Catania, Sicily?
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Anonymous
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Never been to Italy. Will be visiting DS studying in London this spring and looking to go somewhere warm for a few days while he is on his spring break
See cheap flights to Catania. Never been to Italy but looking to avoid the crowds of Rome or Florence (especially given the Jubilee year) Has anyone been to Catania or just Sicily in general? Only thing I hear about Sicily is the crime but it looks beautiful and more affordable than the northern cities. |
Anonymous
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Sicily is a great spring break option. Catania is a beautiful city but it's also a gritty city. There's a realness that many would appreciate while others won't. Similar to Naples in that regards.
I wouldn't worry about crime. You'd have to do something really stupid aka drugs or go out of your way to get involved in a criminal situation. For most tourists, the worst that can happen is petty, either pick pocketing or leaving your luggage in a visible place in a rental car. You could do a Catania - Syracuse - Noto trip. Would be great and budget friendly. Syracuse is especially lovely. |
Anonymous
| If you've never been to Italy, I'd do traditional Italy. The Jubilee thing is overblown. |
Anonymous
+1 Go and have fun! |
Anonymous
Nah, traditional Italy is overblown. Go to Sicily! |
Anonymous
| Sicily is great. Catania is a mixed bag. but you can easily fly there and stay somewhere nicer. |
Anonymous
Catania is in Sicily |
Anonymous
Do both! |
Anonymous
| Look at Puglia. I love S Italy but Amalfi great. |
Anonymous
| How’s Palermo? |
Anonymous
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I was in Sicily this past fall. We absolutely loved Syracuse and it's an easy bus ride from the Catania airport. We were there two nights and I wish we had spent one more night and explored the surrounding area a bit. We then took a train to Taromina and spent several days there. It's lovely, but after Syracuse, Taromina felt very touristy.
One of the absolute highlights of the entire trip, however, was hiking Mt. Etna. That was amazing. We drove up to Mt. Etna from Taromina early in the morning and then booked a guide and bought tickets when we got there. There are two tickets you need -- one to ride the gondola about halfway up the mountain. If you just do that, you'll get a feel for the volcano, but to really experience it, you need to either hike with a guide (in a small group of about 12-15) or take a bus up the mountain. We hiked with a super knowledgeable guide who was awesome. There are a bunch of outfitters there and they all are about the same price. They'll provide you with warm socks, hiking boots, a heavy coat, and a helmet so you don't need to pack any of that with you. My partner and I (in our 50s) are in decent shape, and it was a bit of challenging because it's steep and you feel like you're hiking in sand, but we definitely could do it and it was so worth it. |
Anonymous
No sh!t, Sherlock. My point is you can fly to Catania and go somewhere nicer like Taormina. |
Anonymous
I suspect based on your punctuation you are the poster spewing your hatred all over half the threads on this board. I'm sorry someone hurt you and hope one day you can find peace. |
Anonymous
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Sicily was one of our best vacations ever (better than Puglia or Amalfi coast imo)— flying into Catania is very convenient for the eastern part of Sicily (from the Aeolians down to Taormina and Etna and Villa Romana to Siracusa to the baroque towns).
If you are up to driving you can go around the whole island— see perhaps the best Greek temples left standing in the world, the cathedral at Monreale, the fun beach towns like San Vito lo Capo or Cefalu, etc etc. Personally while I was glad to see Monreale I think you can skip Palermo. Like Naples it has it’s supporters but I think it’s skippable. |
Anonymous
| Watch season 2 of white lotus. Enjoy! |