The city is compact and most everything lies in the center, which makes it easy and best to get around on foot.

We do not recommend driving while in Messina. The city is a traffic chaos, even by Sicilian standards. Once you arrive there are local buses and a tram to get you around.

If you have a car and don`t have any luck parking on the street (blue lines denote pay-and-display meter parking), there`s a useful multistorey car park, Parcheggio Cavallotti, near Piazza Cairoli. You will need to purchase a parking ticket from the ground-floor ticket office once you have parked your car. Scratch the time of arrival on the ticket and display it on your dashboard.

If you need to go further, ATM buses (tel. 090-22851; www.atmmessina.it) is the bus and tram company that departs from the transportation hub, Piazza della Repubblica. Bus tickets can be purchased at tabacchi (tobacco shops) or news kiosks throughout the city; they cost is about €1.20 for a ticket valid for 1 1/2 hours or about €2.60 for an all-day ticket.

An electric tram runs from Piazza Cairoli via the train station up to the Museo Regionale. Buy tickets (around €1.70 return) from tabacchi (tobacco shops).

You`re only likely to use the bus or tram to get between central Messina and the northern ferry terminal 2.5 miles up the coast, these run every 10-15 mins. Bus 79 runs this way (every 30 mins) and continues north to Ganzirri and Istituto Marino on the north-eastern tip of the island. Many buses and the railway run south.

Taxis are found mainly at the Stazione Centrale, at Piazza Cairoli, and along Via Calabria. For a 24-hour radio taxi, call tel. 090-2934880.