Catania has a compact center and it is most convenient just to walk around where most monuments are located.

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.

Several useful AMT city buses can be found in front of Catania Centrale train station, including buses 1-4 and 4-7 (both running 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.

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.

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`s difficult 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.