Travel from Rome to Taormina Sicily and back

From Sorrento, you are about an hour away from doing most anything. You can take the ferry to Palermo but you will have to return to the Naples ferry docks to pick up this ferry. See http://www.ferryticket.gr/ for scedules and travel times. By train, you will need to be on the Trenitlia train. The Trenitalia train does not serve Sorrento. Sorrento is served by the private Circumvesuviana train system. You are just over an hour away from the Naples train station by Circumvesuviana.

If you can get from Sorrento the the Naples-Garibaldi train station by about 9:00am, (Naples Main), go upstairs and jump on the IC train departing Naples for Taormina at 9:42. No train changes but the trip takes 7.0hrs. Take food on the train with you.

CLICK HERE to see the train schedule.

Big Hint: If you want to take this train or the next one a 13:42, buy your ticket coming in from Rome. Also, no seat reservations are required on the IC train but you can buy them for 3Euro. I would suggest buying the when you buy your ticket. Then, coming in from Sorrento, all you need to do is go upstairs, VALIDATE your ticket and jump on.

You can also fly from Naples to Catania on Air Italy, a budget airline. www.airitaly.com. Be cautious not to fly too early or you could get into a time crunch trying to get public transportation early enough to get to Naples airport on time.

Thanks Larry, this is going to help us out tremendously. This is our first overseas and we have heard the trains in Italy are great to travel on. Our issue is the time crunch and not letting it eat into our vacation time. We'll more than likely look for a flight from Naples to Catania going and from Palermo to Rome returning.

Flights are cheap cheap cheap! On my trip last Sept, I took a flight from Rome to Catania and then from Catania to Milan. Both flights were less than $40 a ticket. But, read the baggage allowance VERY closely and/or pre-pay your baggage fees in advance.

For the cheap tickets, you need to book early. And you also have to expect delays.

Steve, just another brief note that the trains on the schedule above with no train changes are IC trains. These are more like the local trains and quite different from the nice high-speed Eurostars. Again, bring food for the long trip. Also, the budget airlines can be a great deal if you book well in advance. The longer out you book, the cheaper the fare.

Steve, there is an overnight ferry service from Naples to Catania, which is about an hour by bus from Taormina. Unless you particularly want to take the train, it is a good option. Staying overnight in Naples might also be a consideration. The ferry leaves in the evening, giving you a whole day for sightseeing. The ferry from Palermo to Naples is also overnight. I have no experience of others to Civitavecchia. Check AirOne for flights. They have a 15kg checked luggage limit.

I am taking Rick's Sicily tour in September and researched the best way between Rome and Catania. I love train travel, but finally decided just to fly. The train trip is just too long.

HI, We are also looking at the tour in Sicily for September. Is renting a car and driving ever an option from Rome to Sicily?
thanks

Thanks for all the responses. The available information on this helpline is going to make our vacation better than we could have imagined. We have purchased Rick's DVD's and books and a few other Sicily books too. Thanks again for all your help!