Rome to Sicily – A Night Train Across the Sea

What Makes This Journey Special

What makes this journey truly unique is that the entire train boards a ferry across the Strait of Messina from mainland Italy to Sicily. It’s the only ferry boarding train in Europe.

The train travels south though the Italian mainland, carrying you swiftly through countryside before slowing to hug the coast beyond Naples. Eventually, it reaches Villa San Giovanni, where the carriages are carefully rolled onto a specially designed train ferry for the short crossing to Messina in Sicily.

During the 20-30 minute crossing, passengers can leave their carriages to head up on deck for fresh air and to stretch their legs, while making the most of the train/ferry crossing experience.

Once in Messina, the train is rolled back onto solid ground, reconnected to the tracks, and divided in two; one half continuing west towards Palermo, the other heading south to Catania and Syracuse.

Day or Night?

My reason for opting for the sleeper train over the day service was simply to save time. I only had three weeks in Italy and desperately wanted to do this rail journey and spend a decent amount of time in Sicily. Taking the night train gave me a full day in Rome and a full day in Syracuse upon arrival. By contrast, travelling by day would have meant missing Rome altogether (it would have become little more than a connection) and arriving in Syracuse in the evening, turning the journey into a full travel day. The sleeper also meant I was tucked up in bed for most of the 12-hour journey, which felt like a small luxury.

The benefit of taking the train by day is, of course, the views. You get to watch the Italian countryside roll past, with stretches of coastline appearing outside your window. However, there’s no WiFi onboard, so you’re entirely reliant on your own data, and catering is limited to vending machines, meaning you’ll need to stock up on food in advance. On the plus side, you’ll fully aware of when the train reaches Villa San Giovanni and prepares to board the ferry, allowing you to experience the whole process consciously, rather than being woken up with a jolt as the train rolls onto the ferry, which is exactly what happened to me on the sleeper.

Travelling by sleeper was the right decision for me at the time. But if I were to do this journey again – and I very much want to – I’d choose the day train, simply to experience of both versions of this remarkable crossing.

Practical Info – Booking & Tips

Booking the Journey

I booked my tickets through Trainline, but given my experience on this route, I would book directly with Trenitalia.

For a three-week rail trip, Trainline made sense. It offers a straightforward booking process which allowed me to store all my tickets in one place. Its real-time integration with Trenitalia meant I could see live prices and availability, which made planing much easier.

However, for this particular leg of the journey, I wish had booked directly with Trenitalia. The train was delayed by three to four hours, which entitled all passengers to a 100% refund. Despite booking through Trainline, the reimbursement had to be claimed via Trenitalia. After six months, I eventually received an email asking for my bank details, something I wasn’t comfortable providing via email after such a long wait. Had I booked directly, the refund would have gone straight back to my card within weeks.

Booking Tips & Things to Know

• Book as far in advance as possible to make savings on ticket prices. Trenitalia releases tickets around four months ahead. I booked two months in advance and paid £91/€100 for a single-occupancy sleeper cabin.
• Look for journeys with zero changes, especially when travelling overnight. Being able to settle in properly without worrying about changing trains makes a huge difference.
• Prices vary depending on demand and booking time, but as a rough guide (all prices are based on 2nd class):
  • Single sleeper cabin: €107 – €215
  • Couchette (bed in shared cabin): €55 – €100
  • Day train tickets: €43 – €80
• One ticket = one passenger. If you want an entire cabin for your group, you’ll need to purchase a ticket for each berth, even if you’re travelling solo.
• Solo travellers:
  • A private cabin (which I booked) was absolutely worth the price.
  • To save money, you can book a bed in a shared cabin.
  • Trenitalia also offers women-only four-berth cabins.
• Use Google Translate. Some Trenitalia booking pages will occasionally default back to Italian, even if you’ve selected English. Despite this quirk, the booking system generally easy to use.
• Learn your Italian station names. Even on the English site, stations appear in Italian, for example:
  • Rome = Roma Termini
  • Syracuse = Siracusa.

Train & Cabin Types

InterCity Notte (Night Train)

The InterCity Notte night service offers two main types of accommodation: Comfort Couchettes and Deluxe Sleeping Cars. Seats are not available on this service and the former Excelsior Cabins (which included en-suite toilets and showers) were removed from this route in 2025.

All night-train bookings include:

• Bedding (pillow, sheets, and blanket – it gets quite cold at night, even during summer)
• A personal hygiene kit
• Canned water
• A light breakfast (coffee, orange juice, and food – I believe this was a croissant and breakfast bar)

There is no restaurant car on this service, so you’ll need to bring your own food. There’s also no WiFi onboard.

Comfort Couchettes (4-Berth)
This is the most economical sleeping option and is ideal for families or group travelling on a budget.

• You can book an individual couchette, but should expect to share with strangers
• When booking for a group, remember to book one couchette per person
• Solo women can book ladies-only cabins
• Toilets and washbasins are located in the corridor at the end of each carriage

Deluxe Sleeping Cars (1, 2 or 3-Bed)
These are private cabins offering far more comfort and privacy.

• Cabins can be booked for single, double, or triple occupancy
• You must book the entire cabin, even if the number of beds doesn’t match your group size
• Cabins are lockable from the inside and include a call button for assistance
• Facilities include comfortable beds (I slept most of the journey and I’m not the world’s best sleeper), a washbasin, power sockets, and a clothes rack
• Toilets and washrooms are located in the corridor

Solo sleeper cabin (please excuse my junk) and the included hygiene kit.

