Page 306 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

sulphur works, Le Ciminiere, has been transformed into a cultural centre known as Zo.
The original red-brick chimneys and lava-block walls have been wrapped in a
contemporary glass-and-steel frame, while inside are theatre and performance spaces
and a café-restaurant. It’s an interesting place to visit even if you don’t come for an
exhibition or event, and it holds two museums as well, both self-explanatory: the

Museo del Cinema, and the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943, or the
Museum of the Allied Invasion of Sicily. The latter is a winner with kids, who get to
walk through a replica of a typical Sicilian village piazza, take cover in an air-raid
shelter as the siren sounds, and emerge at all-clear into a bombed version of the same
piazza.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: CATANIA

BY PLANE

From Fontanarossa airport, 5km south of the city, the cheapest way into the centre is
the Alibus #457 (every 20min, daily 5.30am–midnight) from right outside, which runs
to the central Piazza Stesicoro (on Via Etnea) and to Stazione Centrale in around
20min (longer in heavy traffic); buy tickets (€1) from the machine or the bookshop,
both in the Arrivals hall. Most regional express buses (to Siracusa, Taormina, Ragusa,

Agrigento, Enna, Messina and Palermo) also stop at the airport, and from April to
October you can get a direct bus from the airport to Milazzo (for the Aeolian Islands).
A taxi ride to the centre costs around €20.

BY TRAIN

Stazione Centrale Trains pull in at Stazione Centrale in Piazza Giovanni XXIII, just

east of the centre. It’s easy to jump on a city bus outside to reach Piazza del Duomo or
Via Etnea, or to take a taxi (around €10). Otherwise, it’s a 20min walk to the Duomo.
For information and timetables call 892 021, or visit ferroviedellostato.it. For
Circumetnea services, note that there is a reduced service in July and Aug, and no
trains on Sundays and holidays in winter.

Mainline destinations Acireale (1–2 hourly; 10min); Caltagirone (6 daily Mon–Sat;

1hr 45min); Caltanissetta (3–4 daily; 2hr); Enna (4 daily Mon–Sat, 3 daily Sun; 1hr
20min); Gela (5 daily Mon–Sat; 2hr 10min–2hr 45min); Giarre-Riposto (1–2 hourly;
30min); Lentini (11 daily Mon–Sat, 5 daily Sun; 30min); Messina (1–2 hourly; 1hr
30min); Palermo via Caltanissetta or Messina (4 daily; 3hr–6hr 40min); Siracusa (11
daily Mon–Sat, 5 daily Sun; 1hr 30min); Taormina (1–2 hourly; 45min).

Stazione Catania Borgo The other city station, the Stazione Catania Borgo on Via

Caronda, off the northern end of Via Etnea, is for trains on the Ferrovia Circumetnea,
the round-Etna line ( 095 541 250, circumetnea.it); it’s connected by metro with