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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

Catania

7 replies

Was126orbustandmaybebust · 21/05/2023 20:56

DH and I are heading to Catania for the last two weeks of June.
We are not seasoned travellers and this is our first empty nest holiday. l always wanted to go to Sicily but would love some tips and recommendations for great restuarants and places to go. We will be based in the middle of the city.
Very excited! So if you have any experience tell all.

OP posts:

Original poster

Was126orbustandmaybebust · 21/05/2023 21:00

Oh for an edit button - restaurants would be even better😊

OP posts:

PinkPondQueen · 22/05/2023 06:29

Love Sicily! Do you plan to travel further afield? 2 weeks is a long time to stay in the city... Take some day trips to Syracuse, Taormina (take the cable car down to the stunning beaches of Mazzaro and Isola Bella) and up to Mount Etna. Also the city beach La Playa has lovely clear shallow waters and has great views of Etna on a clear day.

We aren't city people so only stayed for 1 night in Catania but the area around Piazza del Duomo is absolutely beautiful. We ate at Gulien which is right on the Piazza and it was pricey but the menu had completely different options compared to the usual seafood/pizza/pasta offered by most other restaurants.

Be aware the outskirts of Catania are rather gritty, there is a lot of poverty.

Original poster

Was126orbustandmaybebust · 22/05/2023 07:41

Thank you so much @PinkPondQueen yes the city is just a base.
We will be taking day trips all around so this is very helpful.
La playa sounds lovely too and DH is planning to cycle while I ride in cable cars!
Will check out Gulien as well.

OP posts:

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 22/05/2023 07:43

I wasn't really that keen on Sicily. We got the ferry over from Malta then drove across the island. Some of it is really dirty, polluted and covered in graffiti and the traffic was horrendous. The nice bits were beautiful to be fair just some of it was awful.

ReviewingTheSituation · 22/05/2023 07:57

Are you tied to 2 weeks in one place? It's a long time to be in one city, even with day trips. If you can mix it up and base yourself in a couple of other places too, you'll be able to see so much more. And Sicily has a LOT on offer - it's a stunning place.

I wasn't keen on Taormina, but it's hugely popular, so that's definitely somewhere to consider, and Syracuse opens up the lovely places further south.

PinkPondQueen · 22/05/2023 08:04

I agree, like a lot of Italy it can be dirty but the good bits do outweigh the bad bits. For us the volcanoes make it so worthwhile!

Twice now we have taken the Libery Lines ferry from Milazzo to stay on Stromboli and it's so special! The volcano is constantly erupting, there are no cars, no streetlights and the sky is so amazing at night. If that is something that interests you OP I definitely recommend it!

custardlover · 04/06/2023 16:59

We were intending to only use Catania as a base but actually really loved it. We ate twice in one of the fish restaurants by the fish markets which was great - the first one you come to when you turn into it from the piazza. The big amphitheatre in the centre of the city is worth a walk around and definitely go up to the roof of the church opposite the cathedral- incredible views of Aetna and everywhere. We loved all of a Sicily but Catania was surprisingly great.

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