13 Wonderful Things to Do in Palermo, Italy

How to Get To Palermo from Palermo Airport

Palermo Airport (officially called Falcone-Borsellino Airport) is 35 kms outside the city and a hub for most flight routes in and out of the island. The good news is that both the shuttle bus and train to/from the city centre are easy, regular, comfortable, and not too expensive.

The train from the airport to Palermo Centrale costs around €6.50 per person, with a travel time of just under an hour. If going to the airport from Palermo, the stop you need to search for is ‘Punta Raisi’, which is at the airport and a couple of minutes walk to the departures terminal. There is usually a train every hour, but sometimes this increases to twice an hour.

Running every 30 minutes, the airport bus service picks up from just outside the airport entrance doors and drops off at various points in Palermo, terminating in the new bus station next to the central train station (maps). Total travel time between the two points is 45 – 55 minutes depending on traffic.

A single bus ticket costs €6, but you can get a return for €10. You can find the full timetable for the Prestia e Comande bus and book here, or alternatively if you’d prefer the ability to cancel up to 24 hours before, GetYourGuide also sell the tickets for the same price – buy them here. Tickets can also be bought at their kiosk in the airport by card or cash (8 am to 10.30 pm), or on board the bus with cash – although it is a little bit more expensive if purchased this way.

Car Rental

If, like us, Palermo is the start-point for your own Sicily road trip, then you’ll be happy to know that an abundance of local and international car rental firms are based at Palermo Airport. However, as it’s a popular car rental collection point, expect lengthy queues – especially if you’re renting with one of the cheaper firms.

All rental companies have their vehicles parked in the car park just a short walk across the road from the airport entrance (we were concerned when doing our research about renting a car that some of them had shuttle buses and long wait times, but that seems to have changed).

Do be aware that parking in Palermo – especially in the historic centre which is basically a no-go area given the abundance of ZTLs – can be an absolute nightmare. For this reason, if you’re planning on visiting Palermo before beginning your road trip, we’d actually recommend taking public transport into the city once you arrive and then heading back to the airport to grab your car when you’re reading to set off. Trust us, it’s much easier all round!

Top Tip // We rarely go direct when hiring our road trip vehicles, instead preferring to use two popular rental aggregators to compare costs and find the best deal. The two companies we use are AutoEurope and RentalCars – both of which we have had excellent experiences with, both inside and outside of Europe.

If you’re planning renting a car and taking a road trip in Sicily, then we have a bunch of posts with tips and advice:

· 15 Essential Things To Know Before Driving in Sicily

· This Is Our Perfect Sicily Road Trip

· Our essential car rental tips article to save money and stress for your next road trip!

Taxis

The quickest way into town, but also the most expensive at around €50 – 60. Taxi drivers in Sicily have reputation, not entirely undeserved, for overcharging and we wouldn’t recommend taking an unbooked taxi over the bus. There are also collectivo taxis waiting outside the airport and the train station, which are ‘unofficial’ and charge €7 per person. Again, we wouldn’t recommend these for city-breakers or first-timers in Sicily.

If you prefer convenience and certainty for your arrival, then consider this airport transfer.

Transport in and around the city

Palermo is a compact place for citybreakers, and we simply walked everywhere that we had to visit within and around the old town. The bus and rail network for onward connections to the east and west, or for your Palermo Day Trips, is also decent and affordable.

Our recommendation for an overview of public transport connections from Palermo to the rest of Sicily is to look and book trains on Trenitalia’s website, or alternatively, compare trains and buses on Omio.

For more advice, take a look at our pos with essential tips for train travel in Italy.