Transportation to Taormina

[Rad60]

We are on the Breakaway 6/5-6/14 and are trying to see if there are any good options cruisers have used to get to Taormina. It's a Sunday and the trains are limited especially with crowds so afraid we won't get on one to make it back to the ship. A private car is almost 200.00 and I hear taxis are more. There's a on your own tour with NCL which I tried to sign up for but it's booked. I can't understand if this is such a popular destination that NCL doesn't arrange for multiple transports to this town. Perhaps they do, anyhow looking to see if anyone has done this and for any suggestions. I'd hate to miss going to this charming town. Thank you!

[MeHeartCruising]

The train doesn’t go directly there anyway.  The On Your Own excursion usually is what I would advise.  Have you tried calling NCL about it?  If you’re using the website it might not have the latest offerings.  Or, are there other tours that combine Taormina with something else?  I’ve been the a few times and one was as part of an excursion that also visited Mt. Etna (which was quite interesting).

Edited March 31, 2023 by MeHeartCruising

[JimmyTheSaint]

We were in Messina on a Sunday last October and used this company 

 

Transfer from Messina to Taormina: shuttle bus (sightseeing-experience.com)

 

Very easy to find the meeting point, a three minute walk from the ship.

[euro cruiser]

The trains between Messina and Taormina are all regionales, which means you'll get on, you just may not get a seat.

 

Also, Trenitalia now sells a combo ticket, train to Taormina-Giardini followed by a Trenitalia bus five minutes later that leaves you at the bus station in Taormina.  It's very simple.

 

Normally I would not advise purchasing regional tickets in advance but since itinerary is limited by the number of seats on the bus, I would go ahead and buy it if you decide to go this route.

 

The fare is 6,30 euro each way, which I imagine is a boatload less than the cruise line's on-your-own tour.

Edited April 1, 2023 by euro cruiser

[Over from NZ]

We're in Messina 14/6 from noon to 8pm. Wanting to get to Taormina again. There doesn't appear to be any trains running that day? The shuttle bus mentioned above not running that day either. Any ideas?

[euro cruiser]

You are looking too far into the future.  There is a bi-annual system update in early June, regionale trains (which means almost all of the trains between Messina and Taormina) will be the last loaded into the system.  All you can do is keep checking until they do load them.

[Over from NZ]

10 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

You are looking too far into the future.  There is a bi-annual system update in early June, regionale trains (which means almost all of the trains between Messina and Taormina) will be the last loaded into the system.  All you can do is keep checking until they do load them.

Thank you for that! 

[LGinPA]

On 3/31/2023 at 11:43 AM, JimmyTheSaint said:

We were in Messina on a Sunday last October and used this company 

 

Transfer from Messina to Taormina: shuttle bus (sightseeing-experience.com)

 

Very easy to find the meeting point, a three minute walk from the ship.

 

Thank you!  This bus service by City Sightseeing is available the day we are there.  It only cost €30 compared to $79 for the cruise line's "on your own". The other difference is that it leaves later, at 10:30 am and the cruise line leaves at 8:45am. I'm VERY happy about getting a day to sleep in!  We're doing it! 

 

Thanks again. 

[scsagh]

On 4/2/2023 at 3:39 AM, Over from NZ said:

We're in Messina 14/6 from noon to 8pm. Wanting to get to Taormina again. There doesn't appear to be any trains running that day? The shuttle bus mentioned above not running that day either. Any ideas?

Over from NZ, are you also on the Enchanted Princess? That is the same date and times that we are there. We booked one of the excursions offered by Discover Messina https://discovermessina.com/

They offer several that pick up from the cruise terminal at 12:30 pm (or half hour after the ship docks. We've never been here before, so have no first hand experience with them. They had good reviews on Tripadvisor, but we booked directly with them, as it was less expensive than thru TA.They were very helpful and responsive in getting us rebooked when I accidently booked the 15th instead of the 14th. OOPS!

[Over from NZ]

5 hours ago, scsagh said:

Over from NZ, are you also on the Enchanted Princess? That is the same date and times that we are there. We booked one of the excursions offered by Discover Messina https://discovermessina.com/

They offer several that pick up from the cruise terminal at 12:30 pm (or half hour after the ship docks. We've never been here before, so have no first hand experience with them. They had good reviews on Tripadvisor, but we booked directly with them, as it was less expensive than thru TA.They were very helpful and responsive in getting us rebooked when I accidently booked the 15th instead of the 14th. OOPS!

Thanks. Yes, we're on the Enchanted. Have now booked a tour through italytoursharing to The Godfather highlights and Taormina. Kind regards

 

[Hydro ergo]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:27 PM, scsagh said:

Over from NZ, are you also on the Enchanted Princess? That is the same date and times that we are there. We booked one of the excursions offered by Discover Messina https://discovermessina.com/

They offer several that pick up from the cruise terminal at 12:30 pm (or half hour after the ship docks. We've never been here before, so have no first hand experience with them. They had good reviews on Tripadvisor, but we booked directly with them, as it was less expensive than thru TA.They were very helpful and responsive in getting us rebooked when I accidently booked the 15th instead of the 14th. OOPS!

@scsagh How did your tour with Discover Messina go?  The tour I had booked for that day (quickly approaching--Oct 30!) fell through and now I'm looking to find another option.  It looks like they have some availability and I thought I would check here on CC to see about any recent opinions.  thank you!

[scsagh]

7 hours ago, Hydro ergo said:

@scsagh How did your tour with Discover Messina go?  The tour I had booked for that day (quickly approaching--Oct 30!) fell through and now I'm looking to find another option.  It looks like they have some availability and I thought I would check here on CC to see about any recent opinions.  thank you!

Discover Messina was at the port to pick up groups for several different tours. They were a little disorganized with our particular group, but the rest all went off on time. Our small bus had people going on two different tours. The people giving info enroute were good. We were on a tour of Taormina with a Pizza making class. The tour was good, as they provided headsets, but with a mix-up, there weren't enough, so it was a little confusing as the guides had to talk louder. I still enjoyed the tour. The Pizza Making was just OK. Part of the group did the pizza making with one guide, and the other half of people from the tour bus got back on the bus and went to Castlemola. They came back and got the rest of us after our pizza making, and we all arrived back to the ship in time for our ships reboarding time.