Car Hire in Palermo - Getting to Palermo
If you’re travelling by air, Falcone-Borsellino Airport is Sicily's largest airport. It is 31kms from Palermo, in Punta Raisi. Ryanair is the only airline offering direct flights from the UK to Palermo. Alternatively, Alitalia offers return flights via Rome or Milan.
From the airport, there's a half-hourly bus service from outside the arrivals hall into the city, stopping at the Piazza Politeama in the north and the Stazione Centrale in the south. This takes around 35 minutes and costs €4.65 one way; alternatively, a taxi costs at least €35.
If you’re driving, three autostrade link Palermo with the rest of Sicily. The most used route is the A19 from Catania or the A20 from Messina. From the west, the A29 comes in from Mazara del Vallo. In addition, two main highways link Palermo: the SS113 from Trapani in the west or Messina in the east, and the SS121 from Catania and Enna in the east. It is 233kms from Messina to Palermo. The drive is 721kms from Naples and 934kms from Rome.
By train, it is a three-hour ride from Messina on the northeastern coast to Palermo's main terminal, Stazione Centrale, which is linked to the centre by bus and taxi. There are seven trains a day from Rome; the journey takes 11 hours and costs €40 one way. There are three trains daily from Naples, taking 10 hours.
Palermo is also conveniently linked to other major cities in Sicily. The train ride from Catania in the east takes 3 hours, 30 minutes. From Trapani in the west, it takes 2 hours, 30 minutes by train to get to Palermo.
By bus from Rome, the journey time is about 12 hours, and tickets are approximately €38. The trip can be long and boring and is not recommended. Most bus fares on the island itself are inexpensive. For example, the cost from Trapani is €6.20 and a ticket from Messina is €13.
National ferry companies provide services from Genoa, Naples, Livorno, Cagliari and the smaller islands (Ustica, Pelagian, Egadi, and Aeolian Islands); while international services operate from Malta and Tunis. From April 20 to October 7, you can also take a ferry or hydrofoil from Naples to Palermo. The hydrofoil takes four hours and costs €52; while the slower ferry, costing €48, leaves at 19:30 and arrives the next morning.
