Coach & Minibus Hire in Italy

Catania Fontanarossa, the Way into Taormina and Etna

With no airport of its own, Taormina is reached by most visitors through Catania Fontanarossa, about 65 km away. A minibus with driver takes you up the coast and round the hairpins to the town, or straight towards the slopes of Etna.

At the airport

Fontanarossa works with Terminals A and C, and to reach the departures side of C you use the arrivals road. A dedicated bus car park, PB/BUS, exists, while the barrier-controlled lane in arrivals is open only to authorised categories such as public transport and crew transfers. No pick-up rule for tourist coaches is spelled out, so the meeting point and the place where the minibus waits are agreed with the operator at booking.

While the old Terminal Morandi comes down, the road next to it stays closed, so routes around the terminals may differ from older maps.

Mercedes-Benz V-Class, rear view
Mercedes-Benz V-Class, rear view

Up to Taormina

The drive runs mostly on the A18 motorway; allow an hour and ten minutes when traffic is light, more in summer. Taormina keeps tourist buses out of its historic centre altogether. They park in the town's coach parks, Lumbi being the main one, and a shuttle climbs from there to Piazza San Pancrazio, by Porta Messina where Corso Umberto begins, roughly every quarter of an hour.

If your hotel is below the town, in Mazzarò, Giardini Naxos or Letojanni, say so when you enquire, so the operator plans the right approach and vehicle size for those hairpin roads.

The terminals in brief

  • Terminal C (its departures area is reached by the arrivals road)
  • Terminal A

Worth knowing about Catania Airport

  • Volcanic ash from Etna occasionally closes or limits the airport; flights are then diverted to other Sicilian airports.
  • Siracusa (Ortigia) is about 64 km by road, about 1 h 10 min in light traffic.
  • Etna Sud (Rifugio Sapienza) is about 44 km by road, about 1 h 10 min in light traffic; the mountain road is slow.
  • Regional coaches run from the airport to Siracusa, Taormina, Messina, Palermo, Agrigento and Ragusa.
  • City bus Alibus links the airport with central Catania and the railway station; the railway station Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa serves the airport, and an extension of the Catania metro to the airport is under construction.
  • The former Terminal Morandi is being demolished, and the road next to it is closed to traffic during the works.
  • Catania airport is the usual gateway for Taormina and Etna; Taormina has no airport.

Etna and Siracusa

On Etna's southern flank, the Rifugio Sapienza is 44 km or so from arrivals; the final climb is slow, and the trip takes around seventy minutes. How high visitors may go depends on the current ordinances and the volcano's mood, so pack warm layers and treat the upper slopes as a possibility rather than a promise. Ortigia, in Siracusa, is about 64 km south, a similar time.

What travellers ask us

Is central Catania far from the airport?

No, about 9 km, around 15 minutes. Alibus links the airport with the city centre and the railway station.

What if Etna's ash diverts our flight?

Now and then volcanic ash shuts the airport or cuts its traffic, and planes are sent to other Sicilian airports. Tell the operator as soon as you know, so the pick-up can be moved to the right airport.

Can the minibus reach our hotel in Taormina?

Only if the hotel lies outside the limited-traffic zone. Within the old centre buses may neither enter nor stop, so many groups finish the last stretch by the shuttle from Lumbi or on foot.

More places for your group

Other vehicles with a driver