Catania where is the bus station on the map. Bus station in Catania - bus stops for different companies and their ticket offices. Catania Central Station

Urban transport in Catania is represented by one metro line with six stations and more than 50 bus routes. The metro operates from 7:00 to 20:45 (at holidays work may be extended).

Fare price

The cost of a ticket for public transport in Catania is 1 EUR for the bus and 0.8 EUR for the metro. For 2.5 EUR you can purchase a pass for the whole day. Tickets are sold at newsstands, at bus stops and in underground passages.

Transport in Catania also includes train and intercity bus services. Intercity buses- blue, local ones - orange.

If you board the train, be sure to “activate” your ticket before entering the train. For this purpose, there are special orange composters on the platforms.

Popular in Catania and taxis. The cost of boarding a taxi is 5 EUR, 1 km of travel is 1 EUR. There are surcharges for service at night (from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.), for travel to the airport, and others.

Catania - not so much Small town, especially considering that it is located on the island of Sicily with an area of ​​134 by 113 km, but at the same time public transport is very well developed here, which is represented by city buses, metro, and trains. You will learn how to understand this transport diversity and how much travel costs from our article.

Travel costs in Catania

Catania metro and bus fares for 2019 are as follows:

  • Single trip ticket valid for 90 minutes: € 1
  • Ticket for 1 trip to suburban routes: € 4
  • 1 day pass (Biglietto giornaliero): € 2.5
  • Ticket for 120 minutes (Biglietti Integrati a Tempo): € 1.2 euros. This ticket valid on all types of transport: metro, commuter trains and AMT buses.
  • 1 month pass: € 35

For the ticket to be valid, it must be validated at the entrance to the transport in a special validator.

Official website of Catania public transport

The transport company serving the city of Catania is called AMT (Azienda Municipale Trasporti). Like any decent company, it has an official website. The website contains all the necessary information that interests people using public transport: current routes and stops, fares, information about repair work and ticket sales points. Only the site has several disadvantages: poor navigation and Italian language. There is not even a translation into English.

Buses of Catania

As you understand, the AMT company is engaged in servicing buses and transporting passengers. Buses in Catania come in a variety of brands and years; most often you will see white and orange buses. Bus routes cover the entire city and suburbs and are the most common form of public transport. In total there are 54 in Catania bus routes and 1399 bus stops.

The Catania metro is not very large and consists of only 1 line and 11 stations. To date this is the most Southern City in Italy, where there is a metro. The metro opened in 1999. FCE M.88 trains operate on the metro route.

To travel you will need a ticket, which upon entry must be validated in a special yellow composter, after which you need to enter through the turnstile.

Metro trains run at intervals of 10 minutes until 15:00 and 15 minutes until 21:24, when the metro stops operating. On Saturdays, metro operating hours are extended until midnight.

You may also find the Catania metro map useful if you decide to stay somewhere closer to a station or need to get to Borgo or Nezima stations.

Catania Central Station

Central or main Train Station Catania (Stazione Catania Centrale) – important transport node, because It is from here that trains to other cities in Sicily and commuter trains depart. Trains are a more comfortable way to get to cities: Palermo, Trapani, Syracuse, Messina, Naples, etc. Train tickets can be purchased in advance with discounts on the Italian website railways, at ticket offices at the station or in special machines. I am posting a map of the railways of Sicily so that you can visualize the location of cities and resorts in relation to Catania.

In addition, at the train station in Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII there are several bus stops with direct connections. intercity buses to the cities of Sicily and Italy: Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan. Transportation is carried out by both regional bus companies and the well-known European company Flixbus.

Also near the train station in Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII are bus stops, from where direct intercity buses depart to different parts of Sicily and Italy: Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan. Transportation is carried out by Flixbus, a well-known company in Europe.

Train Circumetnea

Ferrovia Circumetnea (Mount Etna Railway) is a narrow gauge railway with 30 stations in Sicily with a length of 111 km. Connects the coastal cities of Catania and Riposto through the cities of Paterno, Adrano, Bronte and Randazzo located at the foot of Mount Etna.

