Messina Travel Forum

In June of this year we will visit both Calabria and Sicily. We will arrive by plane in Lamezia Terme, Calabria and fly out of Catania, Sicily. Our intention was to travel by car from Calabria to Sicily but the drop-off charges on Sicily are so extremely high that we now think of dropping off the car in Reggio di Calabria (if possible close to the ferry terminal), cross the Strait of Messina as foot passengers and take a train from Messina to Taormina.
Does anybody know how far the train station is from the where the ferry arrives?
Another question is: will we have to take a ferry in Reggio di Calabria or in Villa San Giovanni? What's the difference between the two?

Villa San Giovanni is a few miles North of Reggio and is a much smaller town. The trip across the strait to Sicily is shorter. Given that both towns are equally dire I would choose Villa S.G., but I don't know about where you would drop off a car there.
Have you considered simply taking the train from Cosenza and skipping the car? It's really not a long trip.

Well, we need the car anyway for touring in Calabria so we thought we could as well drive down to Reggio di Calabria (with stops along the way) on our last day before we move on to Sicily. It would have been easier to take the car with us on the ferry (we will have luggage!) and drive down all the way to Taormina, then drop off the car there.
I'm still checking out other rental agencies. Maybe there's a smaller one who will allow us to drop off in Sicily with reasonable drop-off charges.
Thanks anyway!

Oh, I didn't realize you were doing a Calabria tour as well.
I did a zig-zaggy Calabria road trip a couple of years ago---if I can offer any insights do feel free to ask.

If you have luggage perhaps an easier option would be to drop the car at Villa S. Giovanni central station and then take a train directly to Taormina (the train gets boarded on the ferry so you don't have to struggle with bags).

With Intercity trains the ride to Taormina-Giardini takes just over two hours. There's three or four direct services a day.

Make sure you don't have to change train in Messina, as that would be the same hassle as getting on the ferry on foot (and a bit more expensive).

Cheers,
mac

Mille grazie, barone!
In the meantime I found a rental agency that handles more affordable rates so we will drive as we had initially planned.