How to get from “heel” of Italy to Sicily

I am reminded of the joke "You can't get there from here".

You can do it, but not quickly, and not as easy as a direct train. There are trains, with one to three changes, taking most of the day (7 or 8 hours, maybe more) to Messina. Trenitalia has a number of solutions.

A bus might shorten that, probably not by much. Do not really see any good flight option, but did not look in depth (Maybe Brindisi to Palermo or Catania, with a change someplace?)

It looks like flights from both Brindisi airport (very close to Lecce) to Palermo, or Bari airport to either Catania and Palermo are the only nonstop flights. Ryanair.

We flew ITA from Catania to Bari, via Rome’s FCO. Two short flights. Layover was only an hour, but with all things considered, from time of check-out in Catania to check-in in Bari, it must have been 6 or 7 hours.

We like to get to airport at least 90 minutes before departure. It’s been 30 years since I thought 20 minutes was enough.

Does Lecce have an airport, or would you need to take a short trip (30 miles) to Brindisi’s airport? By car it’s only 32 minutes per Google and Apple Maps but over 2 hours by public transport. We did not have that type of problem at Bari. Bus was 1/2 hour tops.

Do you have to end in Lecce, or can you end in Bari or Brindisi? Or are you ok with a taxi or similar from Lecce?

Ryanair has a seasonal flight from Brindisi to Palermo non stop. Check if still operates in September when you go. To me that would be the best option. It’s a long distance (almost 500 miles to Palermo) and that segment is not well served by rail. Unfortunately the Adriatic Coast side and the Tyrrhenian coast side of the Italian peninsula are separated by a long and high mountain range that makes is difficult to cross from one side to the other as the rail passes through that mountain range between the two sides are few. By car would be a bit faster but you still have to deal with the portion across the Messina strait which requires a slow ferry ride, with all the loading and unloading of cars involved. So flying would be the best way but Lecce has no airport so you need to travel north to Brindisi or maybe even Bari first then catch a flight. As I said Ryanair has a non stop but if it doesn’t operate in September, maybe the larger, albeit farther, Bari airport may have more options.

In 2015 I was unhappy with the length of the rail trip from northern Sicily to Lecce, so I opted to take a bus, which I think was scheduled to be about 2 hours faster. Except it wasn't, because the bus that was to be used turned out not to have working air conditioning. In July. The company tried to fix the a/c or get a replacement bus but was unsuccessful on both counts, leading to a multiple-hour delay in our departure. That was one uncomfortable bus ride.

I'm sure the broken a/c was an anomaly, but I'd suggest flying if you cannot develop a burning desire to see one or two places along the way.

@ Chogo Gal

As an alternative, driving is discussed here.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/driving-from-puglia-to-sicily

Caveat. My family and I were on our traditionally slow holidays. The ferry ride was wonderful and educational, as we were lucky to cross paths with the swordfishing boat fleet returning to the mainland with their catch, The unique boats had a circa 30m derrick at the bow for a lookout to spot the fish.

My favourite recollections of Brindisi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK-NUuTCras

Regards Ron

It is possible to do this by train in a way that is not to complicated. You can do most of the trip on an IC, with a change in Lamezia. Will still be long grip, but the advantage is that this is going to be very cheap, and an interesting ride.