Catania
Rooms at this 19th-century factory turned boutique hotel are sleek, with high-quality bedding, designer lighting, smart TVs and custom-made furniture in timber and steel. The open-plan room design probably makes them best for couples or singles, not so much for friends. The seasonal breakfast buffet is served in a striking communal lounge, lined floor to ceiling with jars filled with Sicilian ingredients.
Off-site parking costs €20, and bike hire is available.
26.43 MILES
Taormina's premier sight is this perfect horseshoe-shaped theatre, suspended between sea and sky, with Mt Etna looming on the southern horizon. Built in…
0.11 MILES
Completed in 1890 and made for homegrown composer Vincenzo Bellini, Catania's opera house is suitably lavish, from the stucco-and-marble extravagance of…
0.31 MILES
Catania's raucous fish market, which takes over the streets behind Piazza del Duomo every workday morning, is pure street theatre. Tables groan under the…
0.41 MILES
The Monastero delle Benedettine covers two adjacent sites: a Benedictine convent and the Chiesa di San Benedetto. Top billing goes to the church, built…
0.29 MILES
A Unesco World Heritage Site, Catania's central piazza is a set piece of contrasting lava and limestone, surrounded by buildings in the unique local…
14.51 MILES
Funivia dell'Etna runs a cable car from Rifugio Sapienza (1920m) up the mountain to 2500m. Once out of the cable car you can attempt the long walk (3½ to…
Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolò l'Arena
0.67 MILES
This is one of Europe's largest monasteries and an example of the wealth enjoyed by the Benedictine order. Built in 1703 and now part of the city…
25.2 MILES
On a huge plateau above the Valle dell'Anapo is the site of Sicily's most important Iron and Bronze Age necropolis, the Necropoli di Pantalica, with more…
0.11 MILES
Completed in 1890 and made for homegrown composer Vincenzo Bellini, Catania's opera house is suitably lavish, from the stucco-and-marble extravagance of…
0.22 MILES
Inside the vaulted interior of this cathedral, beyond its impressive marble facade sporting two orders of columns taken from the Roman amphitheatre, lie…
0.23 MILES
With an elegant concave-convex facade reminiscent of Borromini, this 18th-century church was designed by Palermitan architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini…
0.24 MILES
Designed by the great baroque architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, this elegant 18th-century palazzo flanks the eastern edge of Piazza dell'Università.
0.27 MILES
The most obvious reason to visit this museum, adjacent to Catania's duomo, is to see the Fercolo, the famous silver reliquary bust of Saint Agata that's…
0.28 MILES
Built to connect Via Etnea to the port, Porta Uzeda was commissioned by the Duke of Camastra and completed in 1696. The gate is named in honour of Spanish…
0.29 MILES
Standing at the northern end of Unesco-lauded Piazza del Duomo, the 'Palace of the Elephants' is Catania's town hall. The building's eastern, southern and…
0.29 MILES
Taking centre stage on Catania's showpiece Piazze del Duomo is the city's most memorable monument, the smiling Fontana dell'Elefante (Fountain of the…