ferry from Napoli to Sicily
 

What do you think of the ferry? Should we rather fly from Napoli? Thanks!

Taking the overnight ferry saves the cost of one hotel night; however, you arrive in Palermo at 6:45 a.m., too soon to check into many hotels. If you have not gotten a good night's sleep (particularly if you don't opt for a cabin), you may not fully enjoy the following morning. Flying is expensive, and you lose time getting to and from both airports, checking in, and going through security. Be aware that there is a daylight catamaran from Napoli Molo Beverello operated by SNAV Lines (daily from late April to early October), which reaches Palermo in about 4 to 4.5 hours! Departure time from Naples is 16:30. Cost is 52 to 77 Euros for a reclining seat, depending upon the season. This allows you the entire morning to tour Naples and vicinity, and gets you into Palermo in time for dinner. You can get full schedules and fares from their web site www.snavali.com The service is called "Sicilia Jet" You can even transport your rental car on this very fast boat. The catamaran is more than twice as fast as the overnight ferry, for about the same cost. There is also train service, although not much of an option compared to travel by air and by sea. If you enjoy travel by ship (dinner on board, watching a movie, etc.), the overnight ferry would be fine, apart from the comments above.

Hi Diana,<BR><BR>We decided to take the overnight ferry in the opposite direction (from Palermo to Naples) for our upcoming trip. Our reasoning was that we'd lose a good part of a day to travel any other way. Instead we leave about 8pm from Palermo and arrive 7am in Naples which means we get to enjoy a full extra day in Palermo. <BR><BR>I'm looking forward to it...I've heard good things about the ferry itself as Tirrenia uses a new one for this itinerary. Besides, just seems like a really pleasant way to travel compared to flying or a long drive.<BR><BR>However, not sure if you save the time we do coming from Naples as I think that way spends the day rather than overnight traveling, correct?

Maddy: there is a daylight ferry from Naples to Palermo (and from Palermo to Naples), but this operates only on certain days from late July to the end of August. Departure is at 10:00 and arrival at 18:00. This SUPPLEMENTS the overnight service, which is daily year round, leaving at 20:45 and arriving at 6:30. Full details can be found at www.tirrenia.it

we have actually changed our itinerary. We are now going to Lipari by hydrofoil from Napoli(need info on how comfortable, can you sleep?) and then flying from Catania back to Napoli.

The Tirrenia car ferry from Naples to Palermo operates two very large and modern vessels: Vincenzo Florio and Giovanni da Rubattino. Nine and one-half hours overnight sailing, 365 days per year, at a speed of 23 knots. Ships displace 30,800 tons and carry 1500 passengers and 700 cars. Cabins with private facilities can be reserved, as can reclining seats.<BR>www.tirrenia.it<BR><BR>The daily SNAV catamaran operates from April through early October during daylight hours, making the crossing in a mere 4.5 hours, but the journey is apt to be quite a bit noisier and choppier compared to the large ferry boat. Service can also be cancelled during inclement weather.<BR><BR>www.snavali.com

The Florio and Rubattino measure 175 metres in length and 26 metres in width, so they are large ships.

topping

You can see photos of the interior of many of the Tirrenia ferries in:<BR>www.navitirrenia.org<BR>(a non-official site)

The daily fast catamaran service between Naples and Palermo, operated during the summer by SNAV, has been cancelled for 2004.

Both Tirrenia and SNAV continue to operated daily overnight car ferries.