dress up. My standard "dressy" is black pants of various fabrics depending on the trip, with a nice-ish top. Some people wore resort casual dresses.
did this trip 2023. loved it. dress is very casual. for the ladies, black with a lot of 'bling' will always work.
Especially if you want to be "deblinged."
The landscape in Sicily is not lush and the drought should not affect your enjoyment of the trip. We had a wonderful time in October. It was often hot and dry. It was the experiences and sites and not the landscape that contributed to the experience. As with most places in Europe, sloppy tourist won't do. Smart casual will get you by.
bucketlist, perhaps you will allow a clarification about the landscape, which is likely seasonal. We were there in May, and I was delighted by all the things growing. Besides the cactus and palm trees, it seemed that every inch of land we saw was cultivated, not to mention the splendid Casa Planeta Winery where we had lunch. They are even starting to grow mangoes and avocadoes. The Belmond properties have spectacular gardens This is the really sad part about the drought, that they are willing to forego agriculture for the sake of tourism. The landscape plus the beautiful ocean, for me, was magnificent. We didn't spend a lot of time in the central parts of the island where I am sure it is not this lush.
I apologize that I never did a review of this trip, which is one of our favorites so far. There is a lot of walking. You will have no trouble getting in your 10,000 steps per day, which is good because the food is amazing. That's probably all that needs to be said anyway.
Just returned from Sicily. Loved everything from soup to nuts. Great guide, fellow travelers, hotels were great and all different. Weather was perfecto. Sunny, dry and pleasant mostly in the 70s. Highly recommend!
How did you find the dress code and drought that you were concerned about?