thetrainfamilyThe joy was great when we boarded the train in Brindisi, Italy bound for Corigliano. It was the first time since we drove the North-Macedonian Bitola-Skopje section in September (2 months ago) that we were riding a train. It was certainly not with our good will that the train pause had lasted so long. But since the train lines in North-Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania are either very limited or non-existent, we had to go by bus while travelling in these countries.
The Regional Train from Brindisi to Milazzo
The reason why we embarked the train in Brindisi was, that we had arrived here by ferry from Vlore in Albania the day before. After a good nights sleep, we embarked the regional train heading towards Corigliano. It was a regional train and really nice. There was information in both Italian and English. We disembarked in Corigliano, where we stayed overnight until the following day, when we continued to Vila S. Giovanni with the aim of sailing to Messina in Sicily. On the trip we changed trains in Regio de Calaria. Our schedule looked like this: 10.08: departure from Corigliano 14.40: arrival Regio de Calabria 14.53: departure Regio de Calaria – Vila S Giovanni 15.09: Arrival Vila S Giovanni 16.10: Departure Vila S Giovanni (by ferry) 16.30: Arrival Messina 16.53: Departure Messina (by train) 17.23: Arrival Milazzo.
Ferry to Messina, Sicily
It was a very nice train ride all the way to Vila S Giovanni. We had beautiful views and large parts of the ride was just next to the sea. In Vila S Giovanni the train station is just above the ferry port, so we got to the port easily. It turned out we didn’t have a ferry ticket included in the train ticket, but we could easily buy it at the ticket office, which was also a waiting room. As stated in the plan, we waited an hour for the passenger ferry. However, time passed quickly. The children tried (unsuccessfully) to get 50 cents out of a grate and my husband and I filmed a train being loaded onto a ferry. This was very interessting as it is the only place left in Europe, where passenger trains go onto a ferry.
Our passenger ferry was an older ferry, but it sailed at great speed to Messina in Sicily. The city is a large port city situated on the other side of the Straits of Messina. The trip took 20 minutes.
Trains on Sicily
From the ferry port in Messina it was approx. 10 minutes walk to the train station. It was a middel size train station, with 10 tracks. The train was already at the platform and we got on immediately. Despite having been traveling most of the day, we were relaxed when we arrived. Train travel in Italy – and also on Sicily – is comfortable and easy to go to. So a clear recommendation from us.
