Traveling between Sicily and Rome

You will go through passport control when you arrive in Rome. Assuming you are picking up your bags (they’re not checked through to Palermo), you will also go through customs (just a walk through “nothing to declare.”). The flight from Rome to Palermo is just like a domestic flight in the US - no passport control or customs.

Similarly, you will not go through either passport control or customs when you fly from Catania to Rome (it’s a domestic flight). When you get to Rome, you will need to enter the international departures area. This will indeed require passport control as you are leaving the EU (but no customs - this only happens when you arrive in a new country). On arrival in the States, you will go through passport control and customs.

Just a note - Customs is NOT the same as passport control. Passport control (or immigration) is for people; customs is for goods.

Samantha,
I just finished the Rick Steves Sicily tour a few days ago and am now in Rome/will fly back to the US on Sunday 26th. I will answer your query by relating my experience.

Flew from Nashville to Atlanta to Rome. In Rome, went through electronic gates for passport control, then an immigration official stamped my passport. There was no checkpoint fir customs because i had nothing to declare.

Spent night at Rome Hilton.

Flew to Sicily the next day. No passport control or customs checkpoint in Catania.

I will finish this post later tonight.

Were leaving from Catania and flying to Rome (Separate Tickets) - do we need to go through passport control or customs when we land in Rome before we go to our gate to go back to the US?

When you say "Separate Tickets" do you mean a different purchase from the earlier flights you mentioned, or that you bought a ticket from airline A to get from Catania to Rome and airline B to return to the US? If so I want to caution you that if for any reason (schedule change by either airline, delayed flight from Catania, etc) you miss your flight to the US then airline B is not responsible for the delay. You'll need to rebook and depending on the fare rules for your ticket it may be costly, up the the price of a last-minute walkup ticket.

We purchased an 8 am via ITA airways from Catania to Rome, it lands at 9:35 AM and then our next flight is not until 1:50 PM with Delta. The Delta ticket was purchased via a round trip ticket. The ITA was purchased as a one way ticket. It should be ample time from landing in Rome and to go to passport control to the next flight.

Samantha, i apologize for being interrupted and having to finish my post later.

After the Sicily tour ended, i flew from Catania to Rome. In Catania, i did not go through passport control, but i did need to show my passport as ID in the security line and at the gate before getting on the jet. In Rome, no passport control or customs.

I’m now spending several days in Rome.

On Sunday when i fly from Rome to JFK to Nashville, in Rome i will go through passport control. At JFK, i will go through passport control and customs.

I have two separate tickets: round trip US to Rome on Delta….plus round trip Rome to Sicily on ITA.

Last but not least, i loved my time un Sicily and hope you do, too!