I spent four days travelling solo around Sicily, visiting Messina, Taormina and Cefalù without hiring a car. I flew from Manchester to Reggio Calabria in Southern Italy, then crossed over to Sicily as a foot passenger on the ferry, using trains and coaches to get around once I arrived.
This was actually my second solo trip to Southern Italy. On my previous visit, I'd found ridiculously cheap £28 return flights from Manchester to Reggio Calabria and used them to explore Scilla and Tropea. I'd travelled around Northern Italy quite extensively over the years with my husband and children, but Calabria was completely new to me and I absolutely loved it.
Reggio Calabria is just across the water from Sicily, but I hadn't had enough time to include it on that first trip, so returning and finally crossing over to Sicily seemed like the obvious choice.
My original plan changed quite dramatically just 24 hours before I travelled due to an Italian train strike, which meant I ended up staying in Messina rather than Cefalù. It actually worked out really well and gave me a great base for exploring Sicily without a car.
In this guide, I'm sharing my exact four-day Sicily itinerary, including how I travelled around, where I stayed, what I paid and what I'd do differently next time.
Planning a bigger Italy trip? We’ve travelled around Italy loads over the last few years, mostly using trains and public transport. You can find all our Italy travel guides and itineraries here, including budget trips, where to stay and how to get around without a car.
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My trip looked like this:
Day 1: Manchester to Reggio Calabria, followed by the bus to Reggio Calabria Port, ferry to Messina and an evening exploring Messina.
Day 2: Coach from Messina to Taormina, where I spent the rest of the day and evening before returning to Messina.
Day 3: Train from Messina to Cefalù for a day exploring the old town and beach, before returning to Messina that evening.
Day 4: Ferry from Messina back to Reggio Calabria, followed by the bus to the airport and my flight home.
Although four days obviously isn't enough to see the whole of Sicily, I wasn't trying to cram in as many places as possible. This was a short solo trip built around cheap flights, and visiting Messina, Taormina and Cefalù gave me a good mix without spending the entire four days travelling between places.
Sicily can definitely be done on a budget, particularly if you're happy using public transport. I found trains, coaches and ferries incredibly reasonable, and staying in Messina rather than Taormina or Cefalù also helped keep the overall cost down.
For this trip, I paid:
● Return flights from Manchester to Reggio Calabria: £52
● Bus from Reggio Calabria Airport to the ferry port: €2 (each way)
● Reggio Calabria to Messina ferry: €4 (each way)
● Messina to Taormina coach: €6
● Taxi from Taormina to train station: €15
● Taormina to Messina train: €5.80
● Messina to Cefalù train: €11 each way
● Three nights at Borgo Antico Rooms in Messina: £167
Food and drink varied depending on where I was.
For a 2 course meal with wine in Messina I paid €35, and a similar price in Cefalu. My meal with alcohol in Taormina was around €50.
Messina was reasonably priced, while Taormina was noticeably more expensive than anywhere else I'd visited in Southern Italy.
I wasn't travelling on an ultra-low budget either. I ate in restaurants, had wine with meals and stopped for drinks, so there are definitely ways this itinerary could be done for less.
Flying into mainland Italy might seem like a strange way to start a Sicily trip, but Reggio Calabria is directly across the Strait of Messina and the journey between the two is really straightforward. I've put together a full guide on how to get from mainland Italy to Sicily covering the different options if you're planning a similar route.
I'd already flown into Reggio Calabria on my previous solo trip, so I knew what to expect from the airport. At the time of my visits it was a very small airport with limited facilities, but the airport has since been expanded, with a new departures area opening in May 2026.
This included a much larger departure lounge, five gates and additional commercial space, so the airport experience is now quite different to when I travelled through it.
Reggio Calabria Airport is only around 4.8km from the city centre and, for this trip, I found it incredibly convenient for travelling onwards to Sicily.
After landing in Reggio Calabria, I caught the local bus from directly outside the arrivals hall. There were buses waiting to take passengers towards Reggio Calabria Centrale, the city centre and the ferry port, so it was much easier than I'd expected.
My ticket from the airport to the port cost just €2, which I paid in cash to the driver, and the journey took around 15 minutes.
Once at the port, I bought a ticket at the counter for the ferry to Messina. The ticket cost €4 and could be paid for by cash or card, with ferries running regularly throughout the day.
The crossing itself took around 40 minutes and was really easy. This particular ferry was for foot passengers, so there was no need to worry about navigating a huge vehicle ferry terminal.
I spent most of the crossing chatting to a couple of ladies who had been on my flight from Manchester and were heading to Taormina for a week. One of the things I find with travelling solo is that I tend to speak to far more people than I would if I was travelling with someone else, and this trip was no exception.
