We plan to take our car across to Sicily in early April from Southern Italy.Are there any other options than from Reggio?What ferry companies operate between Reggio and Messina?Dothey have websites with timetables and prices?Is it best to wait until we arrive in Reggio to buy a ticket to get the cheapest price?Any help would be most appreciated.

The primary crossing is really from Villa San Giovanni and is a constant process during the day---you just get in line and do it.

I don't think it should be a problem if your rental company allows you to take your car to Sicily (some don't). I think there are multiple companies, but here's a couple to look at.

http://www.carontetourist.it/v2.6_en/stretto.php

http://www.meridianolines.com/serviz...rari-e-tariffe

Here are almost all the ferries that you can get anywhere.

http://www.directferries.com/

for Sicily, we like the idea of the one from civitavecchia, at least in one direction. DH loves boats and it does cut out a lot of driving.

Buy the ticket when you get to the crossing. We were there in early April 2011 and we were 1 of 3 cars crossing on the ferry! By the way, a bit of traffic jam leaving Messina. Be forewarned, you may want to do this early rather than late afternoon.

Bookmarking for the links

Viajero2, are you saying that you can't get the tickets late afternoon because all tickets are already sold out or you're talking about traffic jam?