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Messina trip planner
Messina is the port city through which most people enter Sicily—by train or car ferry—but there's little to stick around to see
Piazza della Repubblica 44
tel. +39-090-672-944;
www.aapitme.it/indexen.html
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PlanningSicily's primary port and third largest city doesn't offer many attractions aside from succulent swordfish dinners and a pair of Caravaggios in the Museo Regionale (take bus 76–81 to Viale della Libertà 465; tel. +39-090-361-292; adm).
But unless you fly or ferry straight to Palermo, Messina will be your introduction to the island. Since you'll be passing through, here's a bit of history, how to get in and out—plus where to stay and where to eat in case you get stuck.
A bit of Messina history
Shakespeare may have set his lovable farce Much Ado About Nothing here, but Kenneth Branagh made a wise decision to film his movie version amid the vineyards of Tuscany (actually, you can stay where he filmed it) rather than in this workaday port city, rebuilt time and again after disasters both natural and man-made.
For instance, the town was just getting back on its architectural feet following the earthquake of 1908—which created a 40-foot-high tsunami, left 84,000 dead, and sank the surrounding coast 19 inches into the Straight of Messina—when Allied bombs flattened Messina during World War II.
The death of Charybdis
By changing the topography of the Straits of Messina, the 1908 earthquake also destroyed one of the most fearsome monsters in western history: Charybdis from Homer's Odyssey.
In the poem, Odysseus needed to sail through the treacherous Straits of Messina, barely two miles wide, but he had a difficult choice to make.
Should he keep to the west of the strait and the Sicilian shore, which would put him within range of Charybdis, a ravenous undersea monster with a gigantic maw that could swallow ships whole?
Or should he hew closer to the eastern side and risk the half-dozen snapping heads of Scylla, a Hydra-like monster that lived on the Calabrian shores just opposite Messina?
Going straight up the middle wasn't an option, since to be clear of one monster was to be in the range of the other.
His options were grim: risk losing the entire ship, or losing just a few men.
Odysseus made the only decision he could. Heeding Circe's advice, he sailed closer to the Calabrian side, and sure enough, the lightning-quick heads of Scylla snaked down from the cliffs and picked off members of his crew, one by one:
"...they writhed
gasping as Scylla swung them up her cliff and there
at her cavern's mouth she bolted them down raw—
screaming out, flinging their arms toward me,
lost in that mortal struggle."
Finally, though, the ship and its survivors were through the treacherous path, and they could continue on their famed adventures.
The monster "Scylla" was, in reality, a metaphor for the dangerous undersea shoals and rock pillars off the toe of the Italian boot in Calabria—there's still an ancient fishing village named Scylla perched above the site.
"Charybdis" was actually a giant whirlpool that would form from time to time in the eddying currents flowing through this narrow sea straight.
In other words, Odysseus was the first one to have to make the choice between a rock (Scylla) and a hard place (Charybdis).
Planning your trip
- How to get to Messina: Messina is in the very northeast corner of Sicily, just across the Straits of Messina from Reggio di Calabria —the city at the tip of mainland Italy's "toe."
Messina is 237km (142 miles) east of Palermo, 469km (281 miles) south of Naples, and 683km (410 miles) southeast of Rome. Within Sicily, Messina is 165km (102 miles) east of Cefalù, 97km (60 miles) north of Catania, and 235km (146 miles) east of Palermo.
- How to get to Messina by Train: There are 5 trains daily from Rome (8–9 hr.) that pass through Naples (6 hr.). Within Sicily there are 12–15 trains daily from Palermo (3–4.5 hr.); 14–16 trains daily from Cefalù (2.5–3.5 hr.); and hourly trains from Taormina (35–65 min.). Messina's stazione centrale train station (tel. 090-714-935) is handily connected to the ferry docks.
How to get to Messina by Bus: There are 12 runs (5 on Sunday) from Taormina (60–105 min.); hourly from Catania (90 min.); and 6 runs (3 on Sunday) from Palermo (3 hr. 15 min). There's also an 8pm bus from Rome that arrives at 4:30am. Messina has SAIS bus offices (tel. 090-771-914) at Piazza della Repubblica no. 6 and no. 46.
How to get to Messina by Car: Take the A20/SS113 east from Palermo, Cefalù, or Milazzo; the A18 north from Taormina. From the mainland, take the A3 south toward Reggio di Calabria, and get off at Villa San Giovanni for the car ferries across the strait (see above).
- How to get to Messina by Train: There are 5 trains daily from Rome (8–9 hr.) that pass through Naples (6 hr.). Within Sicily there are 12–15 trains daily from Palermo (3–4.5 hr.); 14–16 trains daily from Cefalù (2.5–3.5 hr.); and hourly trains from Taormina (35–65 min.). Messina's stazione centrale train station (tel. 090-714-935) is handily connected to the ferry docks.
- Tourist information: The tourist office is to your right as you exit the train station, Piazza d. Repubblica 44 (tel. +39-090-672-944; www.aapitme.it/indexen.html). It's open Monday to Thursday 8am to 1:30pm and 3 to 6pm, Friday and Saturday 8am to 1:30pm.
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This material was last updated October 2009. All information was accurate at the time.
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