How to get to the Madonie: plane, train, bus and car

The easiest gateway to the Madonie is Cefalù: there are 23 trains from Palermo on weekdays, taking 39 to 74 minutes, and from Cefalù a bus climbs to Castelbuono in 40 minutes. By car you arrive on the A20 Messina-Palermo motorway for the coast and on the A19 Palermo-Catania for the interior: Palermo to Cefalù is about 70 km and just over an hour. The nearest airport is Palermo Falcone Borsellino.

At a glance

• Airport: Palermo Falcone Borsellino; Catania Fontanarossa if you come from the east.
• Train: Palermo Centrale-Cefalù, 23 weekday services, from 7.10 euros (Trenitalia, timetable for 20 October 2026).
• Bus: Cefalù-Castelbuono, 10 weekday runs in 40 minutes; one run a day to Geraci Siculo and Gangi.
• Car: A20 for Cefalù and Castelbuono, A19 for Polizzi, the Petralias and Gangi. Times and exits are on the page about Madonie roads.
• Live traffic: the free 1518 service run by CCISS.

The timetables on this page come from the Trenitalia journey planner, checked on 19 October 2026 for 20, 24 and 25 October 2026. They change with the winter and summer timetables: check again before you travel.

Which airport should you fly into?

Palermo Falcone Borsellino airport

It is the closest. It lies on the coast west of Palermo and has a railway station.

• By car: add about 35 km and 40 minutes to the times from central Palermo (OSRM calculations from our roads page). Cefalù is therefore about 105 km away, Petralia Sottana about 140.
• By train: from the airport a regional train takes you to Palermo Centrale in about an hour, then you change for Cefalù. Some services change at Termini Imerese. In the timetable for 20 October 2026 there were 19 connections during the day, from 5.18 to 20.26, with journeys of 1 hour 49 to 3 hours; a through ticket cost 13.10 euros (15.80 with the Intercity).

Catania Fontanarossa airport

Handy if you are coming from eastern Sicily or find better flights. By car Petralia Sottana is about 135 km and 1 hour 50 from central Catania, Gangi about 145 km and 2 hours, on the A19 (Irosa exit for Gangi). From the airport the times are almost the same as from the city centre.

There are no direct trains from Catania Centrale to Cefalù. In the timetable for 20 October 2026 connections changed at Termini Imerese or Messina, with journeys of 3 to 5 and a half hours and tickets from 16.30 euros.

How do you get there by train?

The railway runs along the Tyrrhenian coast, on the Palermo-Messina line. The station for the Madonie is Cefalù. Termini Imerese, Campofelice, Lascari and Pollina-San Mauro Castelverde are on the same line, but connections from there to the mountain towns are poor.

Trains from Palermo to Cefalù

This table sums up the service on a weekday (Tuesday 20 October 2026) from Palermo Centrale to Cefalù.

Item	Value
Trains per day	23
First and last departure	4.50 and 21.35
Journey time	39 minutes to 1 hour 14
Trains	regional, fast regional, Intercity
Fare	7.10 euros regional, 9 euros Intercity

Source: Trenitalia, journey planner checked on 19 October 2026.

The fast regional trains are the quickest (39 to 43 minutes). In the afternoon there is a departure roughly every hour. From Cefalù to Palermo the service is similar in the other direction.

How do you get there by bus?

From Cefalù to Castelbuono

This is the route with the most runs. In the timetable checked on 19 October 2026, on a weekday, the bus left Cefalù at:

Departs Cefalù	Arrives Castelbuono
7.35, 8.00	8.15, 8.40
11.00, 12.45	11.40, 13.25
13.30, 14.10, 14.40	14.10, 14.50, 15.20
15.25, 17.30, 19.30	16.05, 18.10, 20.10

The journey takes 40 minutes. On Saturday almost all runs were the same; on Sunday 25 October there was a single run, at 19.30.

To return from Castelbuono to Cefalù, on weekdays there were departures at 5.40, 6.50, 8.45, 13.50, 14.30 and 16.40, with connections to Palermo.

Source: train plus bus connections on the Trenitalia website, which marks buses with the code ST. The bus is not a Trenitalia service and you cannot buy the ticket on its website: buy it from the operating company or on board.

From Cefalù to Geraci Siculo and Gangi

In the timetable for 20 October 2026 there was a single weekday run inland: leaving Cefalù at 14.10, arriving in Geraci Siculo at 15.35 and in Gangi at 15.55. A second run to Geraci left at 15.25 (arriving 16.50). In the other direction the bus left Gangi at 5.50 and reached Cefalù at 7.30.

With these runs you can get there, but you cannot come back the same day: if you go to Gangi or Geraci by bus, plan to stay the night. You will find places in where to stay in Gangi and where to stay in Geraci Siculo.

From Palermo to the interior

Polizzi Generosa, Petralia Soprana, Petralia Sottana, Caltavuturo and Castellana Sicula are linked to Palermo by intercity buses. We found no up-to-date official timetable to quote: ask the town hall of your destination or your accommodation before you set off.

How do you get there by car?

The Madonie have two motorway gateways:

• A20 Messina-Palermo for the coast: Cefalù, Castelbuono, Pollina, Collesano, Isnello, Gratteri.
• A19 Palermo-Catania for the interior: Polizzi Generosa, Caltavuturo, Scillato, Castellana Sicula, Petralia Soprana, Petralia Sottana, Gangi.

This table repeats the distances and times calculated with OSRM on OpenStreetMap for our roads page, without traffic.

From	To	Km	Time
Palermo	Cefalù	72	1 h 06
Palermo	Castelbuono	90	1 h 21
Palermo	Polizzi Generosa	85	1 h 20
Palermo	Petralia Sottana	105	1 h 32
Palermo	Piano Battaglia (via Collesano and Piano Zucchi)	89	1 h 40
Catania	Petralia Sottana	135	1 h 50
Catania	Gangi	147	2 h
Messina	Cefalù	162	2 h 02

Motorway exits town by town, the mountain roads and closure notices are on the page about Madonie roads. We do not repeat them here because they are kept up to date there.

In winter

On the Madonie main roads listed in the ANAS order you need chains on board or winter tyres during the winter period, and with snow or ice the rule can apply outside those dates too. This year’s rules are on the roads page; to drive up to Piano Battaglia see how to reach Piano Battaglia in winter.

Which gateway: the sea or the mountains?

It depends on where you sleep and what you want to do.

• You arrive without a car: stay in Cefalù or Castelbuono, the best-connected towns by train and bus.
• You want the trails of Piano Battaglia and Pizzo Carbonara: you need a car. The closest base is Petralia Sottana, 18 km away on the SP54; the SP119 from Polizzi Generosa has been closed by a landslide since February 2026.
• You want to see the Ventimiglia towns: Castelbuono, Geraci Siculo and Gangi are on the same main road, the SS286.

To get about once you are here, read our guide on getting around the Madonie. To choose the season there is the guide on when to go to the Madonie. A sample two-day trip is in our Madonie weekend.