Catania

[funky_nomad]

Booked for a long weekend at the end of October - any recommendations re places to stay/eat/drink/visit would be most appreciated.

Also, is it pronounced Cat-ahn-ya or Cat-an-ee-aah?

[Girth]

18 hours ago, funky_nomad said:

Booked for a long weekend at the end of October - any recommendations re places to stay/eat/drink/visit would be most appreciated.

Also, is it pronounced Cat-ahn-ya or Cat-an-ee-aah?

Wasn't sure where this was. Looks awesome!

[funky_nomad]

19 minutes ago, Girth said:

Wasn't sure where this was. Looks awesome!

EasyJet fly direct from Edinburgh - we got return flights (with great times for a long weekend) for £130-odd quid each, although I think prices have gone up of late.

[arab_joe]

18 hours ago, funky_nomad said:

Booked for a long weekend at the end of October - any recommendations re places to stay/eat/drink/visit would be most appreciated.

Also, is it pronounced Cat-ahn-ya or Cat-an-ee-aah?

Sicily is an absolutely fabulous place - that time of year is great as it will still be warm, but not too busy.

Have stayed in Taormina when I've been, is a lovely little town with great restaurants and quite possibly the best ice cream place I've been to (the name escapes me).

Would recommend renting a car (or taking the coastal train, which looks amazing but as I have always rented a car I have never actually used) and taking a drive over to Palermo, up Mount Etna (snowplough rides are quite fun, but may be too early in the year for snow), to Cefalu, Syracuse etc. and to some of the ancient ruins that are pretty well spread throughout the island.  There is a lot to see.

The food is sublime. 

5 minutes ago, Girth said:

Wasn't sure where this was. Looks awesome!

If you like the look of the city then you should definitely check out season two of White Lotus - which is set in Taormina and filmed all over Sicily.

[welshbairn]

On 09/09/2024 at 16:58, funky_nomad said:

Booked for a long weekend at the end of October - any recommendations re places to stay/eat/drink/visit would be most appreciated.

Also, is it pronounced Cat-ahn-ya or Cat-an-ee-aah?

 

I stayed here a couple of years ago, can't remember a lot about it but I left a good review so it must have been ok, plenty of restaurants and bars nearby, only remember the name of one, bit of a hippy bar, good music and chilled atmosphere called BarnAut.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/41857709?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

Edited September 10 by welshbairn

[funky_nomad]

4 hours ago, arab_joe said:

Sicily is an absolutely fabulous place - that time of year is great as it will still be warm, but not too busy.

Have stayed in Taormina when I've been, is a lovely little town with great restaurants and quite possibly the best ice cream place I've been to (the name escapes me).

Would recommend renting a car (or taking the coastal train, which looks amazing but as I have always rented a car I have never actually used) and taking a drive over to Palermo, up Mount Etna (snowplough rides are quite fun, but may be too early in the year for snow), to Cefalu, Syracuse etc. and to some of the ancient ruins that are pretty well spread throughout the island.  There is a lot to see.

The food is sublime. 

If you like the look of the city then you should definitely check out season two of White Lotus - which is set in Taormina and filmed all over Sicily.

Excellent, cheers - we'll definitely be using public transport on this occasion as I'm trying to cut down on my drink-driving... 

[funky_nomad]

10 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

 

I stayed here a couple of years ago, can't remember a lot about it but I left a good review so it must have been ok, plenty of restaurants and bars nearby, only remember the name of one, bit of a hippy bar, good music and chilled atmosphere called BarnAut.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/41857709?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

Those look ace, thanks!

[Nightmare]

On 09/09/2024 at 16:58, funky_nomad said:

Booked for a long weekend at the end of October - any recommendations re places to stay/eat/drink/visit would be most appreciated.

Also, is it pronounced Cat-ahn-ya or Cat-an-ee-aah?

I think it really depends on how quickly you say the word, but it sounded more like Cat-ahn-ya when I heard Sicilians use the name.

I was there last year, and really enjoyed it. The main street is called Via Etnea, which has brilliant views of Mount Etna as you walk up it, and is a bustling mixture of shops, restaurants & cafes and touristy kind of stuff (churches, Roman/Greek ruins, etc). Drinking or eating out is generally relatively cheap and you'll find so many different types of arancini (or arancino to the Sicilians) that are worth trying. For restaurants I'd suggest heading to Via Santa Filomena, which is a small lane just parallel to Etnea and has dozens of nice places.

Also, if possible when you're there, would highly recommend booking a rooftop restaurant in the evening. The one we booked was attached to the Palace Catania hotel, and sitting having a meal or drink while watching Etna smoke away in the distance is a unique experience. There might be other similar options as well but that's the one we visited, and you will definitely need to book in advance if wanting to do this.

Would also recommend train visits to the nearby towns of Taormina (to the north) and Siracusa (south) - both take roughly an hour to get to and you'll only pay about 5 Euros return for a far better train service than we get at home. Taormina is expensive but the views are amazing, and Siracusa is a wee ancient Greek city which is now a bustling market town. You can't really go wrong with either of these places for a day trip outside of Catania itself.

[funky_nomad]

47 minutes ago, Nightmare said:

I think it really depends on how quickly you say the word, but it sounded more like Cat-ahn-ya when I heard Sicilians use the name.

I was there last year, and really enjoyed it. The main street is called Via Etnea, which has brilliant views of Mount Etna as you walk up it, and is a bustling mixture of shops, restaurants & cafes and touristy kind of stuff (churches, Roman/Greek ruins, etc). Drinking or eating out is generally relatively cheap and you'll find so many different types of arancini (or arancino to the Sicilians) that are worth trying. For restaurants I'd suggest heading to Via Santa Filomena, which is a small lane just parallel to Etnea and has dozens of nice places.

Also, if possible when you're there, would highly recommend booking a rooftop restaurant in the evening. The one we booked was attached to the Palace Catania hotel, and sitting having a meal or drink while watching Etna smoke away in the distance is a unique experience. There might be other similar options as well but that's the one we visited, and you will definitely need to book in advance if wanting to do this.

Would also recommend train visits to the nearby towns of Taormina (to the north) and Siracusa (south) - both take roughly an hour to get to and you'll only pay about 5 Euros return for a far better train service than we get at home. Taormina is expensive but the views are amazing, and Siracusa is a wee ancient Greek city which is now a bustling market town. You can't really go wrong with either of these places for a day trip outside of Catania itself.

That's fantastic, thanks!

[morrison]

I stayed in Ortigia in Siracusa when I went a few years ago. We spent a day in Noto as well - it's a world heritage site, don't you know.

But if it's a long weekend, you'll maybe struggle for time for all this. We also booked a hiking trip up part of Etna, and on another day booked a wine tour that included a large, middle and small winery. The last guy took us around his vinyard and the wine was served in his kitchen. Bizarre but a great experience.

Didn't see much of Catania itself apart from the train station, so no use to you there. You'll have a great trip whatever you do, I'm sure.