Catania Airport

Taxi in Catania

Taxis in Catania, as throughout Italy, are quite expensive. You can recognize a taxi by its white color and checkered roof. Currently the following taxi fares apply in Catania: € 5.00 – embarkation; € 1.45 – cost of 1 km; 0.3 €/minute for being stuck in a traffic jam. In addition, there are extra payments that are added to the amount: € 1 for each piece of luggage; €6 for travel to/from the airport. Therefore, for travel from the airport to the center of Catania you will pay at least €20, unless the driver takes you in circles.

During the season of influx of tourists and at late hours, there are periodically not enough taxis, and sometimes drivers refuse to turn on the meter and want to take people according to an agreement high tariff. Therefore, if you need to be guaranteed to be at the airport or at some resort at a certain time, I advise you to book a taxi transfer in advance from a reliable company. You will find a fixed price and a guarantee of good service.

Car rental in Catania

Even ordinary tourists For the sake of ease of movement, people try to rent a car during their trip in order to see as much as possible during their vacation. If you want to choose a car of a certain class or cheaper, I advise you to select a car in advance on the website, which compares prices for everyone large companies, whose offices are represented in Sicily: Avis, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt.

Before your trip, I advise you to make detailed route travel, book a hotel with parking and estimate the costs.

Independent tourists have long fallen in love with the travel format of traveling by car and try to rent cars at the airport to save on transfer costs. Therefore, all popular car rental companies are represented at Catania airport: Avis, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt. You can compare rental prices from all rental companies and book a car on the popular website Rentalcars.

It is better to book a car in Catania in advance, because... During the season there is a real shortage of cars, especially among inexpensive options.

There are a lot of things close to Catania interesting places that need to be seen. You can get there on a budget in two ways - by regional train, which runs from Catania Central Station and which is a 15-minute walk from Cathedral Square - the historical center of Catania). There are no problems here, everything is as usual: you can buy a ticket at the box office or from a machine (I even bought it from a machine without knowing Italian - everything is logical and simple there). We buy a ticket and do not forget to validate it in a special machine, which is located at every station.

By train you can reach the cities of Messina, Taormina-Giardini Naxos, Aci Reale, Syracuse, Palermo, Enna and others without a change.

The train station (Catania Centrale) in front of it is the round square Piazza Papa Giovanni, where there are many bus stops - in the photo.

With buses the situation is more complicated - there are several in Sicily bus companies, which have different stops and ticket offices. In general, it’s a rather complicated and stupid system, especially in Catania (another important point - you can’t buy a bus ticket in advance - it’s bought only on the day of departure and difficulties arise here if you have to leave early in the morning).

Let's figure it out.

Like there is no such bus station in Catania (in our understanding there is no) - you need to know where the stops are.

I'll start from the railway station. So we left the station and stood with our backs to it. In front of us will be the station square. Immediately at the exit from the station on the square there will be a taxi rank (on the left) and there will be parking for city buses. From the same stop you can go to the airport by bus.



In the distance on the left we see two high-rise buildings in the photo - we will need the left one, there will be a cash register in it


We go to this high-rise building - in the bottom photo it is on the left.


There are offices on the ground floor of the high-rise building - there is a ticket office for buses


Ticket office for buses - but only for the AST company - at this ticket office you can buy a ticket for the bus to Mount Etna, for the bus to the airport, and for the bus to Aci Trezza. The bottom photo shows the cash office.


Where is the AST bus stop - we return to the round station square


At the farthest end of the square from the train station there will be AST stops, with the exception of the airport bus.



On the platform there will be signs with numbers and cities indicated - on the first one, in the photo, for example, Aci Reale is indicated (from which I left for Aci Trezza).

On the platform nearby there is a bus to Mount Etna (pictured).


Now let's return again to those two high-rise buildings on the left side of the railway. station


They stand on viale della Liberta, which starts from station square(in the photo this street is near two high-rise buildings).


We follow it for 3 minutes and in the next block there will be a long fence on the left side.




It is behind this fence that the bus station (bus station) of Catania is located - you wouldn’t even think of it right away.



We walk along the fence to the first intersection and turn left


There is also a fence here, but there is already a passage for passengers and buses (pictured)


We go inside - this is the bus station - from here we leave on all other buses to cities such as Enna, Taormina, Syracuse, Palermo and others. The platform number indicates the cities and schedule.


