CATANIA FAQ`S
Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, also known as Vincenzo Bellini
Airport, is an international airport in Sicily located about 2.7 miles
southwest of Catania. It is the busiest airport in Sicily. Traveling to and
from the airport is easy, due to its vicinity to the city center. If you have
not booked a private transfer with us then you have a few other options.
Airport shuttle: There is an organized shuttle service
with AMT Alibus from Catania International Airport to the city
center and the Train station. The bus departs every 20 minutes, from 5:00 am to
midnight. The ticket costs around €4 and is valid for 90 minutes, but you have to validate it
in the electronic ticket machine on the bus.
The bus departure and arrival point is at a bus station just
outside the terminal building, about 150 ft from the entrance to the airport.
The journey time is 20 minutes to the main square (Duomo), and 30 minutes to the
Train Station. On the way back to the airport, the bus has the same route
(departing from the train station and the main square).
Public bus: Local bus line 457 will
take you downtown from the Catania-Fontanarossa airport in 20 minutes just
like Alibus, but you might have to wait a bit longer because the public bus
departs every 40 minutes. The good thing though, is that a single ticket
costs only €1. You have to buy the ticket before you enter the bus and you
can do that at the newspaper stand (Tabacchi) at the airport. The bus departure
point is at the bus station in front of the airport building.
Taxi services: Taxis are available from Catania airport and you will find them
in front of the terminal building, arrivals area. However, to avoid
being scammed, use only the authorized taxi service called Radio Taxi Catania.
Taxis typically charge a flat fee to the city center. It is a 20 to 30 minute
ride depending on traffic. You can even call them or book the taxi online,
using the mobile app.
Renting a car at Catania airport: There are several car rental
companies located at and around the airport, mostly local companies and three
larger companies (Sixt, Budget and Hertz).
Catania Centrale is the main railway station of Catania. It is managed by the Ferrovie dello Stato, the national rail company of Italy. It is located just over a mile from the central Piazza Duomo. Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII is adjacent to the station and is a crucial hub for connections to the entire eastern side of Sicily. It is a good starting point for the bus and its terminal. From the station you can take a bus, taxi or Metro to your final destination.
How do I get to Catania by ferry?There are ferries to Catania from both Naples and Malta. Arriving by boat is cheaper than flying, but takes longer. Many passengers have complained of a very bumpy ride, bring seasickness medication. Schedules vary depending on the day of the week. Early morning boats may depart before busses start running. Trips can be cancelled due to bad weather so confirm the schedule the day before. Tickets should be purchased in advanced.
How do I get around in the city of Catania?
Once you`ve made it to
town, busses, the Metro, and rental cars will get you around. The bus is cheap,
and stops at many key downtown highlights. The Catania Metro is limited with
only seven stops; more terminals are under construction. Rental cars will take
you anywhere, but to drive in Sicily, you must keep in mind that driving is
chaotic. The traffic is dreadfully slow in most of the city and extremely fast
on the highways and wherever possible. Those new to Catania`s one-way streets
and unmarked lanes may want to pass on driving all together.
Alternatives to visit
the town are the little tourist
train departing from
piazza Duomo which does a sightseeing tour in about 30 minutes. Another
alternative is the `hop-on hop-off` bus Katane Live, with audioguides. The tour lasts about 1 hour.
For a taxi, call Radio Taxi Catania. You`ll find taxi ranks at the train station and at the northwest corner of Piazza del Duomo.
Is Catania a walking city?Catania has a compact center and it is most convenient just to walk around where most monuments are located.
How do I get around Catania by bus?Several useful AMT city buses can be found in front of Catania Centrale train station, including buses 1-4 and 4-7 (both run roughly hourly from the station to Via Etnea). Also useful is bus D, which runs from Piazza Borsellino (just south of the Cattedrale di Sant`Agata, or duomo) to the local beaches. Tickets, from tabacchi (tobacconists) cost about €1 and last 90 minutes. A two-hour combined bus-metro ticket costs about €1.20. AST runs to many smaller towns around Catania, including Acireale (around €2.70). It also connects Catania to Rifugio Sapienza on Mt Etna. AST tickets can be purchased at Terminal Bar, opposite Catania Centrale train station.
