surfingmomma

I will be arriving in Ponte Raisi Airport, near Palermo, sicily, in a few weeks, on a weekday (Wednesday)about 8:00p.m. This is not the airport near the city of Palermo, but rather near the western coastline.

Does anyone know how dependable the buses are that pick up there, and go to Palermo, proper?

I'm a little nervous about the buses being there, running, at that hour. I called the Italian consulate/visitors' dept, and they said the taxi ride will cost about $50.00USD. ouch.
Any infor would be appreciated about the transportation there.
thanks kindly,
a fellow traveler, surfingmomma

Eloise

Punta Raisi -- now officially called Falcone Borsellino -- is the only airport for Palermo.

According to the airport's Web site (I thought I copied it but didn't: google aeroporto Palermo), there are buses from the airport to Palermo every half hour from 6:00 a.m. to midnight.

GAC

I took the airport bus from Punta Raisi Airport (Falcone-Borsellino) to downtown Palermo. There are two stops: at Piazza Castelnuovo (next to the Teatro Politeama, in the "new" part of town), and at the central train station, in the "old" part of town. If you know the exact location of your hotel, you will determine where to get off.

One way fare is approx. Euro 4.70 (pay the driver), and the service is very reliable and very comfortable.

Travel time can vary from 45 minutes to one hour.

Eloise

I have taken the bus also, but from the train station ("old" Palermo) to the airport. It was, as GAC has written, comfortable. You buy the ticket on the bus, as he has pointed out. Try to have the exact amount of the fare. On the bus I took, the driver had no change, collected too much money from each of the passengers, then -- to his credit -- got change at the airport, looked for each of us and gave us our change.

dickv2

Good evening, the airport is about 30 km westof Palermo and given that time of night would make arrangements with your hotel in Palermo to have a car pick you up at the airport....
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il.It won't be in expensive but much more practical..

surfingmomma

OH, thank you to each of you for taking the time to answer me. (I love this website).

but, i'm confused about the airport. We are flying from the US to London, and London, on to Palermo, Punta Raisi airport. the Map of sicily shows 2 airports near Palermo, the closest one being Falcone Borsellino. The one we fly into, the farthest away from Palermo, is on the west side of the island, on the waters' edge, called Punta Raisi.
Are we all talking about the same airport? I have a map from the Italian Embassy/tourist office, that is new, showing both little "airplanes" on it.
I still need the transportation. Our hotel the Ambasciatori,is on Via Roma, (hotel says) 5 minutes from the Termini station.
thanks for the help,
surfingmomma

Eloise

I have no idea what the two little airplanes might mean, and if I were the only one to say so, I might start to doubt myself, but if GAC also says that Punta Raisi IS Falcone Borsellino, then I think you can take it for granted that it is. (And my map only has one little airplane, quite a ways to the west of Palermo, which is where Punta Raisi (Falcone-Borsellino), the only commercial airport for Palermo, is. Maybe your other little airplane shows a military airport or an airport for private planes...?)

And if your hotel is on Via Roma, then you take the bus (I personally do not think it is necessary to take a taxi at 8:00 p.m., when the bus is almost as fast and a great deal cheaper) to the railway station, which is its second and last stop. If you stand in front of the railway station, Via Roma is the street straight ahead of you, on the other side of what seems to be on my map a small green space.

Presocia

On the new 2004 map I have of Sicily, it shows the airport to be west of Palermo with the following label:

Palermo-Punta Raisi/Falcone e Borsellino

It is the only airport symbol I see in that area, so I am left with the impression that the two airports you are referring to are probably one and the same.

susanna

When we flew into Palermo, we had a driver pick us up from our hotel. We sent an email explaining that we were to fly into the domestic terminal from Milan, but we needed to pick up out luggage from the international terminal, and that was where our driver should meet us. Well, the international and domestic are in the same ONE building that constitute the entire airport. I can't imagine that there is another smaller airport than this one. It will be very easy to find the bus/taxi/or any other transportation into Palermo. Relax, it'll be easy, have a great trip.

rbrazill

GAC is correct, it is the same airport. Here's a link to its website:
http://sicilia.indettaglio.it/eng/li...o/palermo.html

cmt

I thought Punta Raisi was the only airport near Palermo, but as others suggested, maybe there is also a military airbase or some little airport for small local planes.

If you are arriving on a connecting flight from outside the EU and you have checked luggage, you may need to look for it in a special room set aside for luggage that came from outside the EU. There may not be a sign, so you may need to ask. If just about everyone else on the plane is from Italy, or elsewhere within the EU, following the other passengers may not take you to your luggage. (This was my experience a few years ago, in Catania, and then two years later in Palermo. Maybe it's no longer true, and someone else will probably have more up-to-date information. But I'm telling you this just in case.)

surfingmomma

OOOOOOOOOOO--I am so thrilled with the helpful information.
thank you
what a great site!
surfingmomma

GAC

surfingmomma: the airport "closer" to the city of Palermo which you are referring to in your original posting is "Boccadifalco", a private airport which may no longer even be operating. All scheduled and charter flights operate out of Falcone/Borsellino International Airport at Punta Raisi, 30 kilometres west of downtown.

surfingmomma

you guys are so good to help out with this info.
thank you
surfingmomma