Train/Bus transportation in Sicily

I used a bus upon landing in Catania Airport, where the connections throughout the island are very good. I also used a combination of regional trains (those go rather slowly relative to high-speed trains and make local stops) and buses to get around the southeast and up north to Taormina and back to Catania. I had no problems with it at all. The only warning is on Sundays when service is severely curtailed. The buses are nice, modern and drive at normal speed (slowing down in city centers due to traffic). The trains I took were commuter trains so they were just as expected - they were not high-speed trains and they were not "spiffy", but they were functional and inexpensive. I had no issues getting around without a car in the southeast region. That said, I'm sure there are small rural towns that may not be as well or frequently served by public transport, but tourists overwhelmingly visit the cities that are.

After I split off from my friend, she used a bus to crisscross the island from Siracusa to Palermo. Thereafter, she traveled to Cefalu and the Aolian Islands, and even the Nebrodi Mountains. All using public transportation.

I would definitely say that Italian bus websites are not the most user-friendly, and you need a good map to find some stops.

Train transportation between the major cities, and between Palermo/airport/Cefalù are just fine and comparable to anywhere else in Italy.

Bus service is very good and covers a lot of the same ground. It gets a little tricky to sort through schedules as there are different operators. The “Rome2rio” app did a perfect job distilling that into something I could understand and plan around. It was great. Busses were cheap and easy to use.

I think there’s a weird perception created where Sicily is some backwards land, stuck 20 years in the past. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s mostly a challenge of geography.

I recently (April 2019) used a public bus from Trapani to Segesta and back. It ran right on schedule. I also took a train from Palermo Centrale to Agrigento and it was right on schedule, too.

The train in Sicily is limited and doesn't go everywhere you will want to visit (in all likelihood), but buses fill in the gaps nicely. The train is also not high speed like on the mainland, but it works fine by all reports (on this thread and others).

Agnes's point is a good one - from Catania airport, there are direct buses to many places in eastern Sicily, so you don't even need to go into the city of Catania on arrival or departure if you don't want to. From Palermo airport, there are fewer services, and you're more likely to need to go into Palermo to make connections to other places.

It is true that some trips (say, Palermo to Catania) take longer by train than they would by car. But that doesn't mean you can't do them without a car, as long as you plan for the necessary time.