Messina Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Interbus (090 66 17 54; www.interbus.it; Piazza della Repubblica 6) runs a regular service to Taormina (€2.85, 1½ hours, hourly Monday to Saturday) and has a weekly connection to Rome (€34.75, 9½ hours, one Saturday).

SAIS Autolinee (090 77 19 14; Piazza della Repubblica 6) serves Palermo (€13.60, two hours, nine daily Monday to Friday, two daily Saturday and Sunday) and Catania (€6.85, 1½ hours, half-hourly Monday to Saturday, five on Sunday). The Catania bus travels via Taormina, Giardini-Naxos, Giarre and Acireale.

Giuntabus (090 67 37 82; Via Terranova 8) runs a service to Milazzo (€3.60, 45 minutes, half-hourly Monday to Saturday, one Sunday) to catch the ferries and hydrofoils to the Aeolian Islands.

Car & motorcycle

For Palermo (or Milazzo and the Aeolian Islands), turn right from the docks and follow Via Garibaldi along the waterfront. After about 1km, turn left into Viale Boccetta and follow the green autostrada signs for Palermo. To reach Taormina and Syracuse, turn left from the docks into Via La Farina and follow the autostrada signs for Catania.

Car hire is widely available, including the following:

Sincar (090 66 26 79; www.sincar.it; Via Vittorio Emanuele II 35)

Train

Hourly diretto (direct) trains connect Messina with Catania (1st/2nd class €10/8, 1½ to two hours, hourly), Taormina (1st/2nd class €7.75/6.50, 40 minutes, hourly), Syracuse (Intercity 1st/2nd class €18/13.50, 2½ to three hours, hourly) and Palermo (Intercity €18.35, regional €10.75, 3½ hours). You can also get the train to Milazzo (€2.85, one hour, 10 daily, hourly), but buses are generally faster. The train stations for Milazzo and Taormina are inconveniently located some distance from their respective town centres.

From Messina you can also take the train across the straits for Rome and Milan.

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Boat

Messina is the main point of arrival for ferries and hydrofoils from the Italian mainland, only a 20-minute trip across the straits.

Ustica Lines (090 36 40 44; www.usticalines.it; Via Vittorio Emanuele II) runs hydrofoils to Reggio di Calabria (€2.50, 15 minutes, five daily) and summer-only hydrofoils to the Aeolian Islands (€17.50, 1½ hours, five daily), arriving at Lipari.

Caronte (090 371 83 24; www.carontetourist.it; Viale della Libertà) runs ferries to Salerno (foot passenger/car €28/76, 7½ hours, one daily).

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