How do I get around Catania using the metro?Catania`s one-line metro currently has only six stops, all on the periphery of town. For tourists, it`s mainly useful as a way of getting from Catania Centrale station to the Circumetnea train that circles Mt Etna. A 90-minute metro ticket costs about €1. A two-hour combined metro-bus ticket costs about €1.20.
I will have a car in Catania, where can I park?
When driving around in a rented car, you may have to put up
with heavy, slow, messy, unruly traffic jams. Also, the city`s streets are made
up of complicated one-way systems. You can`t enter in the lower part of via
Etnea by car because the most part is ZTL, a controlled traffic zone.
Parking can be extremely difficult in the city center and it can be almost impossible to find free parking. If you`re bringing your own car, consider
staying at a hotel or B and B with parking facilities; if you`re hiring a car,
the advice is to pick up the car as you leave town and return it when you
re-enter.
We
suggest to park at the public parking near piazza Falcone-Borsellino (Alcalà),
or at the little private parking garages. There is also a secure parking lot in
the center of Catania called Piazza Lupo Garage.
If you want to get along the coast (Acicastello, Acitrezza, Acireale), you are better off driving or taking a taxi (there are several
at Piazza Duomo). You could also use the train or one of the buses.
To get up Mount Etna, you can
take the private train line (Circumetnea) at Borgo metro station or a shuttle from the
central station that reaches Rifugio
Sapienza(usually leaving in the morning and return the evening) from
where you can get to the top of the mountain (spring/summer only, regardless of
the summer heat the summit will be cold so do bring a jacket).
Please
note that the metro and the train to Mount Etna are closed on Sunday.
Catania
is a safe place to visit. Nevertheless, you should always take precautions when
traveling, ie., keep your passport in your hotel safe if you can, don`t carry a
great deal of cash, be vigilant about your own safety and beware of
pickpockets. It is always recommended to avoid walking alone at night and in
remote areas. Use the same street smarts that you would use in any large
city worldwide.
There are some areas best avoided. Some of the residential areas can be dodgy,
and avoid the area around Castello Ursino. Stay in the main tourist areas
around piazza Duomo and via Etnea.
The currency used in Catania (and the rest of
Italy) is the euro (€), US dollars are not accepted. We suggest to
exchange some money before the trip and have some euros on you since the rate
will be a lot higher on the spot and no currency other than euro is accepted. Most
banks lie in the center along Corso Sicilia; these include Deutsche Bank, Piazza Buonarroti 14 (tel. 095-722931), and Banco di Sicilia, Corso
Sicilia 8 (tel. 095-368215), both open Monday to
Friday 8:30 am to 1:30 pm and 2:30 to 4 pm. You can also exchange currency at
the airport, at the train station, and at the AmEx office.
It is also useful
to remind your bank and credit card company that you will be travelling to make
sure your cards will work while in Italy. We recommend you record all your
credit card numbers, as well as the phone numbers to call if your cards are
lost or stolen.
Under the euro system, there are seven notes:
5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 euros. Notes are the same for all countries.
There are eight coins: 1 and 2 euros, plus 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50
cents.
Rates fluctuate, so before
departing consult a currency exchange website such as www.xe.com to check up-to-the-minute rates.
For
more information about tipping visit:
Tipping in Italy
Average temperatures in
Catania vary greatly. Considering humidity, temperatures feel very nice much of
the year, but hot in the summer and cold in the winter with a very low chance
of rain or snow throughout the year. The area is somewhat temperate compared to
tourist destinations worldwide. The best time to visit Catania is from May to
June or September to October. These late spring and early fall months offer the
best temperatures in the 70`s, which are ideal for temple gazing, beach lazing
or hiking. These months are also the most popular times to visit, as well
as the most expensive.
If you’re looking for the
very warmest time
to visit Catania, the hottest months are August, July, and then September. The warmest time of year is generally July
or August where highs are regularly around 90°F with temperatures rarely
dropping below 68°F at night. If you can take the heat, you can find deals.
Winter sees average temperatures in the 50`s; you can typically find greatly reduced
hotel rates, but sea swimming is out.
