Ferry from Sardinia to Sicily – a night under the open sky

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | It is possible to take a ferry directly from Sardinia to Sicily, between Cagliari and Palermo. We made the trip with a camper van and chose the night ferry. The only problem was that all the cabins and other sleeping places were fully booked. It ended with a night on deck under the stars and a rather unforgettable arrival in Sicily.

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Ferry from Sardinia to Sicily

The direct ferry between Cagliari in Sardinia and Palermo in Sicily still exists and is operated by Grimaldi Lines. The line runs all year round, usually once or twice a week depending on the period, and the crossing takes around 11–12 hours.

You can bring cars, motorbikes and campers on board. As departures are relatively few, it is wise to check current days and times when planning your trip.

When we made the trip in the summer of 2015, we had already traveled around Sardinia by campervan and wanted to continue directly to Sicily. The ferry from Cagliari to Palermo therefore became the perfect link between the two islands.

We took the night ferry from Cagliari to Palermo

The ferry was going to run all night and it would have been nice to book a cabin. There was just one small problem: all sleeping options were fully booked. There was no cabin, bed or spare armchair to book. So we had a night ferry of about twelve hours ahead of us and nowhere to sleep.

We paid around 2,500 kronor for two adults and our camper, without a cabin. Of course, that price says little about what the trip costs today. Prices vary depending on the season, vehicle, number of travelers and what type of place or cabin you book.

All sleeping places were fully booked.

We still thought we had prepared ourselves quite smartly. Before we left the camper, we each took a pillow and blanket with us. When evening came, we realized that we were pure amateurs.

All around us, more experienced deck travelers began to pull out sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and camp beds. A dad stood at the bar, unabashedly inflating a huge air mattress. Soon people were sleeping a little bit everywhere: in the restaurant, in the bar, in the corridors, and out on the deck. Some even had small tents. This was clearly not their first overnight ferry without a cabin.

A night under the stars on deck

We started by looking for a small free space inside the ferry, but that turned out to be easier said than done. People had already laid down in the corridors and others had placed bags and backpacks to mark their sleeping places.

Finally we found a place and made ourselves at home. It didn't last very long. After a while someone from the crew came and announced that we weren't allowed to lie there. All we had to do was gather up a pillow and blanket and keep looking.

Finally we ended up out on the deck, where we found white benches that became our beds for the night. It was the height of summer, the temperature was still around 25 degrees and the wind was warm.

And suddenly our poor planning didn't seem so stupid after all. We lay there under the open sky and fell asleep to the sound of the ferry taking us across the Mediterranean from Sardinia to Sicily.

The food wasn't the highlight of the trip

Of course, not everything was romantic. In our case, the food on board consisted of a half-cold spaghetti with small pieces of squid that didn't exactly end up on the list of our best Italian food experiences. But we survived both dinner and the night. And the best was yet to come.

We woke up to Palermo in the morning light

Sometime during the night we fell sound asleep on our benches. When we woke up the sky had begun to lighten and Palermo appeared before us in the morning sun. It was one of those moments that you remember long after you have forgotten all the practical details of the trip.

There we lay, freshly awake with our blankets and pillows after a night under the stars, while the ferry slowly approached Sicily. What a start to the day! And what a way to get to a new island!

Our first encounter with Sicily

The quiet morning in Palermo's harbor didn't really represent the rest of the day. When we stopped to shop for food outside the center, the city had woken up.

Traffic honked, vendors shouted, and the area around the grocery store was bustling with people. We tried to buy an Italian SIM card in a small tobacco shop, without success, and traded slices from a huge swordfish that was dramatically displayed on a street stall.

Then we bought fruit and somehow managed to come away with significantly more melons and pears than we had planned.

After Sardinia, the contrast was great. The heat, the dust, the street stalls, the intense traffic and the houses with satellite dishes on the roofs actually made us think of our previous trips to Morocco. This was not quite the image of Italy we were used to. We had arrived in Sicily…

By motorhome through Palermo

Our original idea was to stay at a campsite on the outskirts of Palermo. We drove the camper there, or at least tried to.

Narrow streets, potholes, parked cars and one-way streets made it much more difficult than we had anticipated. We could see that we were close to the campsite, but we still couldn't get the camper there. In the end, we gave up.

This was our experience in 2015 and should not be seen as a current description of what it is like to drive a motorhome in Palermo today. But that particular morning we were quite happy when we got out of the city again.

Further towards San Vito Lo Capo

Instead, we headed west towards San Vito Lo Capo, where there were several campsites. After the night ferry we were tired and above all desperate for working internet, which was considerably more complicated on motorhome trips in 2015 than it is today.

At the first campsite there was supposed to be wifi. It didn't work. We checked out and drove on to the next one. There was wifi in the bar. Perfect! When the bar opened, of course it turned out that the internet had been broken all week.

At that point we couldn't care less. We stopped, rested, and eventually made our way down to a nearby bar where the internet actually worked. Our first day in Sicily might not have been quite the smooth start we had imagined. But the island would have many chances to take revenge.

Can you take a camper on the ferry between Sardinia and Sicily?

Yes. On the ferry between Cagliari and Palermo it is possible to book space for vehicles, including camper vans. When booking you will need to provide details of the vehicle, and the price will be affected by factors such as vehicle type and size.

If you are traveling by vehicle, you should also be there well in advance. Grimaldi Lines currently states that travelers with vehicles should be at check-in no later than two hours before departure. Those without vehicles should normally be at check-in no later than one hour before departure.

Always check current rules and times before your trip as both timetables and conditions may change.

Do you need to book a cabin on the night ferry?

No, there are different types of tickets and accommodation options. On today's ferries, there may be cabins, numbered seats and simpler ship passages without their own sleeping accommodation.

However, based on our own experience, we would book a cabin well in advance if we did the same night trip again.

Sleeping under the stars on the Mediterranean was a great memory. That doesn't necessarily mean we need to repeat it.

Our night on deck was also in 2015. The rules for where passengers with easier ship passage are allowed to stay and sleep may change, so don't use our old trip as instructions for setting up camp on deck today.

Is the ferry between Sardinia and Sicily worth taking?

For those who want to combine Sardinia and Sicily on the same trip, the direct ferry is a very practical option. With a camper van, we didn't have to take the detour via the Italian mainland and could continue the trip directly from one island to the other.

The crossing itself was also much more memorable than we had expected. We didn't have a cabin. We ate pretty miserable spaghetti. We were carted away from our sleeping place in the corridor and ended up on a bench out on deck. Then we woke up under a brightening sky with Palermo in front of us. Sometimes the least well-planned trips are the ones you remember the most.

More to see and do in Sicily

Sicily is both a beautiful and historically interesting island. Here you will find more reports with tips:

• Things to do in Trapani
• Marina di Ragusa
• Things to do in Noto
• Things to do in Syracuse