Traveling by Train from Naples to Sigonella Navy Base (in Sicily)

On the last day before our flight out of Italy, Alan and I needed to get from halfway up the boot in Naples, down to the island boot tip of Sicily, to fly out of Naval Air Station Sigonella.

Our whole vacation was built around our military space available flights. To learn more about flying to Italy using military space A, if you are active duty or retired, click here.

All of the flights back to the U.S. were leaving out of Sigonella that Sunday. Meanwhile, we were still up in Naples.

Originally, we hoped to fly commercially from Naples to Sicily. Flights were not much more expensive than the train, so why not? After all, this was no speed train. It was going to take us a full eight hours to ride down the coast of Italy on a train.

But of course, as I mentioned before in my Italy Trip in a Nutshell post, there was an airline strike. The strike only lasted for the one day that we wanted to fly. You cannot make this stuff up. This is how we ended up on a train from Naples to Sigonella.

I guess other people had the same dilemma because by the time we bought our train tickets, there were no seats that were together. There were some nearby each other, just not together. We took what we could get and hoped for the best.

Important tip: If you are booking a train ticket to Sigonella, the stop you are looking for is the “Catania Centrale” stop.

Alan and I had completely different experiences on our journey down the boot to Sigonella.

My experience was pleasant enough. I had a window seat, by the air conditioner. The seat groups faced each other, with a table in the middle. All of the people in my group of four were always quiet. There were stops where the people would change out, but it was always low maintenance people with no drama.

I rested the day away, staring out my window at the Italian countryside and reading.

It was the opposite for Alan. First of all , Alan did not got to sit in his real seat until the last hour or so of the trip. An Italian mom traveling with her three children couldn’t get their seats together either, so she picked a group of seats and just asked other people to move. I don’t blame her a bit. Traveling with children is hard. Everyone was kind about it.

Every few stops, someone would board the train and find Alan sitting in their seat because of all the shuffling. Meanwhile, Alan did not have a window seat with the air conditioning like I did. He said he sweated the entire day.

Oh! And there was one Italian lady, at the beginning of the trip, who got upset about the snack bar not being open, or maybe it was the restrooms. I never knew. I do not speak Italian. Anyway, she protested loudly to the train conductor when he came around and made a bit of a scene. She, of course, was sitting across from Alan.

His day was hot, confusing, embarrassing, and interesting. I can safely say this was Alan’s most miserable day in Italy, and even it was not that bad.

I greatly preferred my quiet, uninteresting ride by the window. There were so many ancient Roman ruins to see! I’m genuinely sorry I did not take more photos.

Y’all are going to fire me as a travel blogger if I do not better remember to take good photos.

When the whole train boarded a ferry to Sicily, that was the coolest part of the day.

They take the entire train and drive it onto a boat! Then they move the train cars around how they want them, and it seemed like there was more than one floor of train cars, but I could be mistaken. It was so cool to me.

On the ferry stop, Alan and I had to switch trains! When they are finished transferring the trains onto the ferry, they open the doors. All the people pour out of the train cars and haul themselves upstairs to look around outside. You get a nice view of the Mediterranean Sea, between the island of Sicily and the mainland of Italy.

It did feel extra special to go up on deck, feel the wind in your hair, and look around at the open sea. This is something I have loved my whole life. Ever since my dad bought a ski boat when I was in middle school, I have enthusiastically been a boat person.

You also can use this time to use the restroom, buy a drink from the drink machine, stretch your legs, and find your new seats. Thankfully, on this last leg of our journey, we had seats together! Plus, these seats felt more private, as there was no table. It was more like traditional transportation. We weren’t facing anyone but the back of the seat in front of us.

This leg of the trip was rather short, and we were in Catania in no time. Before this trip, I had no idea there was a Navy base in Sicily.

Now we only had to figure out how to find our way from the train station to the base, where we booked our hotel for the night.

Alan used the Uber app to book our taxis the whole time we were in Italy, and it worked beautifully.

I have heard many stories of taxis taking advantage of tourists and price gouging. We did not have that experience at all, using the Uber app.

All of our taxi drivers were helpful. In fact, the cab drivers were a big part of what made our trip a success.

You know who else was wonderful? The gelato people at the train station. We had trouble finding the taxi stop, and there was a truck selling gelato right outside the train station. We bought gelato and asked them for directions, but they did not speak English and couldn’t understand us.

They did understand we were asking for directions to somewhere though, so they did the best thing they could think of to do. They handed us free bus tickets, trying to help us out! Can you believe that? I’d say the Sicilian hospitality was unbeatable.

We gave their tickets back, thanking them profusely. And we did figure out where to meet the taxi. It was nearby.

I will say our reliance upon American naval bases for lodging was both a blessing and a curse.

It was a blessing because we had a place to land where everyone spoke English and they changed dollars to Euros at a low rate. The downside was the we had to take way more buses and taxis to get to these out-of-the-way hotels.

Next time we go, because we are going to go again one day for sure, I think we will stay closer to the heart of things. It would be nice to spend less money on taxis and less time in bus lines and hot, sweaty buses.

One thing you may not know is there are two different naval base locations for Sigonella.

We had to catch a taxi to take us from the base with the lodging to the base with the airport. At that time of day, first thing in the morning on a Sunday, there was no bus.

We ordered our taxi and set out on foot to the gates of the base. We’d gotten used to hiking to post gates to find a ride to town. It felt like we did a lot of that in Naples.

Thankfully, the Navy Lodge did have hot coffee available. Actually, almost every single place we stayed also had cappuccino. I also learned that Italians strongly believe you can only drink cappuccino in the morning. I mean, with the effects of caffeine, they are not wrong.

Our ride across town to the Sigonella Air Station was pleasant and uneventful.

Our driver told us all about the crops we saw and the volcano, Mt. Etna. Because Mt. Etna does let off steam, it is considered safe. Scientists are not worried about a Pompeii incident occurring from this volcano. This was the very first active volcano I have ever seen in my life, so that was exciting.

Getting seats on the plane back to the U.S. was easy.

There were many seats available. Just know that if you ever fly space available with the military, you do have to spend hours longer than really seems necessary, waiting in the airport. It was worth it for the $80 plane ticket though!!

All in all, our Italy experience was one like no other I have ever had.

I still cannot even believe we got to do this. It was incredible.

Yes, I was anxious most of the time, mostly because we overbooked our summer. Plus, it made me uncomfortable not knowing the language. I hope next time we go overseas I take more time to study the language.

Italy is a beautiful country, rich with so much history. I’m going to leave you with a few resources below, in case you are planning an Italy trip too.

Resources:

Trainline is Europe’s biggest train and coach app. You can use it to book train and bus tickets.

Video on How to fly military space available to Italy and back

Form to sign up for Space A Travel

Touring Vatican City Museum (with Sistine Chapel)

Touring Pompeii Archaeological Site (with photos)

Things to do in Sigonella