Taormina is a beautiful cliff-side town with a ton of history, charm, and all the White Lotus vibes you can handle. It’s not to be missed if your cruise is docking in Messina! Our cruise ship had several shore excursions available to take us out to Taormina, but I was shocked to see how expensive they were! We then decided to do a “DIY Excursion” and figure it all out on our own. It was much easier than I anticipated, and saved us hundreds of Euros! Here is my ultimate guide on how to get to Taormina from Messina Cruise Port!
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Docking at the Messina Cruise Port
Hands down, Messina was the easiest port we docked in on our 10 day cruise! The port is located here, right in the center of town. Simply walk off the ship, through a small lot, and you are right on the main street. Only a couple minute walk away is the Basilica Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, which is home to the Astronomical Clock of the Cathedral of Messina. Each day at noon, the bronze statues will move and put on a quick show that is quite famous in Messina. If your ship is docking slightly before noon, you can definitely squeeze this in before making your way to Taormina!
After docking, make your way to the Messina Centrale Train Station, located here. It is a quick fifteen minute walk from the port and is along the main road. It’s a very safe, easy walk and is the most efficient way to get to the train station and off to Taormina!
Messina Centrale Train Station
Upon arrival, you’ll want to head straight for the red kiosks that read Trenitalia. At the first screen, you have the option on the bottom to select a new language to make it easy to navigate through the next screens. Simply click through indicating that you want to purchase a one-way ticket to Taormina-Giardini and select the number of tickets to purchase. Available train times will populate and you can select the next available one. Keep in mind that your tickets are only valid on that time train, and if you miss it you will need to re-purchase tickets for the new train!
About 15 minutes before departure, the platform number will populate on the main departure board in the terminal. As soon as that information is available, you can make your way to the train right away.
Tip: If you need help using the kiosks, there is a Trenitalia help window available in the terminal. When we visited, there was no line and she was able to assist us with all of our questions right away.
Train to Taormina-Giardini
Once your train arrives, you can kick back and settle in for the ride. Depending on the time and which train was the next to leave, the ride can take anywhere from 35 minutes to 1 hour. Regardless of which train you end up on, it’s an incredibly scenic and comfortable ride. When boarding the train in Messina, try to get a seat on the left side of the train. You’ll have coastal views for almost the whole ride!
Unfortunately there is no train that takes you directly to the center of Taormina so you will get off at the closest station, which is Taormina-Giardini.
Bus to Central Taormina
After getting off the train in Taormina-Giardini, make your way through the terminal and then turn right when you exit. All the way at the end of the sidewalk you will see signs (pictured above) for the bus up to Central Taormina. The town is located atop a steep cliff and I wouldn’t recommend walking up. There will be cabs available at the station offering rides, but expect to pay upwards of €20 to get to town. Your best bet is to wait for the bus and save a lot of money!
At the bus stop, you will find a paper schedule with timetables on them. In our experience, these times meant absolutely nothing. The buses just showed up whenever, not on a schedule at all. My advice is to just be patient- it will show up at some point! Once it does arrive, you will pay your driver the €1,10 one-way fare per person and be on your way. The bus will take you up the hill to town, and will drop you off here. You’re then in the center of town and free to start exploring!
Read More: How to Spend a Half Day in Taormina
Getting Back to the Cruise Ship
Getting back to the cruise ship from Taormina is as simple as reversing the directions. First, you will need to catch the bus back to town. The bus stop is the same place that it dropped you off, located here. If you want a landmark to put into your map, the bus stop is right next door to the Ristorante Sapori Di Mare.
Unfortunately for us, we ended up waiting about an hour for the bus to arrive to take us back to the station. Several other busses arrived to pick up or drop off passengers, but none were going back to the stazione (train station). We sat there contemplating other options as we watched the time tick away and started getting nervous. One option is to walk down (screenshot above). It’s only about a 30 minute walk, but it’s very steep and we were told to be very careful. Just as we started walking away to begin our trek down, the correct bus arrived! The lesson here is to allow yourself plenty of time, as these busses aren’t very reliable.
Once we arrived back at Taormina-Giardini, the rest of the journey was seamless. Simply board your train back to Messina Centrale (sitting on the right side of the train this time for the views!), and then make the quick walk back to the cruise ship. Then straight to the bar to toast a wonderful day in Taormina!
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2 Comments
Hi Meg, your instructions on how to get to Taormina from the port in Messina were invaluable to us today. We followed them step by step and had no trouble finding our way there. Thank you so much xo
Thank you so much for letting me know, and I’m so glad it helped!! 🥹 Hope you had the best day!