THallie

Hello,
I'm new to the message board and would like some advice for my first trip to Sicily. My husband and I will be in Sicily from Feb. 28-March 3 and are looking at traveling from Agrigento to Taormina...what is the best method of transportation for this route? Bus vs. train--and does anyone know how long it takes for either (with stops/changes in trains, buses, etc.) If anyone has a website (in English) where I could look this up, that would be welcome as well!
Thanks so much!
TJH

kja

Hi, THallie -
I can't help you with bus schedules, but for the train schedules, you can check:
http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

THallie

Thanks, Kja. I found some routes from Agrigento to Taormina via rail...sounds like we will need to transfer at one or 2 spots. Thanks for your help.
THallie

NeoPatrick

Probably not the answer you want to hear, but when we first visited Sicily, we planned to take public transporation from Taormina to Siracusa and then to Agrigento. Once we got to Siracusa we found it was really impractical to get to Agrigento by train and/or bus and ended up renting a car to drive one way to Agrigento instead.

THallie

Thanks for the information. Do you recall how long it took you to drive from Siracusa to Agrigento? And, how was the drive? Thanks

NeoPatrick

I'd say between 2 and 3 hours. We went up the coast a ways and then across the main road through Enna. We thought about sidetracking and doing lunch in Enna, but didn't. Very easy and very pretty drive. There are, of course, some much more back roads further south making a "more direct" route between Siracusa and Agrigento, but I'd think they'd be for the slightly more adventurous.

Zerlina

If you take the route through Enna, you might want to sidetrack about 10 miles from there to Piazza Armerina for the Roman Villa del Casale: the largest area of Roman floor mosaics uncovered anywhere and all in color - including girls in bikinis.

Sue_xx_yy

It might be simpler to take a bus to Catania airport or Catania (about 1.5 hours) and there switch to another bus (1 hour 40 mins) to Agrigento. Together with change time, it would be about 4 hours.

You need two websites, www.interbus.it, and another one (Italian only, but easy to figure out) http://www.saistrasporti.it/

Buona viaggio!

KayF

We did a one day bus tour from Taormina to Agrigento and return. It left about 6am and got back to Taormina late at night. We had a couple of hours at Agrigento, which I found quite disappointing, then about an hour at Piazza Armerina where the fantastic mosaics are. I would do the trip again just to see the mosaics. Perhaps you could look into a day tour (without the return sector?).

By the way, Taormina is fantastic, we were concerned about costs there as it has a reputation for being expensive but you can seek out cafes etc off the main street where prices can be cheaper. The hike up to Castelmola at the very top was worth it for the views!
Kay

THallie

Thanks to everyone for providing information on getting from Agrigento to Taormina; we appreciate it!
NeoPatrick:
The car route seems very interesting & fun to us! Does anyone know the name of a car rental company in Agrigento? Is this something you suggest booking in advance? And do you remember how much it cost to rent it for the drive you made? We've never rented a vehicle in a foreign country (always try to take public transportation!)
Thanks!

NeoPatrick

Ours was last minute in Siracusa, and it's been too long ago for the price to mean anything at all.

I'd check first with AutoEurope which brokers a lot of different agencies, and many here (including myself) find to be the best to deal with as well as nearly always the least expensive.

carmar

We just returned from Sicily last week and drove almost the entire island. We drove from Agrigento to Siracusa and then onto Taormina. The drive from Agrigento to Siracuse is s/l/o/w and boring but nothing like the drive from Marsala to Agrigento. I think it took us approx. 3 hours to get to Taormina because you have to got through several towns and it gets confusing on which way to turn - it's not a straight shot.
The drive for Siracusa to Taormina was a breeze. A good highway until you reach Catania and then it turns into a autostrada.
We use AutoEurope everytime we visit Europe and it cost us $650 for 11 days.

Sue_xx_yy

Hello carmar, I hope you enjoyed your trip.

Why do you say the stretch from Agrigento to Siracusa is 'nothing like' the [slow and boring] stretch from Marsala to Agrigento? Did you find the Marsala stretch comparatively worse, or better?

(sorry, Thallie, for jumping in.)

carmar

I'm sorry that I didn't make myself clear. The drive from Marsala to Agrigento was awful. Slow 2 lane roads through little towns and behind trucks.
We always drive a car on our European trips so we can see out of the way places but maybe taking a trian in Sicily is the way to go. The road system is not as good as it is on the mainland.

THallie

Thanks for the info. We will only be driving from Agrigento to Taormina, not to Siracusa, so I think the route will be much different. Does anyone know if the route from Agrigento to Taormina (going through Enna, I believe) is a straight shot or if there are many different roads/turns to take? Any route information would be helpful.
Thanks!!

TravMimi

You can use googleearth.com to plan your route and see exactly what it's like. Just open the "directions" area and key in Agrigento, Italy and Taormina, Italy. You'll see the route. Click on yellow ballons for notes.

TravMimi

Adding to my above post:
Sorry, it didn't even occur to me that you might not have googleearth. Just download the free version. Take a day to figure it out. There is more info there than you will probably ever need. Warning: it can become addictive

Saraho

ttt

sssteve

Check out my web page on our trip to Sicily. Perhaps it can help you in your planning. Here's the URL:

http://www.travel.stv77.com/sicily/sicily.htm

Ramblero

We drove (in March 05) from Palermo to Selenunte to Agrigento to Caltagirone to Catania to Taormina (in 3 days). The Agrigento:Caltagrione:Catania:Taormina leg was about an 9am to 5pm drive...with about a 3+ hr stop in Caltagrione (shopping for pottery + lunch). The drive from Gala to Calagrione was pretty. Driving thru Catania was insane. Plan on being lost and doing a lot of shaking of fist and biting of palm. It was great fun. Just remember to continue going North...and along the coast. Maps...such as they are, will do you no good. Have a wonderful time. We did, even tho (I found out later) I was trés mal...with pnuemonia. The delirium just added to the color....

: )