One Day in Catania, Sicily
Situated on the eastern coast and once a super power in the times of ancient Greece, Syracuse (or Siracusa)
Logistics:
On the east coast of Sicily, there are really easy ways between the major cities! As the defacto capital of Eastern Sicily, Catania has the international airport, huge train links, and plenty of buses to get throughout Sicily.
By Car
In every Sicilian planning blog or trip post, everyone said you had to rent a car. Even the people we met rented cars! Unless you have a burning desire to have no rules on the road and squeeze through tiny streets, I would avoid it as we found it really easy to get between the cities.
However, if not, I highly recommend this website, Rental Cars.com
By Public Transportation
If a car is not your cup of tea, getting around Sicily is extremely easy if you don’t mind public buses and lots of walking. We took buses to and from Catania, using both bus stations. There are two main bus stations, one by the train station which can be a bit tricky to find and the other which is just south of Old Town, which is perfect if you are staying near there. All schedules are online and one can buy a ticket in advance, ticket booth, or on the bus.
Travel Tip: Use the Interbus website to make it easy! Beware of schedule changes depending on the day or holiday.
Lodging
Although we only stayed one night in Catania, our AirBnB was one of our favorites! Located within 5 minutes of the main street, our AirBnB had fantastic air conditioning and its own hot tub! Plus, it was 10 minutes by walking to the bus station which came in handy.
Travel Tip: For non-brand hotels, I use Hotels.com for their loyalty program, but look to book directly in case it is cheaper. Other sites such as booking.com and expedia offer similar programs!
Food & Drink
Al Vicolo Pizza & Vino: For our only night in Catania, I relied on an outside source to plan our dinner. Because Sicilian pizza is famous, we obviously had to try it while we were in Sicily. For our starter, we had a local meat and cheese board filled with tasty goods and bread. Somehow, we still had room for a giant pizza! Everything was very tasty, although it was an expensive meal!
Click here for our Sicily Google map pins for all of our hard research of the top food and drink spots!
Activities
Because we only had one day in Catania, we relied mostly on Voyage Tips' Catania page.
- Amphitheater: Similar to apparently every Sicilian city, there is a famous Roman amphitheater. While we did not go inside, it should be on your to-do list!
- Via Etnea: As the main street in Catania, this street offers surreal views of Mount Etnea and offers everything you could want to do in Catania!
Onto Catania
From Syracuse, we arrived on a bus that dropped us off just south of the Old Town. Thankfully, our excellent AirBnB host was ready for us and we were seamlessly checked into our AirBnB. The room is outstanding, with a giant bed and cold air conditioning. More importantly, we had really, fast wifi! How great! Rather than wander Catania in the afternoon heat, we opted to stay in the AC and relax after a very stressful time in Syracuse.
Wander through Catania
Once the sun set behind the buildings, we set off to explore the capital city. Our AirBnB host told us that we could see the city in four hours, but I think we beat that record!
Beginning near the Duomo, we walked through the giant square and fountain. We saw the beautiful elephant statue, combined with the city coming alive at night. TMost of the city is walkable and pedestrian friendly so we were allowed to wander through the streets, taking in the beautiful architecture. Similar to Syracuse, the buildings here are beautiful. The only difference is these buildings are more ornate and meant to display the power that this region once held.
In the far distance, we could see the outline of powerful Mt Etna. The active volcano towers over the city as a timeless reminder that the foundation has always been the Etna. Luckily, our dinner spot is at the far end of the pleasant Etna stroll so we were able to see the all the sights during the golden hour. We were quite lucky!
One Last Time
Unlike our time in other cities, we knew that we saw most of Catania last night and only had a few more sights to see this morning. On my morning run, I was able to see a fantastic sunrise! More importantly, I was able to see the city without many people or the hot Italian sun.
The hot sun meant that our morning activities could be limited. Afterwards, we decided to end our time early in Catania and head to the romantic Taormina!
The UnChartered Summary
Our time in Catania is well remembered for our tasty food and a break from the chaos in Syracuse.
- I would highly recommend Al Vicolo Pizza & Vino for a great meal! With plenty of outdoor seating, we enjoyed our meal under the city lights.
- Our AirBnB is fantastic for either a quick or long stay. There are plenty of bars and restuanrats nearby and the host is incredibly kind!
- Catania is an easy city break, but I would enjoy the beach destinations a lot more than the city in August!