From Catania Airport to Taormina: Every Option

From Catania to Taormina, the road from the airport covers about 60 kilometers (37 miles), most of it on the A18 motorway toward Messina. By car, which means a taxi, a private driver or a rental, the trip takes about an hour in light traffic. The direct bus is scheduled at 1 hour 25 minutes. The train needs a shuttle at one end and a bus at the other, and takes between an hour and a half and 2 hours 45 minutes door to door.

The airport, Catania Fontanarossa, lies about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the center of Catania, and Taormina is to the north, so every option starts by crossing or bypassing the city.

What is the best way to travel from Catania to Taormina?

It depends on the hour you land, how much luggage you have and how many you are. For a normal day:

• Taxi or private driver: about an hour, door to door. The simplest choice after a long flight.
• Direct bus: about 1 hour 25 minutes to the bus terminal in Taormina, with departures every 15 to 30 minutes for most of the day in October.
• Train: about 50 to 90 minutes from the airport station to Taormina-Giardini, plus a shuttle to reach the station and a bus up to the town.
• Rental car: about an hour, then a garage at the edge of town.

Traveling light in daylight, the bus is the easy public option. Landing late, with a family or with heavy bags, a car with a driver saves the most effort.

The direct bus from Catania airport to Taormina

The scheduled bus is run by Etna Trasporti, which the airport lists among its out-of-town bus operators, with Taormina and Giardini Naxos among the destinations. The timetable gives 85 minutes from the airport to the Taormina bus terminal, 90 on some runs.

In the timetable published for fall 2026, buses leave the airport for Taormina every day. In mid-October they run every 15 to 30 minutes for most of the day, from 7:15 a.m. (7:45 a.m. on Sundays) until the last departure at 10:45 p.m. In mid-November the service thins out to about 22 departures a day, the last at 7:45 p.m. If you land in the evening, check the operator's site for your exact date before relying on the bus.

As of September 2026, tickets are sold online and at the operator's ticket offices, and a return trip made on the same day costs less than two singles.

How do I get from Catania to Taormina by train?

The airport has its own railway stop, Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa, about 600 meters from the terminal. You can walk there along a pedestrian path or take the AMTS shuttle bus, which runs every 10 minutes from 4:30 a.m. to 10:40 p.m. and costs €1.00 (2026 fare).

From the station, regional trains run to Taormina-Giardini, the station on the coast below the town, roughly every hour. On a weekday in October 2026, Trenitalia's own planner gives between about 50 minutes and an hour and a half for the ride, some trains direct and some with a change at Catania Centrale, for €6.50. On Sundays there are fewer trains, with a gap of more than three hours around midday.

The last leg is the Taormina Link, a bus that leaves from the square in front of Taormina-Giardini station and climbs to the center in about 15 minutes. As of September 2026, it costs €2 on top of the train fare. Trenitalia sells the whole trip as one ticket: choose "Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa Bus" as the departure and "Taormina Centro" as the destination, and the shuttle, the train and the Link bus are included, €9.90 for a trip in October 2026. A ticket to or from "Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa" alone does not include the shuttle.

Door to door, the planner gives about an hour and a half on a good connection and up to 2 hours 45 minutes on a poor one. Paper tickets for regional trains must be validated in the machines at the station before boarding, while electronic tickets bought online or in the app do not need it. Inspectors fine on the spot.

Taxi from Catania airport to Taormina

Licensed taxis wait at the exit of the Arrivals level. They are white, with a TAXI sign on the roof and the license number on the doors, at the back and inside. Fares are set by the Municipality of Catania. The airport advises asking the staff at the rank about the fare before you get in, and warns that other drivers waiting at the exit may not be licensed. Allow about an hour to Taormina.

A private driver

A car with driver, called NCC in Italy (noleggio con conducente), works by advance booking, with the price agreed before the trip. Taxis wait at the rank; an NCC driver is booked ahead. It suits a late arrival, a family with luggage, or a first night in a hotel that is hard to find in the dark.

By rental car

Rental desks are on the Arrivals level. The U.S. Embassy advises Americans who plan to drive in Italy to get an International Driving Permit before leaving home. From the airport the route joins the A18 motorway toward Messina, a toll road, as far as the Taormina exit: about 60 kilometers (37 miles), an hour in light traffic.

The harder part is at the other end. Many Italian historic centers limit cars with camera-controlled zones, called ZTL, and a fine can reach your home months later through the rental company. In Taormina, as of September 2026, the municipal company ASM runs two large garages open 24 hours a day: Lumbi, at the entrance to town, and Porta Catania. From Lumbi a shuttle leaves every 15 minutes for Piazza San Pancrazio, about 30 meters from Porta Messina, the gate at the start of Corso Umberto, the main street. Ask your hotel before you arrive where to leave the car.

How do I get to Catania from Taormina?

Buses leave the Taormina bus terminal for Catania, about 70 minutes, and for the airport, about 85, with departures in mid-October 2026 from 6:15 a.m. (6:45 a.m. on Sundays) to 10:45 p.m., and in mid-November until 7:45 p.m. By train, Taormina-Giardini to Catania Centrale takes between about 35 minutes and an hour, for €5.50 in October 2026.

If your first or last night is in Catania rather than Taormina, the AMTS Alibus connects the airport with Catania's central station every 25 minutes, for €4.00 in 2026.

For a flight home, leave a margin. The bus is scheduled at 85 minutes, the train combination can take up to 2 hours 45 minutes, and ash from Etna can suspend flights at Catania, as it did several times in August 2026. Check your flight's status on the day, and read our note on whether Sicily is safe for what the volcano means for insurance.

Is Taormina nicer than Catania?

They are different places. Taormina is a town of about 10,000 residents on a terrace about 200 meters above the Ionian Sea, known above all for its ancient theater, the second-largest in Sicily after the one in Siracusa. Catania is Sicily's second-largest city, at the foot of Etna, with a historic center rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and listed by UNESCO among the Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto. One is a small town to stay in; the other is a city to give a full day on foot. Our guides to things to do in Taormina and to Catania's fish market and street food go further.

The transfer on an Italy Authentica journey

On our Sicily journeys, Amber Sicily and Sicily, the Magic of Jasmine, the pick-up from Catania or the airport and the transfer to your accommodation in Taormina are included, and the group, up to eight guests, is accompanied from the first day. You choose the flight; from arrival, the transfers in the itinerary are organized for you.