Catania

Does anyone know where Sirena docks in Catania? Is it easy to get into town or would it be better to book an excursion for this port. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Mary

Catania was on our RTW itinerary this year. Insignia docked @ Sporgente Centrale in town (there are multiple berths here) ... it probably took us 15-20 mins or so to walk to the Duomo. We found plenty to see and do on our own without a tour, including visiting the WWII Sicily Landing Museum (though this is on the opposite side of the city and adds quite a bit of walking). I think I remember seeing a HoHo bus from the port too.

I wrote about our day here if you want some ideas.

We were there on Marina last Nov. Easy walk to city center. Was a Saturday, and the surprise was a major celebration of their Veterans Day, parades featuring all their old guard units, and political speeches.

An excursion to Siracusa is done from the port. We docked there because we were unable to go to Malta. We enjoyed the excursion, but we were on Seabourn.

We did a private tour to Syracuse and enjoyed the day even more than Taormina. Well worth a visit.

h2so4-What a beautiful blog! Amazing.

We also will be in Catania next year and thought about going elsewhere that day in port. After reading your blog and seeing your beautiful photos...we will stay in Catania!

Thank you for the link. I look forward to checking out your other port blogs.

How far is Taormina from Catania port? We will be on the Riviera

About an hour by car on the A18. Which Riviera cruise? We are on the 6 Nov cruise and I am toying with the idea of Taormina...

We were on the Riviera last November and stopped in Catania. We booked a Viator tour. Gastronomic Street Food Tour. $58. US. Wonderful way to see the city and taste local food. We had a wonderful guide.

Thanks for the reply. Our cruise is on May 17th 2018. Considering doing an O life excursion there. Though half day excursion is 4.5 hours. If drive is 1 hour, we would be in Taormina for only 2.5 hours. Guess that would be enough time to see the sights there.

Unfortunately we are in Catania on a Sunday. So the market tour is not possible. It would have been wonderful! Now I am looking for a HD Taormina tour...

We've had port stops at both Taormina and Catania. Catania is a nice and interesting city to visit on its own! Yes, Taormina is very picturesque and Catania could use a good power wash in some parts (lots?) of the city, but Catania has its own lovely parts to visit that can occupy most of your port day there, including a very nice park.

Assuming you do dock in the general dock for R ship sized vessels, you should be able to walk to the main square in 15-20 minutes. We had fantastic cannoli and latte there!

There is a couple of HoHo bus operators in Catania that have a stop near the port entrance. We took one and liked it except that we had to wait a bit for the bus to fill up a bit before it left.

h2so4-What a beautiful blog! Amazing.

 

We also will be in Catania next year and thought about going elsewhere that day in port. After reading your blog and seeing your beautiful photos...we will stay in Catania!

 

Thank you for the link. I look forward to checking out your other port blogs.

Glad you enjoyed the blog.

Really enjoyed that blog - and if I fail to find a HD tour to Taormina will gladly stay in Catania...BTW I thought I was on to something - take a train from Catania to Taormina-Giardini and taxi up from there. Works OK on the way out but there are no trains during siesta time so getting back would cut things too finely. Now back to the search for a HD tour.

I doubt we will be at the dock for R class ships since we are on the Riviera which is larger... and thanks to Oceania I have solved the "Taormina problem" ! They offer a "Taormina on your own" tour which essentially provides bus transfers. So we signed up for that. We will have two hours there and no worries about getting back to the port afterwards.