Trenitalia: Milan ↔ Sicily from €55 per Direction Overnight in Single Compartment

For a short trip to Sicily, flying is almost unavoidable. But sometimes, the journey itself is the destination. If you take your time, you can also travel the distance by train. To do this, you first need to get to Milan somehow. From there, a night train operated by the Italian railway company Trenitalia runs to Palermo, Syracuse, or Catania in Sicily.

The whole thing is one of the longest night trains in Europe – and also quite attractive in terms of price. If you book far enough in advance, you can permanently book a space in a shared couchette car starting at €55 per direction. Unfortunately, a private single compartment now costs €119 (in 2023, it was still €74).

What’s best: You don’t even have to change trains. The train is loaded onto the ferry in Villa San Giovanni and, after the crossing, reaches Messina in Sicily. From there, you can continue to Palermo, Catania, or, for example, Syracuse, depending on your preference.

You can also use the following form for booking. This redirects you straight to the booking page on lefrecce.it (the official website of Trenitalia). Tickets are currently bookable until early December 2026. Generally, the earlier you book, the cheaper the tickets are:

Types of Compartments and Prices

There are two comfort classes on the train to Sicily: couchette and sleeper cars. Here’s an overview:

Previously, there was also the Excelsior sleeper car with its own shower – unfortunately, this is no longer offered on the route to Sicily.

Here’s a translation guide for booking on the Trenitalia site:

Translation Guide Italian – English

Italian	English
Cuccetta Comfort 4 posti – Promiscuo	shared couchette car, mixed genders
Cuccetta Comfort 4 posti – Donna	shared couchette car, women only
Cuccetta Comfort Tripla – Uso esclusivo	3-bed cabin in couchette car, entire cabin
Vagone Letto Deluxe Uso Singolo – Cabina Intera	single cabin in sleeper car, entire cabin
Vagone Letto Relax – Doppia Cabina Intera	2-bed cabin in sleeper car, entire cabin
Vagone Letto Relax – Tripla Cabina Intera	3-bed cabin in sleeper car, entire cabin

Route and Ferry Crossing

There are three daily Intercity Notte (night InterCity) trains to and from Sicily. Two start in Rome, while the other starts in Milan. Due to the easier journey from German-speaking countries, we have focused on the trains from Milan in this post.

Departure from Milan is around 8:00 PM. The train then stops in places like Bologna and Florence to pick up more passengers. You can disembark at Salerno at the earliest, or later in places like Lamezia Terme.

The journey gets more exciting from Villa San Giovanni at the southern tip of the Italian mainland. The cars are separated here and loaded onto their own ferry. There, you can either stay in bed or explore the ship for a few minutes. The first destination in Sicily is Messina around 12:45 PM. The train is then reassembled into two parts in Messina: one continues via Catania to Syracuse, and the other cars head west to Palermo. Arrival times are approximately (with slight seasonal variations):

• around 2:40 PM in Catania (Train part 1)
• around 3:50 PM in Syracuse (Train part 1, summer only)
• 5:00 PM in Palermo (Train part 2)

On the way back, the journey starts around 1:00 PM (Palermo) or 3:00 PM (Catania) if you prefer the direct connection. You can also travel in the evening, but you will then have to transfer once in Rome (and the transfer makes it more expensive).

Here is the route from/to Milan with all stops illustrated:

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If you prefer to start from Rome: there are two night trains daily. They depart from Rome in the evening and reach Catania in the early morning hours. Alternatively, there is also a daytime InterCity with a similar travel time (starting at €38.90).

Night Train with the Trenitalia Pass (at a Fixed Price)

Trenitalia offers the Trenitalia Pass specifically for foreign tourists. It allows you to take a specific number of train journeys through Italy for a fixed price. Using the Intercity Notte is also possible without a surcharge – but only in certain cabins (depending on the pass type):

• Pass Easy: couchette cars only
• Pass Comfort: 2-bed sleeper, 3-bed sleeper & couchette cars (no single compartments)

Depending on how much the night train costs on your desired date, booking the Trenitalia Pass can be worth it even for just a round trip to Sicily. In the best-case scenario, the pass for 3 journeys costs only €119. Here are the prices depending on the number of journeys and age:

Validity	Easy			Comfort
	Adults	Senior (> 60)	Youth (< 28)	Adults	Senior (> 60)	Youth (< 28)
3 journeys in 7 days	139 €	129 €	119 €	189 €	179 €	159 €
4 journeys in 7 days	169 €	159 €	149 €	234 €	214 €	194 €
7 journeys in 15 days	269 €	249 €	229 €	369 €	349 €	329 €
10 journeys in 30 days	354 €	324 €	304 €	469 €	419 €	394 €

You can book the pass directly on Trenitalia (and then also reserve your desired trains online):

My Experience in the Deluxe Compartment

I took a trip from Rome to Catania in a Deluxe compartment (single compartment) in the summer of 2021. At that time, the renovated compartments were still relatively new; by now, however, all cars should have been converted.

Especially when you have the compartment to yourself, the space (by night train standards) is quite decent. I easily stowed my suitcase under the bed and still had enough room to move around to change clothes, etc.

In the sleeper car, the bed is already made and the bed linen is reasonably comfortable.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a wink of sleep all night and could only take a 20-minute nap in the morning. Overall, the journey was by no means restful for me. However, this is not a direct criticism of the onboard product. Apparently, my body doesn’t like lying across the direction of travel, and so I can sleep better sitting up than lying down. For those who are fine with other night trains, Trenitalia should pose no problems. In Europe, there’s hardly anything better than the InterCity Notte.

During the day, the bed can be folded into a seat. Unfortunately, the table is a bit small for working, but apart from that, the seating comfort was good to very good.

The moment when the car is loaded onto the ferry is very exciting. The InterCity Notte is also the last connection in Europe of this kind since Scandinavian trains are no longer loaded onto ferries. The compartment can be locked from the inside, but unfortunately not from the outside. On the ferry, I took my valuables with me just to be on the safe side.

Climate

Even though Sicily is located in the Mediterranean, it can get comparatively chilly in winter. On the other hand, spring and autumn are all the more pleasant. Here is the climate chart for Catania:

Is it too cold for you in Sicily? You can also continue to Malta by ferry from there. The journey takes just under 2 hours, and there is now a second operator starting directly in Ragusa. Tickets are available there starting at €55 per direction.

By Train from Germany to Milan from €52

Once a day, there is a direct EuroCity Express (ECE) from Frankfurt to Milan. In terms of price, tickets from Frankfurt to Milan start at €90, which is not particularly attractive. However, you can save money using the “Chiasso trick.” Tickets to the south of Switzerland cost only €50 (or €46 with a transfer):

From there, you can reach Milano Centrale with regional trains from Trenord for just €6. Alternatively, you can pay €17 if you want to remain seated in the ECE (bookable on Trenitalia). In total, this brings the price for the entire route down to around €52.

If you leave early enough, you can set off from Germany in the morning and board the night train to Sicily in the evening. However, a slightly longer layover in Milan is probably recommended.

Feel free to use the following form to book your journey to Chiasso: