Here’s how to get from Cefalu to Castelbuono, Petralia Soprana, and the other Madonie mountain towns of Sicily without your own car. If you want to visit the area on a day trip, then, without a car, I recommend choosing one Madonie mountain town to visit or booking an organized tour that takes you to several.

Also check out this guide to the five best things to see, do, and eat in Castelbuono, what to see and do in Cefalu for the best sights and activities, how long to stay in Cefalu, and how to get to Cefalu from Palermo.

How to Get from Cefalu to the Madonie Mountain Towns

By Bus

SAIS Transporti operates buses from Cefalu to the towns in the Madonie mountains. The buses depart in front of Cefalu train station. Castelbuono, only 40 minutes from Cefalu, is the most popular to visit on a day trip. Buses run throughout the day. Petralia Soprana, the highest town in the area, is also lovely but takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach, and as of July 2025, there’s only one bus departing from Cefalu at 2:30 PM. Because there are limited buses to many of the towns from Cefalu and not all are connected to each other by bus, it’s difficult to visit more than one in a single day with public transportation. So, for a day trip, I recommend choosing one town to visit or instead booking an organized tour to multiple towns.

Local Tips

  • You can’t buy tickets for SAIS Transporti’s regional buses online. You can buy them in the cafe at the Cefalu train station while you wait for your bus or from the bus driver when you board the bus.

  • Buses run on a very limited schedule on Sundays, if at all, so that’s not the best day for a day trip.

  • Once you get as far south as Petralia Soprana, you may want to return to Palermo from there, if you’re heading that way anyway, because it’s only a 15-minute ride longer than returning to Cefalu.

Organized Tours

Organized tours from Cefalu are the best way to visit multiple towns in the Madonie mountains within one day without a car (even with a car, those mountain roads are tricky). Here are your top tour options!