If you don`t speak Italian we suggest learning at least a few Italian words and phrases before you arrive. This will come in handy in more remote parts of Sicily. In Catania, there aren`t many people who speak English, but enough of the folks in airports, hotels and restaurants understand it well enough to make basic transactions go smoothly. Even if you do speak Italian, you might not understand everything the Sicilians are saying to each other, since they may be speaking the local dialect (actually a distinct language), but they all speak Italian. We suggest you get a good English-Italian and familiarize yourself with common phrases such as hello, goodbye, excuse me and numbers 1-10.
What is the food like?
Catania is full of great
food and proud of some specialties, such as Arancino (cone-shaped rice
croquette filled with meat, tomato sauce, cheese and peas) and other many
typical tavola calda. The fish is also very popular and good, as Catania is a
large port. The city is also known for horse meat, especially in some areas
around the `Benedictine Monastery`. Another favorite is Pasta alla Norma which
consists of pasta dressed with tomato sauce and topped with fried eggplant
slices, grated ricotta salata and fresh basil. Catanese pastries include the world-wide famous Cannolo
alla Ricotta, the `Cassatella di Sant`Agata` (a small cassata) and the `Pasta
di Mandorla` (based on almond meal). In summer, the typical breakfast consists
of `Granita` (a kind of sorbet of almond or black mulberry) served with a sweet
round loaf (`brioscia`): it is a nourishing and refreshing combination that can
be found in almost any bar in the city.
Some street food and fast food options are
available throughout the city. Freshly made cold Panini in a `salumeria`, where
you choose whatever you want to put in (prosciutto cotto/crudo and cheese is
probably the most popular). You can also have a tavola calda which
mean `hot bite`, most of them made with cheese and meat, fried or baked. There
is also the Sicilian specialty of Arancino, which are deep fried rice balls
with various fillings, meat or eggplant or spinach, they make a good lunch
snack. During the evening, food trucks that sell hot, tasty Paninis, some even with
horse meat inside. Most people add fries into the sandwich. The last few years
Kebab shops have popped up all the city.
Catania offers a lively nightlife. Most of
the nightlife is centered around the Piazza Bellini and the surrounding
streets. Usually there are more people drinking on the streets than inside the
bars. Tuesday is student night and gets quite packed. Another spot usually with
a good mix of locals and tourists is the bar and courtyard of the Agora Hostel,
usually packed on Mondays with live music most weekend nights. The area around
the castle has plenty of places to drink and eat too. Pubs and dance clubs
rule the night, especially in the historical center of town.
Pick up a free copy of Lapis (www.lapisnet.it), a bi-monthly bulletin in Italian listing all that`s
happening in local entertainment and by night. It is available at hotels, bars,
cafes and tabacchi.
Catania is sometimes
referred to as the Milan of Sicily for the enterprising spirit. There are
countless craftsmen, artists and small business owners who sell their wares all
over the city. Brand name shopping can be had along expensive Corso Italia and
around Via Pacini, Via Umberto I, and Via Etnea. There are several shops at
Porta Uzeda, and the prices are far better than what you`ll find in other parts
of the region. Colorful, hand crafted plates are one of the most popular items
on sale. However, few items sell better than the pupazzos, or puppets. Sicily
is famous for its puppets, which represent figures from throughout European
history.
One must-visit local attraction is the open-air
fish market La Pescheria (open-air fish market) - a bustling, loud, aromatic
market where some of the finest seafood restaurants go to stock up on
ingredients. There is a wide variety of high quality fish on sale at
incredibly good prices. Because fish are so plentiful in the region, the local
owners can keep the prices low. Even with the low prices though, you can still
haggle for an even better price.
The `Pizzo free` shops are
a group of shopkeepers that refuse to pay the racket to the Mafia. Catania`s
consumers sustain them by going shopping in their stores. A list of these shops
is now available (https://www.addiopizzocatania.org/it/progetti/consumo-critico/lista-commercianti).
Note: Value-added tax (VAT) rate is currently 22% in Italy for
standard goods. Travelers outside the EU can claim back sales tax on purchases
over €155 if they have bought from shops displaying the `tax free`
shopping sign.
Police, dial
112
Ambulance,
dial 118
Hospitals: The major hospital
is Garibaldi, Piazza Santa Maria
del Gesù (tel. 095-7591111), while the Ospedale Cannizzaro is at Via Messina 829 (tel. 095-7261111). The Children`s Hospital is within the
Policlinico, Via Santa Sofia 78 (tel. 095-743 1111).