But again there’s a problem - ticket offices not at the bus station. Without a ticket, you may not be seated. To Taormina - it was early in the morning - the driver sold me a ticket on the bus and the ticket office was still closed, since it was Sunday. But on the Sais bus this no longer works and only at the ticket office. There are no toilets at this station either.

But the city residents do not lose heart, and, looking at the neat streets of Catania and architectural monuments in excellent condition, it is hard to believe that due to volcanic eruptions the city was once almost completely destroyed.

Large map of Catania in the appendix at the end of the article or.

Cathedral Square ( Piazza Duomo ) and St. Agatha's Cathedral

As in many other cities of Sicily, the historical center of Catania is quite easy to get around in one day. The starting point of our walk will be Cathedral Square ( Piazza Duomo ), located in the heart of the city. On par with the majority architectural structures Catania's Cathedral Square is an example of the 18th century Baroque style. The fact is that in the 17th century the city suffered from another eruption and subsequent earthquake, and many buildings and squares were rebuilt in the period from the 17th to the 18th century. By the way, not far from Cathedral Square there is an information center for tourists ( Via Vittorio Emanuele II , 172), where can I get free cards and information brochures about Catania and Sicily.

Cathedral Square is decorated Cathedral Saint Agatha is the patroness of Catania. Here you can also see one of the city's most unique features - the Elephant Fountain. Don't be surprised: the image of an elephant is often found in the symbolism of Catania. Some believe that the Arabs once brought elephants to Catania, but it is possible that in ancient times Sicily also had its own special breed of elephants.

Piazza Federico di Svevia ( Piazza Federico di Svevia ) and the Ursino fortress ( Castello Ursino

After the main square of Catania we will head to another, albeit not as famous, but no less interesting area Federico di Svevia ( Piazza Federico di Svevia ). The square is known primarily due to the fact that the ancient Ursino fortress is located here ( Castello Ursino ). This is a very impressive and powerful structure that withstood both an earthquake and the eruption of Etna in the 17th century. During its existence, the Ursino fortress performed various functions: it was used both as a royal residence and even as a prison. Since 1934, the fortress has housed the Municipal Museum of Catania, which houses rare exhibits related to history. Ancient Greece and Rome.

Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi ( Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi) and Bellini's house

Now we need to go outside Via Auteri which will lead to Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi ( Piazza San Francesco d'Assisi ). Here is a very important landmark for Catania - the house in which the famous Italian composer Bellini was born. Now this house houses a museum dedicated to the life and work of the composer.

Piazza Dante ) and the Church of St. Nicholas

Passing under the Arch of St. Benedetto ( Arco di San Benedetto ), you will go outside Via Crociferi . Turning from it to Via Gesuiti , you will be taken to Piazza Dante ( Piazza Dante ), where the Church of St. Nicholas is located - the largest church in Sicily. From Piazza Dante you need to head towards the street Via Antonino San Giuliano to return to the starting point of our route – Cathedral Square.

Main shopping street of Catania Via Etnea

Along the way you can walk along the main shopping street Catania Via Etnea. On Via Etnea There are also many bakeries, trattorias and restaurants. In one of the oldest bakeries in the city Savia (Via Etnea 302) prepare excellent arancini - rice balls, deep fried and filled with a variety of fillings. If you're in a hurry, arancini are perfect for a filling and affordable snack.

Trattoria del Forestiero

To eat more thoroughly, we advise you to deviate slightly from the intended route towards the trattoria del Forestiero (Via Coppola , 24), which is famous for pasta Alla Norma. Pasta alla Norma characteristic only of the cuisine of Catania, and it received its name in honor of Bellini's opera. Hot homemade pasta with fried eggplant, tomatoes and ricotta will fill you up for the whole day, and del Forestiero you can easily spend 10-15 euros for a full meal.

We wish you a pleasant and unforgettable trip!

Catania is convenient to use as a starting point for traveling around Sicily. Many airlines fly here, as well as ferries and trains from mainland Italy. However, tourists, as a rule, do not stay here for long, preferring to immediately go to numerous Sicilian resorts. Nevertheless, in our opinion, Catania should not be ignored. The city itself is of considerable interest. In addition, based in Catania, you can visit many of the attractions of Sicily. This method of organizing a trip is especially convenient for those traveling by public transport. But for those who prefer to travel by car, the ideas below may well be useful, with the only difference being that in this case you can stay not in Catania itself, but somewhere in its immediate surroundings. As for Catania, in addition to the overview of the routes, we recommend that you read the article “Where is the best place to stay in Catania”.

Let's move on to the routes. So, where can you go from Catania for one day?

Etna(Etna)- home business card Sicily and Catania are ideal for a one-day excursion to this hitherto unknown dormant volcano. There are different options.

The simplest thing you can think of is a trip around Etna on the narrow-gauge railway "Circumetnea" (Ferrovia Circumetnea, see www.circumetnea.it), which, generally speaking, can be considered as a separate attraction (there are few similar roads left in Italy). Of course, you won’t be able to get to the top of the volcano this way, but you will get great opportunity visit small but very colorful towns and villages located on the slopes of Etna. The most famous of them is Randazzo(Randazzo), a walk along which is worth spending a couple of hours. But there are others: Maletto, Adrano, Paterno’ etc. In each there is something interesting (for example, Norman castles). Just keep in mind that trains do not run often. If you don’t gallop, you can actually visit a maximum of two or three towns in a day.

The Circumetnea railway station in Catania is combined with the Catania Borgo metro station and is located some distance from the city center. You can get here by city buses (see www.amt.ct.it) or by metro (the only Catan metro line has 6 stations: Borgo – Giuffrida – Italia – Galatea – Stazione F.S. – Porto). By the way, you can return back to Catania not by Circumetnea, but by Trenitalia trains from Giarre-Riposto station. This will be both faster and cheaper.

Another variant - climb directly to the craters of Etna . In this case, it is more convenient to go by car, but public transport is also available. From Catania you can get to Etna in two hours by AST bus (see schedule at www.aziendasicilianatrasporti.it in the Linee e orari section; starting point is Catania, ending point is Etna). Buses depart from Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII (opposite Catania train station) and go almost to the Funivia dell'Etna funicular station (see funiviaetna.com). Various continuations are possible here. Perhaps the most interesting thing is to purchase an excursion with a guide and special equipment (this way you can go where everyone else is not allowed, but this pleasure is not cheap). The funicular will take you to a height of about 2500 m. Further - on special all-terrain buses, and then even higher - on foot. An alternative is to find a guide in Catania who will not only take you to the volcano, but also tell you a lot of interesting things (there are, for example, but you can look for others if you wish).

Taormina(Taormina)– one of the most beautiful cities in Sicily, and one of the most popular. There are a lot of tourists here, especially during the summer holiday season, since many come here for the day from nearby beach resorts. However, despite the crowds (and the summer heat, if you plan to visit Sicily in the summer), Taormina is worth a visit. The place is picturesque and there are attractions: among them the Greek Theater with Etna as a decoration in the background stands out. The neighboring village of Castelmola is also worthy of attention. beautiful view to Taormina (the Ionian Sea as a background).

It is worth paying attention to the Taormina beaches. First of all this pebble beach Isola Bella, which owes its name to the small island that is so conveniently moored to the shore here. Generally speaking, in Taormina it is quite possible to combine sightseeing with a beach holiday. In other words, if in Sicily you are primarily interested in the sea and beaches, and you consider trips around the surrounding area as additional entertainment, then instead of Catania, it makes sense to stay in Taormina. (Read about where it is better to live in Taormina.) There is one drawback: hotels here are significantly more expensive than in Catania. You can save money by staying in the nearby towns of Giardini Naxos and Letojanni. It must be said that the beaches there are at least no worse than in Taormina itself: there are both pebble and sandy ones.

You can get from Catania to Taormina by train. The drive is only 40–50 minutes. True, the Taormina-Giardini railway station (common for Taormina and Giardini Naxos) is located some distance from the city center, at the foot of the cliff. Upon arrival, you will have to either take a bus or take a taxi (the walk is long and inconvenient). But buses from Catania (see www.etnatrasporti.it) arrive directly in the center of Taormina, but the ride is a little longer: about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Acireale(Acireale)- another seaside resort town. It is unlikely that it surpasses Taormina in any way, but it is also interesting to stroll through the historical center of Acireale. The most popular among tourists are the Acireale Cathedral, which resembles a castle with its bell towers, and the adjacent Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo), as well as the Basilica of St. Peter and Paul, facing the same square. There are other churches here, as well as several museums. In short, there are enough attractions for a trip of several hours.

