Larz

Still in the process of trying to put a trip together to include a visit to Siracusa and Taormina, via Catania - from Malta - and it's a bit tricky! The flights between Malta and Catania seem to be very early (e.g.,6am)or much later in the day, and vary according to the day of the week. And, the webpage for each airport shows a slightly different schedule(I hope to write them to get an updated schedule for July). If we take an early flight to/from Catania and Malta - we want to be sure we have a way of getting to/from Siracusa or Taormina, and Catania airport, very early in the morning - by bus or train. I've checked a number of books and webpages and attempted to decipher the train/bus schedules, but the info is inconsistent. Some sources say the buses run from 4am onward, while others say they don't start until after 6am! Some say the buses/trains run 6 per/day, while others report over 20. Another option would be to spend the first or last night in Sicily in Catania, to avoid any connection-problems. Any clarification or advice is much needed, and greatly appreciated!

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GeoffHamer

For Italian train services, use www.trenitalia.com - that's the Italian railways' web site.

Eloise

I'm doing the same thing: flying into Catania and going straight on to Siracusa. I thought I had bookmarked the page with the schedules, but unfortunately, all I got was the main Web site for the bus schedules:

http://195.103.201.200/interbushtm/

I'm sure that as soon as flights start arriving at the airport, there will be buses to the Catania bus station. And there are buses almost every hour from there to the Siracusa bus station. There are also direct buses from Catania airport to Siracusa, but they run less frequently.

I certainly would not stay in Catania the first night, but it might be more cautious to do so on the last night, unless you can get on-the-spot information once you are in Sicily that there is a service that will allow you to make your flight.

wantagig

Getting from the airport, early in the morning, to either Taormina or Siracusa will be easy. You can leave the airport at 7 AM and go to Taormina, or leave the airport at 8:40 AM to go to Siracusa. (Sundays excluded)

Returning to the airport from Taormina, the earliest you can get there via bus seems to be an 8:05 am airport arrival. (see: http://195.103.201.200/interbushtm/ricercarit.asp). If you click on "ritorno" you'll see the schedule from the airport to Taormina. I did notice on the schedule that these early morning bus rides do not include Sundays.

Last fall, we arrived early from Sardegna to the Catania airport. We easily found the Interbus bench and sure enough, the bus was there on time at 8:40 and took us right into Siracusa.

We ended up taking the bus from Siracusa direct to Taormina the next day. We enjoyed the ride. Buon Viaggio!

GAC

When consulting the Interbus schedule on the web: www.interbus.it, bear in mind that the website is seasonally updated, and that there are VERY many more bus runs to Taormina during the summer months. This accounts for the large disparity in reported services. The schedule is usually adequate to allow you to board the bus for either Taormina or Siracusa at the Catania airport, without having to ride into town. If all else fails, there are also trains, which begin service very early. See www.trenitalia.com