Can i travel by train from rome to palermo (sicily), do i need to take ferry from mainland to sicily?

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Eric L

I actually did this! Well I took a train from Palermo to Rome and it was just last week!

Make sure NOT to get 2nd Class which is what we did (to my protest!). It was very cramped and I was completely exhausted the next day from terrible sleep and was aching from neck to lower back.

You can buy the tickets at Termini station. Go to the automated booths which have english (click british flag) in the regional machines. You should find it. It takes, I can't remember exactly, 10-12 hours.

There is a 30 minute ferry ride from Sicily to mainland Italy. You can leave the train and they have a snack bar and bathrooms on the top level. It's also nice to get some fresh air while you are up there.

I took a train from Rome to Naples (2hrs and then spent two nights there) and then took a ferry from Naples to Palermo (we got on at 8p but actually left port at 9p and got there around 9a). We got a private cabin (two people) which actually had 4 beds with a shower! This cost about $120/person. The 2nd Class train ride from Palermo to Rome was about $60/person.AGAIN get a private cabin which costs a little more but totally worth it unless you are on a tight budget. I would definitely pay double for it after my experience. Actually, looking back, I think I would have done the Palermo to Naples ferry and then train back to Rome.

Make sure to do the overnight travel. That way you can sleep and maximize your time in Italy. They have day travel too but that's such as waste of time and you save on lodging with night travel.

In the ferry if you don't get the private room you are put in this giant "theatre" style room (there are TVs there). On the train you should be able to "secure" your luggage in the overhead shelf. I didn't see where the passenger in the 1st or 2nd class seating on the ferry put their luggage. Didn't pay attention. The ferry was definitely much more comfortable and had a restaurant and a shop.

Hope that helps...

james m

I would recommend flying from to Rome to Palermo.The trains are usually crowded,and you would have to take a ferry from the mainland to Sicily anyway.

Genius Cook

Nope, no bridge. Politicians have talked about building one... but that's all it is - Talk.
The trains cross over on a ferry. They drive the train (in sections) on to the ferry with you on board. Once on board take your valuables with you and go up on board to have a cold one and see the sea as you cross the straights.
Check the cost of the flights - it would be much quicker to fly.

tamara

sure that you can! doesn't exist a bridge between sicily and calabria, remember that if you take the train you need a lot of time i think around ten hour of travel! sorry for the language but i'm italian! this is the web site of the italian train: www.trenitalia.com

giuggiolina90

no you can travel by train..there isn't a bridge that match sicily to the main land (altought the govern is planning to build one in the future)..but when you arrive by train in calabria at reggio calabria the train go inside a ferry and you without leaving the train will arrive to messina in sicily

lalla317

Obviously you can....there's a train called "south's arrow" that leaves from milan and arrives directly Agrigento...the problem is not the ferry that you have to take from Reggio Calabria to Messina, because it's the entire train that will be put on the ferry....so the real problem is that it takes a lot of time to arrive to palermo....it's about 9 hours to go from rome to messina....and then you have to change your train and take the one who permit you to arrive to palermo...
so....this way to travel it's really stressful....
you shall book a flight....and it costs quite the same of the train: the train costs about 45 euros....and the flight, 60 euros...so take it!
its a sicilian person that speaks with you....and i've tryied to do it.....but it's really really tiring!
byeeeeeeee ^_^

Barbara D

Yes you can! Catch the train in the central station in Rome,(Stazioni Termini).The train goes straight to Sicily.

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