The only train in Europe that travels on a ferry takes tourists to a beautiful island.
Trenitalia operates an ‘InterCity Notte’ service between Rome on the Italian mainland and Siracusa and Palermo on the island of Sicily. The journey takes between nine and 11 hours.
The line goes through Naples, which can be used as a connection to visit Sorrento, Pompeii and Herculaneum or the islands of Capri and Ischia.
The train is put onto a ferry to cross the Straits of Messina, which takes about 30 minutes. Passengers can stay seated on the train in the ferry’s hold or head to the deck to enjoy the views of Sicily.
Once it arrives in Sicily, the train is split into two parts and continues on, with one heading north to Palermo and the other south to Siracusa.
This is the last remaining train in Europe to make a journey on a ferry, after the train from Hamburg to Copenhagen stopped to run via the overland route in 2019.
Once in Sicily, passengers could stop at the scenic beach town of Cefalu, or travel to beautiful Taormina, Catania – the base for visiting Mount Etna.
There are three classes to choose from onboard – branded as Comfort, Deluxe and Excelsior.
All trains offer both sleeping cars (Deluxe) and couchette cars (Comfort) with toilets at the end of the carriage. Excelsior is also a more premium class – a sleeping car with an ensuite toilet and shower.
All compartments are air conditioned, have power sockets and are lockable, however, only Excelsior accommodation have access to an onboard shower within the compartment.
Tourists who have been on the train described it as “an epic journey” through “lovely countryside”, with many noting how “especially fun” it was to ride on Europe’s sole operating train ferry.
If visitors want to continue their ride, they can board the Minuetto diesel train which snakes across the island, and through seven UNESCO World Heritage sites on the four-hour trip from Catania to Comiso.
This historical route, which was built by hand 150 years ago, has six large bridges, 43 small bridges, and 13 tunnels, including an incredible spiral tunnel in which the carriages travel for one mile inside the mountain.