Getting from Palermo to Siracusa, Sicily

Bus

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Palermo/Siracusa-Italy

It will be so much easier if you rent a car. We met people who were stuck at our hotel in Agrigento because they had taken a train there.

You might want to check the RS search function for recent threads on transportation. There is a bus service. Interbus.it. Bus is less than 3.5 hours. We will be traveling throughout Sicily in the fall. We will be using bus, train and private drivers along our route. It is doable without a car!

Bus and train are both your good options. Bus will be faster but I see there is also a direct train at about 7:30 AM and another around 5:30 PM. The direct train takes about an hour longer than bus. Both options should be cheap. I was just in Sicily for 3 weeks this past fall and I travelled by bus and train. The busses we took were comfortable and air conditioned. We never bought tickets in advance. Trains we used were not air conditioned and often older trains but all were on time and we had no complaints. Again we just bought tickets as we needed them, not in advance. Our tickets had to be validated in the machines on the platforms prior to getting on the trains. Some of our trains were crowded and some were less occupied. Busses from Catania to Taormina were packed but frequent. Trains had bathroom, not sure if bus had one. You do not need to rent a car. Are you going directly to Siracusa? Lots of folks stop in Agrigento on the way. The Siracusa Interbus stop and the train station are a short, flat walk (a few city blocks) to Ortygia which is where I recommend you stay.

Thank you for the encouragement to take public transportation.

The thought of renting a car is just not worth the hassle in these ancient cities. We pack very light anyway.
It sounds like the bus might be the perfect way to get from Palermo to Siracusa.
Our trip around Sicily will include day tours, busses and maybe a train if it works best.

Thank you fellow travellers! I have found the information from this forum is priceless.

I took the Interbus from Palermo to Siracusa in January 2020 because it was significantly shorter than taking the train. Here's how it worked for me. While at home, I researched the Interbus schedule on line and wrote down which bus, at which time, I wanted to take. (I believe our trip was scheduled approx. 8:00 am - 11:15 am.) Then, while in Palermo, a couple of days before going to Siracusa, I went to the Interbus office in Palermo. To find the Interbus office, enter the front doors of the Palermo Centrale train station, keep going straight back to the RIGHT, and follow the signs to the "Bus". (From the top of the train tracks, the walkway to the bus station is off to the right.) The bus station is actually a series of small offices in a row. Look for "Interbus" in one office window. I showed the young woman at the Interbus desk what I had written down, and she sold me the ticket. On the morning of the bus trip, I walked the same way through the train station, but once in the bus area, kept walking past the offices and straight back to the large bus parking lot. Read the signs at the various stops in the parking lot, and watch for the "Interbus Siracusa" sign in the top of the bus window as your bus approaches. You will self-load your luggage in the luggage area in the bottom of the bus. The bus was not crowded at all, and most folks had a two-seat section to themselves. The bus will make one 10-minute stop at a rest stop area for bathroom/coffee/cigarette break. Normally it takes a little over three hours. Our trip took approx. four hours because part of the main highway was closed (ice storm!) and we went up and over the low mountains on a more narrow two-lane road. It was actually a gorgeous ride!