Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- The not very busy Florio Airport (tel. 0923-842502) is served by daily flights from Rome and the island of Pantelleria. It's located in Birgi on the road to Marsala, 15km (9 miles) from the center of Trapani. Buses, which leave from Piazza Malta, are timed for the arrivals and departures of the planes.

By Train -- Most trains, at the rate of 6 per day, make the 2 1/2-hour run from Palermo; a one-way ticket costs 9.70€ ($13). There are also 14 trains per day from Marsala, taking 30 minutes and costing 3.10€ ($4) one-way. Trains pull in at the Piazza Stazione, where luggage storage is available. For general rail information in Italy, call tel. 892021.

By Bus -- AST (tel. 0923-23222) runs seven buses per day to Erice, departing from Piazza Montalto in Trapani. The one-way ride takes 50 minutes and costs 2.20€ ($2.85).

By Ferry -- Trapani is a major embarkation point for ferries and hydrofoils (aliscafi). Most departures are for the Egadi Islands of Marettimo, Levanzo, and Favignana. Service is also available to Ustica, Pantelleria, and even Tunisia in North Africa. Ferries depart from the docks near Piazza Garibaldi. Tickets are available from Siremar (tel. 892123) and Ustica (tel. 0923-22200).

By Car -- From Palermo, follow A29 all the way southwest into Trapani. From Marsala, head north along Route 115 to Trapani.

Visitor Information

The not very helpful tourist office, Via San Francesco d'Assisi (tel. 0923-545511), is open Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm, Sunday 9am to noon.

Fast Facts

Your hotel will point you to the nearest pharmacy. Pharmacies operate on a rotational system for night hours, with at least one open every night of the week. More serious medical needs are attended to at Ospedale Sant'Antonio Abate, Via Cosenza, in the northeast of the city (tel. 0923-809111). For Internet access, head to Phone Center GGE, Stazione Marittima (tel. 0923-549840), where the rate is 4€ ($5.20) per hour. The post office, Piazza Vittorio Veneto (tel. 0923-28914), is open Monday to Saturday 8am to 6:30pm. The biggest and best travel agency is Panfalone, Via Ammiraglio Staiti 91 (tel. 0923-542470), across the street from Trapani's harbor. The agency knows all the boat schedules and can sell tickets from Trapani to any of Sicily's offshore islands. It also sells boat tickets from, say, Palermo to Genoa, or from Palermo or Trapani to Corsica.