Messina is also a really useful arrival point for exploring Sicily by public transport. Messina Marittima station is right next to the ferry port, while Messina Centrale is only around a four-minute walk away, with train and coach connections to destinations across the island, including Catania and Palermo.
Messina wasn't actually part of my original plan. I'd booked accommodation in Cefalù for all three nights, but around 24 hours before I was due to fly I discovered there was going to be a train strike on the day I needed to return home.
Cefalù is around three and a half hours from Reggio Calabria Airport once the various connections are taken into account, and I didn't fancy spending my final morning worrying about cancelled trains and whether I'd actually make my flight.
Luckily, I was still able to cancel my accommodation and decided to book three nights in Messina instead. This meant that on the day of the strike I could simply walk to the ferry port, cross back to mainland Italy and catch the bus to the airport without relying on the trains at all.
Messina isn't as picturesque as Taormina or Cefalù, but as a base for this particular trip it worked really well. It has good train and coach connections, accommodation was reasonably priced and being within walking distance of the ferry took all the stress out of my journey home.
I booked three nights at Borgo Antico Rooms, paying £167 for a double room. I was travelling solo, but the room would have cost the same for two people, so for a couple it would have been particularly good value.
The location was ideal for what I needed, around a 14-minute walk from the ferry port and 12 minutes from Messina Centrale. It was also right by the main shopping and restaurant area, so I could easily walk everywhere in the evening.
The room itself was spotless and included towels and toiletries, with room service each day. There were plenty of sockets, a hairdryer, flat-screen TV with Netflix, mini fridge, desk and, most importantly given how warm it still was in October, air conditioning.
The owner was also available through WhatsApp if I had any questions and to arrange check-in and check-out, so I'd happily stay there again.
After travelling most of the day and getting settled into my accommodation, it was around 6pm when I headed back out to explore Messina.
I'll admit that some of the area around the port looked a little run-down when I first arrived, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.
Once I got into the city centre, though, I liked it far more. Some of the architecture actually reminded me of Turin, which I love, and the main streets were busy with local families and tourists sitting outside cafés and restaurants.
I spent a good two or three hours wandering around the centre and seeing some of Messina's main sights, including the Cathedral of Messina and its astronomical clock.
Considering it was a Sunday evening, there was still a really nice atmosphere and plenty of people around late into the evening, something I always love about Italy.
By this point I was starving as I'd barely eaten all day. Everywhere was really busy, but I managed to get a table at Past'Ovo near the cathedral, where I ordered spaghetti Bolognese and a selection of arancini to start. My first choice had actually been a local pasta dish, but unfortunately they'd sold out.
With a few large wines and a bottle of water, my meal came to around €35. I could definitely have eaten more cheaply in Messina, but after travelling all day on little more than a sandwich, I wasn't particularly bothered about finding the cheapest restaurant.
The staff were lovely, the atmosphere was great and I was pleasantly surprised considering I'd only really chosen it because everywhere else was so busy. By around 10.30pm I was exhausted, so I headed back to my accommodation for the night.
Day two started with me getting some work done before heading out. Yes, I love travelling, but quite often that means bringing my work with me. The joys of being fully remote, and no, that's not sarcasm because I actually love it!
Because I'd changed my accommodation so close to travelling, I hadn't properly researched how to get from Messina to all the places I wanted to visit. I spent some time that morning looking at the different options for Taormina and was surprised to find that the coach actually seemed far easier than the train.
You can take the train from Messina Centrale to Taormina-Giardini in around 45 minutes, but the station is down by the coast rather than in Taormina's historic centre. From there, you still need to get up to the town itself.
Instead, I caught the coach from outside Messina Centrale, which took me directly to Taormina. My ticket cost just €6 and the journey took around 1 hour 20 minutes. It was comfortable, air-conditioned and meant I didn't need to worry about another connection when I arrived.
If you're doing the same journey, sit on the left-hand side of the coach as the views along the way are fantastic.
The coach dropped me close to the historic centre and I immediately understood why Taormina is so popular. In all honesty, I think it's one of the nicest towns I've visited in Italy.
There are lots of little shops mixed in with bigger brands, plenty of restaurants and bars, beautiful buildings and some incredible views. It's somewhere that's very easy to spend a day without having a huge list of things planned.
The only downside for me was how busy it was, particularly considering I visited in October. The streets through the historic centre are fairly narrow, so I can imagine that in July and August it gets incredibly crowded.
I also found Taormina noticeably more expensive for food and drink than Messina or anywhere I'd visited during my previous trip to Calabria. I stopped for a meal at Ristorante L'Orologio, just off the main square, and paid around €50 for a main, side and a few drinks.
It wasn't cheap, but I spent a good few hours there, the service was excellent and it was a great spot for sitting and people watching.
