Marsala (Sicily Italy)

Marsala is a Tyrrhenian Sea/Mediterranean port town on Sicily Island (part of Italy's Trapani Province) with population around 80,000. Located nearby cruise ports on Sicily Island (coastal road distance) are Mazara del Vallo (23 km/14 mi to the southeast), Trapani (30 km/19 mi to the north), Palermo (125 km/78 mi to the northeast), and Empedocle (130 km/81 mi to the southeast).

Port Marsala (locode ITMRA) serves mainly passenger ferries and rarely handles cruise vessels. As cruise port, Marsala is visited only by smaller-sized ships and superyachts of luxury mega-yachts. Most cruise tourists visit Marsala via bus tours from Trapani.

LIBERTY Lines (1993-founded, Trapani-based shipping company with a fleet of fast ferries/hydrofoils) provides regularly scheduled daily crossings linking Marsala with the Aegadian Islands (approx 18 km/11 mi west of Sicily/across the Stagnone Lagoon). These ferry connections are to Favignana (5 daily crossings/30-min travel time), and also to Levanzo (50-min) and Marettimo (85-min) - each with 2 daily crossings/14 weekly (per route). LIBERTY Lines ferries also connect Sicily with the Aeolian Islands (Alicudi, Filicudi, Ginostra, Lipari, Panarea, Rinella, Salina, Stromboli, Vulcano) with daily crossings departing from Palermo, Milazzo, Messina.

Marsala's economy is based on wine growing and production and tourism. Tourists are mostly domestic and attracted by the white sand beaches (approx 14 km/9 mi of coastline) and the short travel to the Aegadian Islands.