Catania

Catania is a city of 310,000 people (2019) on the eastern coast of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna, the biggest volcano in Europe. It is the second largest city in Sicily with the metropolitan area reaching one million inhabitants, a major transport hub, economic centre and a university city where you will enjoy a busy downtown and an active nightlife. Catania is also well known for its particular baroque architecture and urban design (the downtown area is a World Heritage Site, along with all the Val di Noto area), consequences of the great earthquake of 1693 after which the city had to be rebuilt, like most of eastern Sicily.

Understand


The city has a history dating back 2,700 years, dominated by several different cultures (Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, etc.) and was a rich commercial centre, mainly due to its port. Again, since the 1970s, the city economy is growing as the urban area and the suburbs, making Catania a large metropolitan centre, mainly between the volcano and the sea. Today, even if you can find there most of the biggest commercial centers in Europe (especially Etnapolis), the 17th-century downtown area is still the centre of the day-to-day life.

Catania sits under the most major active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna, and has been destroyed many times in the past. As a result, Catania is a city where you can find a great variety of landscape and architecture, a lot of dirty buildings and also a lot of abandoned houses, especially in the mountains. However, since the city is a World Heritage Site, a lot of renovations have been made.

Today, you will feel in Catania a mix of nostalgia and joie de vivre, especially at night or during festivals.

Sicilian Baroque
The major feature of this city is its architecture, which is predominantly baroque.

The major characteristic of Baroque architectural is its theatricality. This style dominated Europe in the 17th century as a result of the reformation/counter-reformation where the statement given was one of grandeur. The preceding style was Renaissance, while the succeeding was Neoclassicism. The three major features are a near excessive amount of detail (statues, lots of gold, columns and pilasters, garlands and wreaths, etc.), façades which are taller than the nave (to fool the viewer of the size) and frescoes often featuring trompe-l'œil.

Baroque from Catania has several unique features such as use of dark lava stone (basalt), the Bell in the façade itself and grotesque masks and putti.

Climate
Catania has a hot summer-mediterranean climate with long hot, dry summers and short, mild winters. Summer experiences a pronounced aridity with a strong prevalence of stable, sunny conditions whereas winter presents more interchangeable weather. Temperatures of 35°C are usual in summer and temperatures in winter generally revolve around 17°C during the day. Springs and autumns enjoy warm day temperatures, ranging from 20°C in March to 31°C in September.

Tourist information

 * Info point of the province of Catania at the via Etnea.
 * Info point of the province of Catania at the via Etnea.

Talk
Sicilian used to be the common language here for centuries, as the Sicilian culture is isolated on an island. Even in Catania, you will notice Italian and Sicilian (as Palermo, Catania has its own dialect) in some neighborhoods, especially in inner areas, while most people speak mainly Italian in the city center.

By plane
Eruptions of Mount Etna and Stromboli can cause disruptions of the flights, such as in July 2024.



The simplest way to reach central Catania is on the

Because the airport is so close, the inter-city buses running to Catania also call here, so you can usually get a direct connection: see listings below. Buses to nearby towns and villages (run by AST) mostly don't call here, so you'll have to go downtown to change. However the local buses to Donnalucata, Modica and Carlentini do call here, as the airport happens to be on the route. Buy bus tickets from the kiosks by the east exit of the Arrivals hall.

By bus
The transport hub of Catania is the big roundabout Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII (that's "Pope John 23rd" for non-Latins). The metro station is right here, as is the main railway station, and just north is the bus station

The main bus companies running from here are:



By train
Trains run roughly hourly along the east coast via Taormina-Giardini to Messina (90 min to 2 hr). Three of these per day are direct services to Naples (7-8 hours) and Rome (10 hours), via the Straits ferry. Five trains per day run inland via Enna (1 hour) to Palermo (3 hours). 12 trains a day run south to Syracuse (one hour); two of these connect with onward trains to Pozzallo (2 hr 30 min); 2 trains a weekday run the scenic inland route to Caltagirone (1 hr 30 min) and then with the replacement bus to Gela (1 hr more) (as of Feb 2020).

There are two small stations to the north, Catania Europa and Catania Ognina. Visitors are unlikely to use them. To the south, there is the stop "Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa", by which the airport can be reached via a short walk or a shuttlebus.

By ferry
Most travellers from mainland Italy use the 20-minute shuttle between Villa San Giovanni and Messina; there are also frequent ferries from Reggio to Messina. A car ferry runs every night between Naples and Catania: it's run by TTT lines and takes 12 hours. Other ferries sail from the mainland to Palermo.