Later in the afternoon I met up with the ladies I'd spoken to on the ferry the previous day and ended up spending the evening having drinks with them in the square. It was completely unplanned but ended up being one of my favourite parts of the trip.
I ended up staying in Taormina much later than expected. Rather than cutting the evening short, I decided to take an Uber down to Taormina-Giardini station and catch one of the last trains back to Messina instead.
It actually worked out really well and meant I could make the most of my evening in Taormina without worrying about the last coach. I'd definitely go back, although having seen how busy it was in October, I don't think I'd choose to visit in the height of summer.
Even though I'd had to cancel my original accommodation in Cefalù, I still really wanted to visit, so on day three I took the train from Messina Centrale.
The direct train cost €11 each way and took around two hours. It's quite a long journey for a day trip, but I didn't mind and found the trains easy to use.
Cefalù station is also in a really convenient location, with the beach less than a 15-minute walk away. As soon as I reached the coast I could see why I'd originally wanted to stay here. The beach is beautiful, with rows of colourful parasols and the old town sitting right beside it.
Despite it being October, there were still lots of people sunbathing and swimming. The weather throughout my trip was around 28°C, so it really didn't feel like autumn at all.
I spent most of the day wandering through the historic centre rather than following a set itinerary. I visited the Lavatoio Medievale, the old medieval wash house, which is free to explore, then spent time walking through the little streets, stopping for a gelato and enjoying the beach.
Cefalù had a completely different feel to Taormina. It was much more laid-back and felt like somewhere I'd happily spend a few days doing very little, whereas Taormina had more going on in terms of shops, restaurants and things to see.
Later in the day I had dinner overlooking the beach while the sun was setting. It started to rain lightly while I was eating, which was actually the first and only rain I had during the entire trip.
One thing that did surprise me was the mosquitoes. There were still plenty around in October, so insect repellent is definitely worth packing if you're someone they seem to love as much as they love me.
After dinner, I walked back to the station and caught the train to Messina for my final night.
The final day was the reason I'd moved my accommodation to Messina in the first place. With the train strike going ahead, I was very glad I didn't have to worry about getting all the way back from Cefalù.
I walked from my accommodation to the ferry port and caught the 10.30am ferry back to Reggio Calabria. Once back on the mainland, I connected with the local bus to the airport and arrived just before midday.
The journey was just as straightforward as it had been on the way out, and the ferry and bus together cost just €6.
Although Messina wasn't where I'd originally planned to stay, it worked really well for this particular trip. I had the ferry within walking distance for getting back to mainland Italy, Messina Centrale for my train to Cefalù and the coach to Taormina leaving from outside the station.
It was also considerably cheaper than some of the accommodation I'd looked at elsewhere.
If I was booking a relaxing holiday in Sicily, I'd personally choose Taormina or Cefalù over Messina. However, for a short trip where I wanted to see several places without hiring a car, Messina was a really practical base and changing my plans because of the train strike ended up working in my favour.
Sicily surprised me with just how affordable it was to travel around independently. The €4 ferry from mainland Italy, €6 coach to Taormina and €11 train to Cefalù were all incredibly reasonable, and public transport meant there was absolutely no need for me to hire a car.
Food and accommodation are where costs can vary much more. I found Messina very reasonable, while Taormina was noticeably more expensive. Staying in Messina also brought my accommodation costs down compared with some of Sicily's more touristy destinations.
I wasn't trying to make this the cheapest trip possible either. I ate out every day, had drinks with meals and didn't choose restaurants purely on price. My approach to budget travel has always been to save money on things like flights and transport so that I can actually enjoy myself once I'm there, rather than spending the whole trip watching every penny.
I would, although next time I'd probably add extra days rather than trying to squeeze another destination into the same four-day trip.
Sicily is a huge island and this itinerary only covered a tiny part of it. Palermo, Catania and Syracuse are all still on my list, but I'd much rather return for another trip than try to cram them into four days alongside Taormina and Cefalù.
I'd also happily stay in either Taormina or Cefalù next time if I wasn't working around a train strike. Taormina was my favourite of the places I visited and had far more going on, while Cefalù would be my choice for a more relaxed break by the sea.
What I wouldn't change is flying into Reggio Calabria. The journey from the airport to Messina was cheap and straightforward, and crossing the Strait of Messina by ferry felt like part of the trip rather than simply a transfer.
After two solo trips to Southern Italy in the space of a few months, first exploring Calabria and then Sicily, I definitely don't feel like I'm finished with this part of Italy yet.
Whenever I spot great-value DIY flights and accommodation from UK airports, I share them with members of the Build a Break Travel Club. If you'd like to travel without paying package holiday prices, it's a great place to start.
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