Catania Bus Transportation to Taormina

[jlandz09]

Hello all!

 

We are considering just grabbing a bus from Catania to Taormina on our day in port. We are the only cruise ship in port that day, with a passenger capacity ~4000.

 

Do these buses get pretty busy? Is there a chance we would miss a bus if we weren't one of the first ones in line and we would have to wait for a later one? We are trying to decide if a guided tour is worth the extra money or if we should try to do Taormina on our own.

 

Thanks!

[euro cruiser]

It seems to me that most foreign visitors head first for the train rather than the bus, as it seems easier given that the locations are fixed and easy to find.

 

The train is an option, even easier now that Trenitalia offers a train + bus combination that you can purchase from them, in advance.   These will sell out, so I would buy in advance.

 

On the Trenitalia site or app, use Catania Centrale as your starting point and Taormina Centro as your destination.  You'll see that the results include the Taormina Link bus.  Also note that one of the morning train options includes assigned seats, a benefit worth paying a little bit extra for (the 8:41 Intercity train, which puts you in Taormina at 9:55).   EN - Trenitalia

 

For the bus option:

 

The bus station on Via Archimede is only a few steps past Catania Centrale.  Here you can get buses to Taormina on Etna Trasporti.  For this your starting point is CATANIA - Via Archimede - Autostazione and your destination is TAORMINA - Via Pirandello - Terminal Bus.   Web site here.

 

Interbus offers the same service, from the same location:  https://www.interbus.it/travel-plan/fermata.php?id_vettore=1

Edited May 2, 2023 by euro cruiser

[jlandz09]

I had heard that the bus from Taormina station up the cliff to the city is unreliable. Is this overblown, or is it just in regards to how well it sticks to the timetable?

[jlandz09]

Sorry, one other thing. It looks like return trains are sold out in the early afternoon. The one I can get a ticket for is this one:

 

Our ship is scheduled to depart at 5:00. Is arriving back at 4:30 too risky? Would it be advisable to take the train there and the bus back?

[euro cruiser]

That's the Interbus, and it's probably overblown.  Visitors assume the worst and falsely assume that what happened to them the one time they were there must be the norm.  Also, sometimes they're just not reading the schedule properly, there are a lot of factors.

 

The Trenitalia bus connection is a different animal, if that's what you're looking at.

[euro cruiser]

Arriving back at 4:30 for a 5:00 departure is way too close.  For one thing, all aboard will be 4:30.

 

What is your travel date?  The full schedule may not be loaded into the system if you're looking too far in advance.

[jlandz09]

Friday, June 2.

[euro cruiser]

Ah, okay.  Those are all in the system by now.

[euro cruiser]

There's nothing wrong with train one way, bus the other, whatever best suits your schedule needs.

[jlandz09]

Bus schedule here doesn't seem to offer drop-off at Catania Centrale: https://www.interbus.it/travel-plan/fermata.php?stopid=92&data_dal=2023-06-02

 

Drop-off is a bit further north and about a 40-minute walk. We're not necessarily against this, but I think we'd prefer something that dropped us off closer to the terminal.

[euro cruiser]

Etna has a bus from Taormina at 14:45 (2:45 PM) that arrives to Catania at 15:55 (3:55 PM).

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by euro cruiser

[jlandz09]

I found it as well finally. Was looking in the wrong spot on the site.

 

This has all been supremely helpful! We are looking at a guided tour that includes Etna as well through italytours.eu, but it's definitely much pricier than just catching the train/bus to Taormina on our own. With the money we're spending on tours elsewhere, I just want to present fiance with an alternative that's cheaper.

 

Thanks so much!