Sicily by bus/train

The "Godfather" films were made in eastern Sicily, inland from Taormina, substituting those towns for Corleone. There is an anti Mafia museum in Corleone which we are interested in visiting on our next trip to Sicily.

All of these cities are served by train, but in some cases, you may find a bus schedule to be more convenient or direct. Also see www.trenitalia.com for current train schedules. www.rome2rio.com is one search engine that helps to identify bus companies (as do guidebooks and Google search), but drill down to the actual bus web site for schedule details.

In general, one can visit Sicily by public transportation. It will not be as efficient, over all, as having a car, but I did it for 18 days, and I am not unique.

However, I did not go to Marsala or Agrigento, so I cannot say anything about the Marsala-Agrigento-Ragusa transportation possibilities. I did use the train line through the interior, from Catania to Palermo.

I'd suggest using Rome2Rio.com to identify the bus companies serving routes you may need to take. Drill down through the Rome2Rio website to find a link to each company and go there to check schedules. I believe you'll find that buses work best for a lot of your travel segments, including Palermo to Trapani.

I think Messina is quite skippable as a tourist destination.

Do not take a night train to or from Sicily. The rails are in very bad shape; it's the jerkiest ride I've ever been on.

I have not been to Corleone.

We also have not been to Corleone. However, we have spent five weeks total in Sicily over two trips and all by public transportation, including Palermo, Marsala, Agrigento, Ragusa, Siracusa and Catania, among many other places. Yes, it definitely can be done. We found some smaller places where the train still stops but the station is not staffed, nor does it have restrooms available. To purchase bus tickets, you may need to go the nearest bar. Often, locals cannot be helpful about bus stop locations or ticket purchases because they don't take the bus! It just takes time and patience, and it's all well worth it!

Edited to add: Some of the bus company websites list the places to buy tickets.

The Godfather was not filmed in Corleone, the director felt the city looked too modern. The wedding scene of Michael and Apollonia was filmed at the church in Forza D'Agro, and scenes were filmed in the town of Savoca, as well as Bar Vitelli, the bar where Michael went to ask Apollonias father for her hand in marriage. You can take the train to Savoca, but have to get off at
Santa Teresa di Riva Station.
And then Jonica Trasporti (taxi) from
Santa Teresa di Riva to Savoca.

If travelling from Taormina, then take Interbus from Taormina to Santa Teresa di Riva.
http://www.interbus.it

You can have a drink at the bar, see memorabilia from the movie, and buy souveniers.

www.thegodfathertrilogy.com/gf1/gf1scene.html

http://www.sicily-tour.net/tour-godfather/index.htm

Happy Travels✨💫

Also--call it urban legend if you will--the Mafia chieftains in & around the real village of Corleone wanted to extort quite a lot of money from Francis Ford Coppola for use of the town. Rather than go down that road, Coppola chose an amalgam of sites in Savoca, Forza D'Agro & Castelmola for the movie instead.

We used Sicily Life in October 2010 for our Godfather tour, which was fabulous, even in the rain. Also visited some creepy catacombs outside Savoca.

We are hopefully making a return to Sicily next year, taking the train down from Naples, taking the train/ferry across the Strait of Messina, to Taormina for a couple nights, finishing off with 3 nights in Cefalu, which looks beautiful.

Enjoy your planning!