Italy
About Catania
Catania is built from black lava stone, a baroque city carved out of the very volcano that keeps threatening to bury it.
Etna smokes on the skyline above markets that shout and spill with fish, and the whole place feels charged with volcanic restlessness. This is the gateway to eastern Sicily-cliff-top Taormina, the slopes of the volcano, the rough beauty of the coast.
It's grittier and more real than the postcards, loud and warm and a little wild.
Eat pasta alla Norma, a fried arancino, and a granita with brioche for breakfast like a Sicilian.
Get to Catania
Round trip from Prague, any dates in November 2026.
Buses from Catania
Day trips from Catania
→ in WayoniHalf dayTaormina
~50 min
An ancient resort town on a cliff terrace between Etna and the sea, its Greek theatre framing the volcano in the stage opening — the single most famous view in Sicily.
- Day trip
Etna
~1 h, ~2 h 
Europe's highest and most active volcano, looming over the city. A cable car and 4x4 buses climb toward the smoking summit craters at 3,300 m; lower down, lava tubes and wine estates grow out of centuries-old flows.
- Day trip
Siracusa & Ortigia
~1 h, ~1 h 15 min €4 one wayThe Greek capital of ancient Sicily: a vast archaeological park with its theatre and the 'Ear of Dionysius' cave, and the baroque island old town of Ortigia ringed by the sea.
About Italy
Backstreets, coastline and lunch
Etruscan hills, Baroque cities and volcanic islands, with the cooking changing every fifty kilometres and nobody rushing any of it.
Explore ItalyRegions, highlights and when to go