From Catania to Acireale you can take the Trenitalia train in just 10–15 minutes. True, then you will have to walk to the city center for 20–30 minutes along not very picturesque streets. If you go by bus, the journey will take about 50 minutes (see www.etnatrasporti.it and www.aziendasicilianatrasporti.it), but this way you can get directly to Cathedral Square.

If desired, a trip to Acireale can be supplemented with a visit to the town Achikastello(Acicastello). It is best known for its Norman castle, which rises on a cliff jutting into the sea. It is convenient to get here by bus: from Acireale to Achikastello it is a 20-minute drive, and from Catania – 30 minutes (see www.aziendasicilianatrasporti.it). There is also an AMT bus between Catania and Achicatello (Linea 534, see www.amt.ct.it).

Syracuse(Siracusa), as is commonly said in such cases, is a must-see city. You can get here from Catania by rail in just over an hour. Moreover, the Syracuse railway station is located in walking distance from all major attractions. Among them, I must say, there are many interesting things. This and archaeological park Neapolis (here in particular you can see the impressive size of the Greek Theater), and the early Christian catacombs of San Giovanni, and especially Ortigia - small island, connected to the mainland by two bridges (the place itself is extremely colorful and there are many attractions here). In general, it makes sense to stay in Syracuse for a few days (more on this in more detail), especially since this city is convenient to use as a base for trips to the so-called baroque cities of the Val di Noto: Noto, Scicli, Modica, Ragusa etc. (However, if you want to visit all these cities, then ideally you should stay in one of them, for example, in Modica). But even on a one-day excursion you can see a lot in Syracuse. Just decide in advance what exactly interests you, because it’s hardly possible to do everything at once.

Caltagirone(Caltagirone), like the aforementioned Noto, Scicli, Modica and Ragusa, as well as Palazzolo Acreide, Militello in Val di Catania and Catania itself, is included in the list of Sicilian Baroque cities included in the List of Sites world heritage UNESCO. All of them were actually rebuilt (in the late Baroque style, which is why they are called “Baroque”) after devastating earthquake 1693. All of them deserve attention to one degree or another. However, if we talk about one-day trips from Catania, then it is most convenient to get out either in Caltagirone or in Militello(Militello in Val di Catania). Caltagirone, whose main attraction is a staircase decorated with multi-colored majolica, is, in our opinion, more interesting. But theoretically, it is possible to create a route so as to combine visits to both of these cities within one trip.

As for transport, you can travel from Catania to Caltagirone by rail. But trains rarely run in this direction, and the journey takes almost two hours (Militello, by the way, is located on the same railway line an hour’s drive from Catania). Therefore, it makes sense to pay attention to buses (see www.etnatrasporti.it): they run more often and travel surprisingly faster - about an hour and a half to Caltagirone (a little over an hour to Militello).

All the largest and lively cities Sicily is on the coast. It would seem that, Enna(Enna), located almost in the center of the island, is a wilderness, and there is nothing for tourists to do here. But! Firstly, from here - from an altitude of more than 900 meters above sea level - breathtaking views of the surrounding area open up. Secondly, there are at least two interesting attractions in Enna: the Castello di Lombardia fortress, from where the best panoramic views actually open, and the Duomo, the interior of which can surprise even seasoned travelers. In short, Enna is a great destination for a half-day trip.

It is better to go to Enna by car, although you can also get there by public transport. Moreover, at first glance it seems that this is not at all difficult if you resort to the services of railways. Enna is located halfway between Catania and Palermo. From Catania it takes no more than an hour and a half to travel. But it's not that simple. The train station is located approximately 5 km from the center of Enna Alta. You can cover this distance by local bus (see www.saisautolinee.it), but they rarely run, which is very inconvenient. Walking – uphill and mostly along a picturesque road, but completely unsuitable for pedestrians – is also difficult. Fortunately, there is a bus service between Enna and Catania (see route Enna – Outlet Dittaino – Catania, about an hour and a half ride). By bus you can go directly to the upper (old) part of Enna.

When choosing a hotel or apartment in Italy in general and in Catania in particular, use not only booking sites, but also price comparison services. We recommend Roomguru.ru.

You should do the same when searching for air tickets. Pay attention, for example, to Skyscanner.ru.

 

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