A car ferry runs twice a day between Pozzallo (90 km south of Catania) and Valletta, Malta. It's run by Virtu Ferries and takes one hour 45 min, return fare €80 low season rising to €160 mid-summer. Day-trips are possible from Malta every day, and from Sicily on Wednesday and Friday. On Friday, Saturday and Monday there's a connecting coach between Catania and Pozzallo. This is timed for day-trips from Malta, so if you want to day-trip from Sicily you need to make your own way to Pozzallo.

By foot
Catania has a compact centre and it is most convenient just to walk around.

By bus
To reach outlying accommodation or the university, you'll need the bus, run by

By train
Ferrovia Circumetnea (FCE) is a narrow-gauge railway that loops around the west flanks of Etna then back to the coast and mainline at Giarre-Riposto, 28 km north of Catania. The terminus in Catania is Borgo, with a metro connection to Centrale railway station and downtown. Trains run from Catania Borgo M-Sa hourly, all as far as Paterno, most as far as Adrano, and eight per day reach Bronte and Randazzo (2 hours) where these south-side trains terminate. To complete the circuit, you change to the north-side train Randazzo-Linguaglossa-Giarre-Riposto, taking 70 min. There are 3 or 4 of these per day in summer but only one or two in winter. At Giarre the Circumetnea and mainline stations are side by side, with Circumetnea trains continuing for a final km to terminate at Riposto. There is no Sunday or public holiday service on the Circumetnea line.

By Metro
Visitors to Catania can use the metro to reach the Circumetnea railway. It's one of the shortest metro systems in the world, just under 9 km long, and it's run by the same company. The line starts from Stesicoro in midtown Catania, runs east to the transport hub of Giovanni XXIII, then turns west. Get off at Borgo for the Circumetnea railway. The metro line ends at the suburb of Nesima, which has Park & Ride. The metro runs M-Sa 06:50-21:00 every 10-15 min; no service Sundays or public holidays. Single ticket €1 (valid 90 min), Bus+Metro €1.20 (valid 120 min), day pass €2 (metro only).

By car
Driving in the centre is difficult because of congestion, one-way systems and pedestrianised areas. The town center has a small limited traffic zone (ZTL) (map and hours), and most vehicles are prohibited from accessing it at any time. There are ten main parking lots around the city, and a slew of others serving the airport. Park & Ride is available at the airport, and at Nesima metro station west of the city.

World Heritage Sites




Do

 * - Walk the main shopping avenue, running north from the Piazza del Duomo has most of the city's imposing building and is busy throughout the day and evening. Lots of churches. This road is the equivalent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona, so in the evenings the local people put on their Sunday clothes and walk at a relaxed pace along this avenue.
 * La Plaja, sandy beaches south of the city along the bay
 * The Riviera dei ciclopi, a rocky, volcano coast north of the city, stretching almost to Taormina
 * Visit a minor religious festival, but avoid Sant'Agata on the 5th February due to the excessive crowds.
 * A vintage self-drive excursion or a themed tour on a classic Fiat 500, starting from Catania or Taormina/Giardini Naxos. The most popular excursions are themed on the Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather movie and on the Etna Wines Road. You can reach villages like Savoca, Forza D’Agrò and Taormina. Contact 500 Vintage Tour - Classic car hire & tours - Taormina - - Email: info@500vintagetour.com - Website: 500 Vintage Tour

Buy
Pizzo means protection money extorted by the Mafia. Addiopizzo Catania is a movement of shopkeepers who refuse to pay - please support them by shopping in their stores. They also run educational and cultural outreach activities.

Every morning except Sundays, try haggling at:



Eat
Catania is proud of its specialities. A famous speciality is pasta alla Norma which consists in pasta (generally macaroni) dressed with tomato sauce and topped with fried eggplant slices, grated ricotta salata (salty ricotta) and fresh basil. The fish is also good, as Catania is a large port. The city is also known for horse meat, especially in some areas around the "Benedictine Monastery".

Typical Catanese pastry include the world-wide famous cannolo alla Ricotta, cassatella di Sant'Agata (a small cassata) and pasta di Mandorla (based on almond meal).

Fast food
Like in most of Sicily, you can get a freshly made cold panini in a salumeria, where you choose whatever you want to put in (prosciutto cotto/crudo and cheese are probably the most popular ones), for €1-3. Don't forget that most of salumerias are closed 13:00-16:00 and on Sunday afternoon.

