Hi,

My family of 5, including 3 kids, will be spending 2 weeks in Italy this summer. One week south of Naples and then one week on Sicily. We could take the train, but it takes sooo long. Flying is way too expensive. I'd rather not take the overnight ferry--that's a lot of being sick for me. I keep reading on lots of websites that there IS a hydrofoil that takes 4 hours, but I can't find a single site that tells me where to look for fares and timetables and make reservations. SNAV has nothing about them. Can anyone help?

From where to where?
Be specific.

Alpieagles (www.alpieagles.com) has cheap flights from Naples to Palermo. In fact, very cheap if you buy ahead of time. (Did I see a roundtrip fare of 0.90 euros? Doubtless there will be taxes and surcharges.)

What about this one (in Italian):
http://www.traghettionline.com/sicilia.htm

Hi,

I want to get a 4 hour hydrofoil from Naples to Palermo--that is the route that I keep finding mentions of on-line. Just no specifics.

Thanks,
Biz

So, you will be in Naples before the trip south, and you are going to Palermo to stay--is that true?? I thought you said south of naples.

If so, then you should take the hydrofoil. If not, you should drive.

I'm sure there is no "4 hour hydrofoil" from Napoli to Palermo. They are small craft suitable for sheltered waters, but not for long trips on the open sea. SNAV ran a fast ferry from Napoli to Palermo, but dropped it and now run overnight ships (www.snav.it). Tirrenia (www.tirrenia.it) also run big overnight ships from Napoli to Palermo, and there is another company serving Catania (www.tttlines.it). These are big ships with cabins, lounges, restaurants, etc, and will be infinitely more comfortable than a hydrofoil which will bounce up and down if the sea is anything other than a flat calm, and might well be cancelled if it's more than slightly rough. An overnight crossing will also waste less time than a four-hour daytime trip because you will spend most of the time on the ship asleep in bed, and arrive in Sicily in the morning with a whole day ahead of you.

Mimar, the AlpiEagles 0.90 Euro flt is actually about 83 Euro one way Catania to Naples in mid May: still 55 min vs 6 1/2 hours on the trenitalia (51 first and 37.5 2nd from Taormina).
M

I found that many writers (professional or not) are often lazy and like to call any fast ferry in/around Italy and Greece "hydrofoils". Yes, there are still some routes operated by hydrofoils, but many others are run by waterjet-propelled fast ferries, single-hull or catamaran.

Like that recent fatal collision in the Messina Strait. Every news report I read says "hydrofoil", but a quick search of the vessel name reveals that it's a single-hull fast ferry.

Thanks!

Next question: how do the big ships that cross overnight between Naples and Palermo compare to the ferries that cross between Harwich, England and the Hooke of Holland?

I've never been that sick in my lif--though the children enjoyed the magic shows quite a bit....

In recent years, the service between Harwich and Hoek van Holland has been operated by a fast ferry and by ships which carried mainly trucks and a small number of passengers with cars. If you travelled on the fast ferry, then it would be quite different from the Napoli-Palermo ships.