Arriving by car

If you plan to bring your own car or have hired a car in a different part of Italy, at some point you will need to take a ferry. The same goes for if you are arriving by train. There are four possible options:

Arriving by car ferry

Naples - Palermo / Palermo - Naples

Tirrenia (0039 081 0171998) have daily crossings: dep. 20:45, arr. 06:30, both ways. In August, there are also crossings on Saturday and Sunday: dep. 10.00, arr. 18.00 (this also applies to the last weekend in July and the first weekend in September.
Two and four bed cabins, restaurant, bar and cinema on board.

SNAV also have daily crossings: dep. 20:00, arr. 06:30, both ways. On the last Saturday in July and all Saturdays in August there are two further crossings: dep. 09:30, arr. 20.00 and dep. 22:30, arr. 09:00.
Two and four bed cabins, restaurant, bar, disco, children's area and cinema on board.

Genoa - Palermo / Palermo - Genoa

Palermo is over 1,700 miles from London on the motorway (the half-way point is Bologna), so driving all the way is an option for people who have time to spare. A more relaxing compromise is to drive to Genova and catch the car ferry to Palermo. The ferry has excellent cabins with bathrooms, as well as a heated pool, sundecks, a gym, restaurants and all sorts of other comforts and entertainments!

Grandi Navi Veloci (0039 010 2094591) make crossings every day except Sunday: dep. 23:00, arr. 19:00 (the day after) until 24th June and then dep. 21:00, arr. 17:00 (the day after) until 11th Sept.

Villa San Giovanni (Reggio Calabria) / Messina

Ferries leave Villa San Giovanni in Reggio Calabria to Messina every 20 minutes. The crossing takes 20 minutes. For information and bookings see Caronte, or call +39 0965 751413.

Sardinia - Sicily / Sicily - Sardinia

There are weekly departures from Cagliari to Trapani and Palermo, the overnight voyage takes about 13 hours. See: Tirrenia

Arriving by hydrofoil

Naples - Trapani (Favignana) / Trapani (Favignana)- Naples

Ustica Lines (0039 081 7612565) has crossings on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 1st June to 30th September: dep. 15:00, arr. 22:05, stopping at Ustica and Favignana on the way.

Naples - Aeolian Islands / Aeolian Islands - Naples

One way to get to the Aeolian islands would be to fly to Naples and then take a hydrofoil.
Ustica Lines (0039 081 7612565), for example, does daily crossings to Salina Santa Marina (where Think Sicily has several properties) from 29th June to 30th September: dep: 08:00, arr. 13.15.

Arriving by train

For those arriving by rail, at Villa San Giovanni in Reggio Calabria the train is loaded directly onto the ferry. At Messina on the other side of the Straits you either continue your onward journey on the same train or change. For more information see TrenItalia.