Getting around the Madonie: distances, roads and buses

In the Madonie you get around mainly by car: the 16 towns are close as the crow flies, but the roads are mountain roads and a 20 km trip often takes half an hour. Buses serve only the Cefalù-Castelbuono route well, with ten weekday runs taking 40 minutes; to Geraci Siculo and Gangi there is one run a day. Here you will find the distances between towns, the roads to know and how to manage without a car.

At a glance

• By car: the most practical way. Between neighbouring towns 10 to 25 minutes; from one side of the range to the other, an hour.
• By bus: Cefalù-Castelbuono 10 weekday runs; Cefalù-Geraci Siculo-Gangi 1 run a day (timetable for 20 October 2026).
• On foot: some trails link the towns, but they are full-day hikes.
• Key roads: SS286, SS120, SS643, SP54, SP9.
• Before you set off: notices and closures on the page about Madonie roads, live traffic on 1518.

How far apart are the Madonie towns?

We calculated the distances below on 19 October 2026 with OSRM, the open routing engine that uses OpenStreetMap data, from the centre of each town. They are driving times without traffic or stops: in practice allow a few minutes more, especially in summer and on feast days.

Neighbouring towns, in pairs

This table lists the closest pairs of towns, the ones you can combine in the same half day.

From	To	Km	Time
Petralia Sottana	Petralia Soprana	3	5 min
Polizzi Generosa	Castellana Sicula	8	10 min
Scillato	Caltavuturo	8	22 min
Castellana Sicula	Petralia Sottana	10	10 min
Caltavuturo	Sclafani Bagni	10	14 min
Isnello	Collesano	11	12 min
Collesano	Scillato	11	20 min
Castelbuono	Isnello	12	14 min
Petralia Soprana	Geraci Siculo	13	15 min
Geraci Siculo	Gangi	14	15 min
Gratteri	Isnello	14	21 min
Petralia Soprana	Gangi	15	17 min
Castelbuono	Pollina	17	29 min
Cefalù	Gratteri	17	27 min

From Cefalù to the towns

Cefalù is where you arrive if you come by train. This is how far it is from the towns.

From Cefalù to	Km	Time
Gratteri	17	27 min
Isnello	21	34 min
Castelbuono	23	26 min
Pollina	24	30 min
Collesano	26	39 min
Geraci Siculo	44	45 min
Gangi	58	1 h 03
Petralia Sottana	60	1 h 05

The route from Cefalù to Castelbuono and the times from Palermo, Catania and Messina are also on the roads page, with data calculated the same way.

The towns furthest apart

San Mauro Castelverde and Sclafani Bagni are at the two ends: between them lie over 80 km and about an hour and 40 minutes. San Mauro is about 42 km and 56 minutes from Castelbuono, 27 km and 45 minutes from Gangi. If you want to see every town, split the tour into the northern side (Cefalù, Gratteri, Isnello, Collesano, Castelbuono, Pollina, San Mauro) and the interior (Polizzi, Castellana, the Petralias, Geraci, Gangi, Caltavuturo, Scillato, Sclafani).

Which roads should you know?

You tour the Madonie on a handful of main roads, almost all state and provincial mountain roads.

• SS286: climbs from Castelbuono to Geraci Siculo and continues towards Gangi. It is the road of the Ventimiglia towns.
• SS120 “dell’Etna e delle Madonie”: crosses the interior from Castellana Sicula to Petralia Sottana, Petralia Soprana and Gangi.
• SS643: climbs from the Scillato exit of the A19 to Polizzi Generosa.
• SP54: the Piano Battaglia road, from Petralia Sottana and from Piano Zucchi.
• SP9: links the coast to Collesano and Isnello and climbs towards Piano Zucchi.

They are narrow, winding roads where you may find grazing animals on the carriageway. Up high, fog rolls in quickly. Landslides and closures happen: the SP119 from Polizzi Generosa towards Portella Colla has been closed by a landslide since February 2026, and in June work had not started (La Sicilia; Snow section page). From Polizzi to Piano Battaglia you now go via Petralia Sottana: SS643, SS120 and SP54, about 35 km and 43 minutes. From Palermo the most direct climb is from the Buonfornello exit of the A19, then the SS113, the SP9 through Collesano and Piano Zucchi and the SP54: about 89 km and 1 hour 40. The other winter approaches are in how to reach Piano Battaglia in winter.

Checked notices and useful numbers are on the page about Madonie roads. We do not repeat the day’s closures here because they are kept up to date there.

In winter

On the main roads listed in the ANAS order you need chains on board or winter tyres, and with snow or ice the rule applies outside those dates too. To drive up to Piano Battaglia see the Snow section.

Parking in the towns and in the Park

The old town centres have narrow, often steep streets: leave the car at the car parks at the entrance to town and continue on foot. In the Madonie Park it is forbidden to leave your car outside car parks (Ente Parco delle Madonie): at trailheads use the lay-bys and marked areas.

How do you get around without a car?

Buses

In the timetable checked on 19 October 2026 on the Trenitalia journey planner, which also shows buses connecting with trains:

• Cefalù-Castelbuono: ten weekday runs, from 7.35 to 19.30, in 40 minutes. Almost the same on Saturday, a single run at 19.30 on Sunday.
• Castelbuono-Cefalù: weekday departures at 5.40, 6.50, 8.45, 13.50, 14.30 and 16.40.
• Cefalù-Geraci Siculo-Gangi: one weekday run at 14.10, arriving in Geraci at 15.35 and in Gangi at 15.55; another to Geraci at 15.25. The return leaves Gangi at 5.50.

The full timetables from Palermo are in our guide on how to get to the Madonie. The buses are not run by Trenitalia: buy the ticket from the company or on board.

For the other inland towns there are intercity lines from Palermo, but we found no up-to-date official timetables to publish. Ask the town hall or your accommodation.

On foot between towns

Some trails link the towns or lead from the towns to the peaks. One example is the stretch of the Sentiero Italia CAI from Piano Battaglia to Petralia Sottana. These are real hikes, to be prepared following our guide to mountain safety. All the routes are in the Trails section.

Organised excursions

For Piano Battaglia, Pizzo Carbonara or the beech woods without a car, the simplest option is a hiking guide: ask whether transport is included. Activities are in the Things to do section.

Which town should be your base?

If you want	Suggested base	Why
to arrive without a car	Cefalù or Castelbuono	trains and buses
the Ventimiglia towns	Castelbuono or Geraci Siculo	same road, the SS286
Piano Battaglia and Pizzo Carbonara	Petralia Sottana	18 km on the SP54
the interior and the Petralias	Petralia Sottana or Gangi	towns 15 to 20 minutes apart
sea and mountains	Cefalù	beach and Rocca, mountains an hour away

Places to stay in each town are on the “where to stay” pages of the villages. To see all the towns and trails on a map there is the Madonie map; for apps and maps to use on the spot, the guide on maps and apps.