Sicily by train

Depending on where in Sicily you'd be traveling, the train is not necessarily the best option because the station is not centrally located and there would be quite a bit of walking to get to the center (e.g. Taormina, Noto, etc.). I think the best way to get to Monreale is by bus, and there is great bus service crossing the island from Catania (Airport). So my recommendation is not to write off the bus altogether. For me, they were much more pleasant than the slow, old local "Regionale" trains. Caveat: I traveled in southeastern Sicily only, but I don't believe there are modern, high speed trains anywhere in Sicily.

You absolutely should not attempt a 3-week trip to Sicily and limit yourself to trains only. There are many places you cannot reach by train. Here's a schematic map of the railway lines in Sicily. I hope it's accurate; it fits with my vague recollection of the situation at the time of my 2015 visit. My advice is to dig into guide books; Rick's first guide book to Sicily was released recently, and he is always really good on logistics. Figure out what you want to see, then delve into the best way to get there. Don't omit great destinations just because you need to take a bus.

Even when rail service is available, it may be much slower than a bus and you may have fewer departure-time options. Buses are heavily used in Sicily, and they were reliable for me once I obtained the schedules locally. It was not easy in 2015 to find the schedules online. Whatever you think is accurate before you leave should be verified once on the ground in Sicily and reconfirmed at the departure bus station for each trip. One thing several of us have discovered is that there are few buses on the road on Sundays and holidays, so keep that in mind as you lay out your itinerary. Schedules can be different on non-school days, so the academic calendar makes a difference. I have no idea whether there is any sort of school break in May.

Off the top of my head, these are places not reachable at all by train: Monreale, Noto, Piazza Armerina (for the Villa Romana del Casale), Selinunte and Segesta. I used buses to get to some other places as well, because they were more convenient for me than the trains. As already mentioned, the nearest train station for Taormina is not actually in that town; it's called "Giardini-Naxos". You either take a bus to Taormina from whatever is your origin, or you take the train to Giardini-Naxos and then the frequent local bus that goes up the hill.

Three weeks in Sicily and we never saw one train. I know they exist but they are not prevalent like buses. We found a rental car the beat way to tour Sicily.

MaryAnn,

I agree with the previous posters.

I spent 3.5 weeks in Sicily last Spring, and only took a few trains, and multiple buses to get to my destinations.

I’d suggest getting a couple of guidebooks to help you figure out where you’d like to go.

Here’s my trip report if you’re interested.

Happy planning!

Thank you for all your replies, they are so much appreciated.
We realize that the train is not the best travel option for a number of destinations in Sicily, so we will look into the bus schedules as well. I hear travel on a Sunday is difficult, so we'll need to keep that in mind too.
We're planning to stay 3 nights in Palermo and then stay 1 or 2 nights in Cefalu. We want to travel by ferry from Milazzo and stay on one of the islands for a couple of nights. Then visit Catania, mount Etna, Taormina, Siracusa. And then on to Noto and Agrigento, Selinunte, Marsala and Trapani. And back to Palermo. Or would it be better to travel counterclockwise ?

MaryAnn,

Traveling counterclockwise worked best for my itinerary.

This was my itinerary: Milan > Palermo (day trips to Cefalù & Monreale) > Trapani (day trips to Segesta, Erice and Favignana) > Agrigento > Piazza Armerina > Siracusa (day trip to Noto) > Milazzo > Lipari > Acireale (day trip to Taormina) > Milan > home.

If you chose to travel counterclockwise, do plan to fly out of Catania so you don’t have to backtrack to Palermo.

Hi, MaryAnn,

I also traveled counterclockwise, and spent two weeks in Sicily, this past April, 2019. We landed in Trapani (yes - there are several direct flights from Rome every day, for about the same price as the flights to Palermo). We used Trapani as a base to visit Erice and Segesta. Next: one-day private transfer to Palermo, with stops at the Marsala Salt Flats and Selinunte. Palermo was a base to see Monreale (skipped Cefalu). Next: Train to Agrigento for two nights. Next: Private transfer to Ortigia/Siracusa with stops at Piazza Armerina (for Roman mosaics and the archeological museum) and Caltagirone (for ceramics shopping). Three nights in Ortigia and flight back to Rome from Catania. If you absolutely must travel by train only, and skip all buses, please consider using local buses for day trips (like to Segesta from Trapani or Palermo, and to Monreale from Palermo). You can travel by train from Trapani to Palermo, but it takes all day instead of 3 hours or so. You can travel Palermo-Cefalu-Catania-Taormina-Siracusa by train, but the train does NOT go all the way around the island in a way that would get you to Agrigento. Also, as noted above, many of the train routes are very slow and very occasional. My research for a Dec/Jan trip coming up soon has us taking a bus from Palermo to Siracusa. It will take about half the time, and runs on a much better schedule, than does the train.

Here's our trip report from a few months ago (April 2019):

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-trip-report-april-2019-2-weeks-2-sisters-part-1-trapani-erice

Gosh, we are spending thirty days next spring and renting a car. Yeah, don't drive in Palermo but there are places trains don't trek and you will spend extra time on busses. Rent a car.