Ferry routes from Messina
Every route from Messina at a glance.
Route map
- Liberty Lines
- Caronte & Tourist
Ports and terminals
Messina
City port
- Terminals
- Rada San Francesco (Caronte & Tourist); Molo d'imbarco Rizzo, Via Luigi Rizzo (Liberty Lines)
- Location
- IV Circoscrizione, Messina, Messina, Sizilien
- Waters
- Mittelmeer
Messina ferry port is in the north-east of Sicily on the strait that separates the island from the mainland. From here you can reach 12 destinations, among them Villa San Giovanni, Reggio Calabria and Lipari. Together the services add up to as many as 193 departures a day, by far the greatest part of that on the shuttle across the Strait of Messina. Crossings take between 15 minutes and 9 hours: Villa San Giovanni is a quarter of an hour away, Lipari two hours, Salerno nine. The port is served by Caronte & Tourist and Liberty Lines.
Getting there and the terminal
The ferries across the strait use Rada San Francesco. By car, leave the motorway at the Messina Boccetta exit and follow the signs to the Caronte & Tourist sailings to Villa San Giovanni; desks for vehicles and for foot passengers, along with ticket machines, are right in the boarding area. The Liberty Lines hydrofoils to the Aeolian Islands leave from a different berth, the Molo d'imbarco Rizzo on Via Luigi Rizzo. The desk there is open Monday to Friday from 05:00 to 23:00, and from 06:00 at weekends and on public holidays.
Check-in
With Liberty Lines you must be at the berth at least 15 minutes before departure, or 45 minutes on international routes. Across the strait, by contrast, you cannot book a particular sailing: Caronte & Tourist runs around the clock with a guaranteed departure every 40 minutes. With an online ticket you go past the ticket office straight to boarding and show the QR code there.
Timetable
Departures and arrivals for ferries to and from Messina