You can also have some tavola calda (“hot bite”) meal, most of them made with cheese and meat, fried or baked. You will normally pay €1.50 for one piece.

Another Sicilian speciality is arancino, which are deep fried rice balls with various fillings, meat or eggplant or spinach, that sell for €1.50 at most places. They make a good lunch snack.

Also, especially in the evening, some big kiosks sell hot, tasty and fat panini, some even horse meat filling. Most people add fries into the sandwich. Usually, it's about €2.50-3.00 and they are very popular among teenagers. Because its quite cheap, there is normally confusion at these kiosks.

In summer, a typical breakfast consists of "Granita" (a kind of sorbet of almond or black mulberry) served with a brioscia (sweet round small loaf): it is a nourishing and refreshing combination that can be found in almost any bar of the city.

Drink
You'd find all kinds of kiosks in the city which sell various refreshments, such as coffee, limoncello or popular local drinks such as seltz al limone (soda water with fresh-squeezed lemon juice) or mandarino al limone (soda water with tangerine syrup and fresh-squeezed lemon juice).

Mid-range to high

 * The Parco degli Aragonesi, Viale Kennedy, on beach and the Catania Centro, 13 Piazza Trento, downtown, are the two NH hotels in Catania.
 * The Parco degli Aragonesi, Viale Kennedy, on beach and the Catania Centro, 13 Piazza Trento, downtown, are the two NH hotels in Catania.
 * The Parco degli Aragonesi, Viale Kennedy, on beach and the Catania Centro, 13 Piazza Trento, downtown, are the two NH hotels in Catania.

Stay safe
Catania is the safest major city in Sicily, even during the night as there are a lot of students and people around throughout the city centre.

Be careful not to look conspicuously touristy, exposing jewelry, large bags or photo gear that might entice fast pickpockets or robbers. They are abundant all around the city and they recognize immediately anyone who is not from around here. However using common sense is more than enough the avoid all problems.

You may encounter some people asking for money. Just ignore them and say "Non ho niente, mi dispiace" (I don't have anything (=money), I'm sorry).

As in any other city avoid the station area, especially at night.

San Cristoforo is the most dangerous neighborhood in Catania and is located near the city centre, at the end of Via Plebiscito. Do not wander the streets alone at night. Another dangerous neighborhood is Librino, but of no interest for a tourist.

Consulates

 * 🇷🇴 Romania

Go next

 * Mount Etna is an eerie volcanic landscape, with a black terrain of pumice ash and rivers of solidified lava. The top is 3329 m high, so it's always cold, and if the city weather is iffy, then it will be beyond miserable up there. There is a daily bus service via Nicolosi to Rifugio Sapienza ("Etna Sud"), the usual approach to the summit. You need your own car to reach the northern approach at Piano Provenzana ("Etna Nord"). You can also explore the surrounding villages on the narrow gauge Circumetnea train, but you can't approach the summit that way.
 * The Riviera dei Ciclopi is a chain of three villages on the coast north-east of Catania. In Homer's legend, Odysseus (Ulysses) landed here but a one-eyed giant trapped him and began eating his crew; Odysseus got the giant drunk, blinded him and escaped. The furious giant hurled rocks blind at the escaping ship, narrowly missing.
 * In Aci Castello see
 * Aci Trezza is a little fishing port known for Isole dei Ciclopi — giant rocks offshore, supposedly those thrown by the Cyclops at Ulysses.
 * Acireale has a big carnival end of Jan to beginning of Feb. Riserva naturale orientata La Timpa is located along the rocky coast of the village. There are a few panoramic trails across the reserve - check their site.


 * Aci Castello and Aci Trezza are in a 30-min bus ride from Catania. Take AMT urban bus 534 (Catania – Acicastello) which starts from Piazza Borsellino or AST regional bus from Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII. For Acireale take either AST, Interbus or Zappalà & Torrisi buses (50 min).


 * Further afield by public transport you can day-trip to Taormina and Syracuse. With your own car you can day-trip to Modica and Ragusa, Piazza Armerina, Enna, Militello in Val di Catania, Caltagirone, and Agrigento.


 * To reach the north coast, the quickest way is to blat along the autostrada A18, or take the A19 past Enna. A more attractive route SS185 winds through the hills from Taormina, with views back over Etna, and through the picturesque medieval town of Novara di Sicilia. On the north coast either turn west for Palermo, or go a little way north to Milazzo the port for the Aeolian Islands, or turn east to the ferry port of Messina.