"Beautiful Catania ..." Top 5 Page for this destination Catania by rsleisk

Catania Travel Guide: 262 reviews and 538 photos

Catania is a beautiful Baroque Italian city. The city itself is rather large and just like any other city has it good and bad places to be. The main squares or piazzas are; Piazza Stesicoro, Piazza Universita, Piazza Duomo, and Piazza Bellini. The first three are essentially in order of succession as you walk down the main street via Etnea where all the shopping is starting from Bellini Park. From the hotel we stayed at you could easily walk to all the sites, which we preferred rather than taking a taxi, because for one it is cheaper and you can take in all the scenery.

Catania is less touristy, more authentic truly Italian. We were like the only Americans we saw and very few people speak English.

Via Etnea heading toward Piazza Duomo

Pros and Cons

Pros:Beautiful Baroque Italian Architecture, great food, accessible city center, less touristy.
Cons:Traffic but not as bad as Naples.
In a nutshell:A great destination in Sicily.

Last visit to Catania: May 2007
Intro Updated Apr 20, 2010
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Reviews (15)

Mount Etna Things to Do (6)

While we were in Catania Mount Etna's lava was flowing as we saw numerous news reports on the subject so we were really... more travel advice

Not your typical Gas Station food... Restaurants (4)

Even the gas stations off the highways are good places to eat. I had many a delicious panini at these roadside oasis.... more travel advice

The Italian Bar Restaurants (4)

A bar in Italy is usually a family owned business where you can purchase coffee drinks, wine and liquor, and pastries,... more travel advice

Catania-Fontanarossa Airport Warnings and Dangers (2)

The airport had been recently remodeled but had not fully opened so when we arrived we were taxied to the main terminal.... more travel advice

Local Customs (2)
See All Car parker, man on the street

Hotels (1)
Sicilian Luxury

Comments (3)

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Toshioohsako Nov 24, 2009 at 5:31 AM

Fantastic Sicily photos on historical monuments.
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mircaskirca Aug 4, 2008 at 1:42 AM

Hi Scott! Seems I missed Catania on my recent Sicilian trip ;) Agree with the traffic warnings - surprisingly we did not see any accident, were just constantly 'lost' for the lack of road signs. The art of conversation Italian style can be quite a fun :)
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PierreZA Aug 2, 2008 at 10:51 AM

Hi Scott, those local custom tips are great to read! The lemencello reminds of my visit to Sorrento, nice page! Pierre