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Rome to Palermo

How long of a train ride is it to Palermo from Rome? trying to decide if I should take the train or fly.

Posted by
6788 posts

It's been a few years, but we took an overnight train from Rome to Palermo. IIRC, we probably departed Rome around 10 or 11 pm, and arrived in Palermo around 7 am.

I don't sleep in anything that moves, so it wasn't a particularly restful trip for me, but it was fine otherwise.

Of course, with low cost airlines availabe now, I'd certainly look into the options for flying.

Posted by
3112 posts

Trenitalia website shows a direct day train that takes about 11 hours and a direct night train that takes about 12 hours.

Posted by
440 posts

C., I have only flown from Rome. Next year I plan to take the overnight ferry from Naples to Catania. Just another option.

Posted by
1825 posts

My niece took the overnight ferry from Sicily to Naples and said it was a good alternative for her. They had twin bunks (she was with a college group) and actually got some sleep. I'm going to Sicily in Sept and have decided to fly. I wanted to go by train, but it just seemed too long-especially given Italian trains penchant for going out on strike at any time.

Posted by
1883 posts

We flew Air One from Rome to Palermo, then took the over night ferry from Palermo to Naples. That LONG train ride wasn't of interest to us....especially considering the bathrooms on trains....yuck!

I'd recommend flying, you will not waste time getting there, the flight is about one hour and even with airport waits, not as long as the train!