Good afternoon. We will be traveling from Positano to Palermo. I would like to use the overnight train, but I am finding very little useful information. Does anyone know exactly which train to buy tickets? Also, can you get the train in Salerno or do you need to go back to Naples to get on the train? Any and all information would be helpful.
Posted by
Sweden
6848 posts
There is a daily sleeper train from Rome to Palermo that also stop in both Naples and Salerno on the way. Although it stops in Salerno around midnight. There are also day trains from Salerno to Palermo, a long journey but pretty scenic.
Read more: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/trains-to-sicily.htm Buy your tickets at www.trenitalia.com
Posted by
Washington DC
27608 posts
Proceed with extreme caution. I took that train (but boarded in Rome) back in 2015. I was in a couchette, and I realize the sleeping cars are more comfortable (as well as a lot more expensive), but I got not one wink of sleep because the rail car constantly jerked from side to side. It was a totally miserable experience, and the first thing I did once I could get into my hotel room was collapse into bed for many hours. Naturally, my sleep schedule was messed up for the next 24-48 hours; it was as if I had just gotten off an overnight flight. I'd recommend flying if you can't afford the time needed to travel in the daytime. (No, I don't know how scenic the ride is.) EasyJet and RyanAir both fly from Naples to Palermo.
The train you'd be taking is InterCityNotte 1955, departing from Napoli Centrale at 23:06 (11:06 PM). The train makes the following stops:
23:46 Salerno
03:30 Villa S. Giovanni (train loaded onto ferry)
05:15 Messina Centrale
06:15 Milazzo
06:22 Barcellona-Castroreale
06:35 Patti-S. Piero Patti
06:54 Capo d'Orlando-Naso
07:20 S. Agata Di Militello
08:33 Cefalu
08:54 Termini Imerese
09:24 Palermo Centrale
Will you sleep through the business of taking the train apart and putting it on the ferry--and them putting it back together again on the Sicilian side of the Strait of Messina? Will you get any sleep after 5:15 AM when the people in the stations you stop at will be starting their day, talking, etc.?
Posted by
Lake District, England
7299 posts
There are also ferries from Naples to Palermo at about 8pm every night, arriving at about 6.30am. See the man in seat 61 above.
Also not everyone fails to sleep on the overnight trains. Plenty of people sleep perfectly well on them. They get plenty of good reviews.
Posted by
Washington DC
27608 posts
I suspect the condition of the rails is not the same everywhere. I've never been on a train as herky-jerky as that one in southern Italy.
Posted by
46 posts
@Acraven-trust me nothing could be as noisy as the overnight train from Milano to Düsseldorf which passes through Basel and other stations with uncoupling of trains but if one is tired enough or has no trouble falling asleep they’ll be ok. Everybody is different, thankfully, and I’m sure the OP has taken this into consideration. Pop a melatonin and they’ll be good to go.
Posted by
Sweden
6848 posts
I agree with isn31c, some people sleep better when the bed is moving than others. I'm not sure I'm familiar with the technical definition of herky-jerky but I've never had a problem sleeping on the night trains to/from northern Sweden, even on the old line that is very winding.
Posted by
Washington DC
27608 posts
I took night trains fairly often when I was younger, but not in southern Italy. Couchettes weren't particularly comfortable even when I was in my 20s, but I can usually fall asleep readily on a horizontal surface. The train I took from Rome to Catania was horrible with the side-to-side jerking. Maybe it was a problem with the carriage rather than the rails; I don't know. It was nothing like any other train I've been on.