Day Service

The daytime train service is primarily operated by InterCity (IC) trains and offers two classes of seating: First Class and Second Class.

All seats are reclining and come with power sockets, air conditioning, and tables. Unlike the night service, there are no private cabins. Like the night service, there’s no WiFi and no restaurant car. There is, however, a service car with vending machines selling a limited selection of hot and cold drinks, and snacks.

First Class

• A more spacious and generally quieter environment
• Seats are arranged in a 2 (face-to-face) or 1 (solo) configuration

Second Class

• The more budget-friendly option
• Seats are usually in a 2+2 configuration
• Occasionally, you may get lucky and find a service offering solo seats in second class

My Experience of InterCity Notte

I booked a solo cabin on the 20:16 service, due to arrive in Syracuse at 9:01. On paper, it was perfect: sleep through most of the 12+ hour journey and arrive with the entire day ahead of me. It didn’t work out that way.

Waiting at Roma Termini

I arrived at Rome Termini at 6pm with plenty of to spare, not once expecting the four hour wait that lay ahead.

With every minute I felt worse. My COVID-ridden body was in pain and I was struggling to keep it together. The only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that I would soon be on the train, in my own cabin. Around me, later trains were announced, boarded, and departed, while the InterCity Notte remained stubbornly platform-less.

Finally, about 9pm, the platform was announced. Passengers hurried off, expecting to find the sleeper train waiting for us, only to arrive at an empty platform.

Delays and Disorder

All I could do was watch the delay time tick up: 60 minutes… 90… 120. Then, at 10pm, the train disappeared from the platform board completely.

Things escalated quickly. Tempers flared, voices were raised, there was jabbing and pushing. Station management arrived, followed closely by the police. It felt like a dramatic play unfolded in front of me. An Italian couple, attempting to translating, reassured me with “you don’t mess with Italians, this will get resolved”.

Snack boxes were handed out and we were ushered off the platform into the area before the ticket gates, though not allowed to leave entirely. I gave up my snack box to another passenger who’d missed out, and slumped in a corner with a bottle of water.

False Hope

At 11pm came what sounded like good news. We would board the train originally scheduled for the 23:25 service, while those passengers would take the replacement train arriving around midnight.

Except departure board had already announced the 23:35 service, and those passengers had boarded. What followed was more drama; two train loads of passengers, station management, and police, all shouting in Italian. By this point, I was ill, exhausted, and completely done. All I wanted was a hotel and a bed.

Finally Onboard

We eventually left Rome at 1am.

The train manager spoke very little English but he was incredibly kind, finding ways to communicate regardless. I was simply relieved to be on the train at last, with somewhere to rest my head. I went to bed and was rocked gently asleep by the motion of the train.

A Rough Night

A couple of hours later, I was woke to my stomach doing flip-flops. The train was rocking with such gusto that I initially blamed motion sickness; but it wasn’t that. It was COVID playing an evil trick on me.

Here’s brief a toilet review: it was rank! Truly horrendous. Dry-retching horrendous. The first visit was just about tolerable. During my second visit, I walked in, smelled it, and immediately vomited all over myself. The only saving grace was the sink in my cabin, which allowed me to clean myself up.

The Crossing

Despite everything, I fell asleep again, only to be jolted awake as the train boarded the ferry. By the time I got on deck, the ferry had already departed.

Up there, I was grateful for the fresh sea air. I kept my distance from the other passengers, hoodie up and mask on, watching the sea ahead and enjoying what I could of the experience. There are no great photos of the train on the boat, nor of the crossing itself, just memories.

Morning Light

It was daylight when the train reached Villa San Giovanni for the ferry, which meant it was also daylight when we arrived in Sicily. That small mercy allowed me to enjoy the scenic coastline between Messina and Syracuse.

Our carriage gathered in the corridor, watching the coast glide past together and chatting about our plans in Sicily.

The train eventually arrived at Syracuse at about 12:30pm. By then, I was the walking dead. I made my way to my Airbnb, which thankfully had everything I needed to be comfortable for my quarantined stay.

Reflections

Would I do this journey again? Absolutely!

I recognise that my experience was likely a one-off, an extreme combination of delays, illness, and bad timing. However, next time I’d choose the day service, simply to experience the journey in a different way.

Despite everything, I felt comfortable on the sleeper train itself (if you forget the state of the toilets). The long delays, lack of clear communication, and general condition of the train were disappointing, but they overshadowed what is, at its core, a genuinely special journey. The train manager and crew did their best in a difficult situation, always with a smile of their faces.

On a very personal level, travelling alone meant there was no one to take over or fix things for me. Instead I sat quietly, tried to make sense of what was happening, and relied on a few unofficial translators to help fill in the gaps. I didn’t panic, and I wasn’t angry, I simply waited to see what would happen next.

And in the end, it did work out. I got my train-on-a-boat experience and reached my final destination unscathed.

It was a reminder that travel doesn’t always go to plan, and staying calm (and trusting the people trying to help) often gets you further than frustration ever will. Sometimes the journey gives you want you need, not what you planned.

Happy & safe travels

L x 🩴