Catania Alternative Tour
Joined 2025
In this walk I will accompany you and show you the most interesting aspects of the city center, from the monumental streets to the nightlife areas and the popular street art!
I will tell you about the culture of Catania and Sicily in general, and give you some indications of the typical cuisine of the city.
We will slowly cross the whole center, touching the areas of Fish Market, Castello Ursino, Via Crociferi, and the Roman Amphitheater until we cross the streets of the Catania's nightlife.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
Giardino Pacini
- We'll meet in Giardino Pacini, a public garden located 1 minute down from the Cathedral Square.
Fish Market
We walk through fish market, a historical local market opened every day, from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 1 pm. If you book the tour in the morning, we will enjoy the beauty of the market stalls, appreciating the plenty of colours of fruit, vegetables and fish. A must, if you are in Catania!
Putia dell'Ostello - Hidden Gem
We reach a bur called Putia dell'Ostello. Under this bar I will show you a hidden gem: a volcanic cave created by Mt. Etna in 1669. Inside this cave, there is an underneath river which flows: Amenano River.
While we enjoy the freshness of the cave, I will tell you about this eruption and about the relation between Etna and Catania.
Ursino Castle
This is the most important Middle Age rest that we have in Catania. This castle was built in 1200 as a fortress, in front of the sea. I will tell you how the role of this castle changed throughout the centuries and what know it represents for the citizens of Catania.
Roman Theater
This will be the first roman rest that we will see in Catania. The position of this theatre is quite strange, because it looks like... hidden. I will tell you why, and I explain you in detail its story.
A very important rest of the roman city of Catania, built for the most with lava stone.
Via Crociferi
We enter in Crociferi street, the baroque living room of Catania.
Walking through this street, I'll tell you in detail a fact which changed brutally the city: the earthquake in 1693.
With rebuilding of the city after the earthquake, Catania started looking like a baroque city. This is why Catania is included in UNESCO's world heritage, cause for its baroque richness.
Roman Amphitheater
We reach the Roman Amphitheater, the Colosseum of Catania! Here, the gladiator fought between themselves, or the slaves were led to be mauled by the beasts. We'll delve deeper into this place, and I'll explain to you what vicissitudes have modified it. In fact, the amphitheater today appears only for a portion visible from the outside, the remaining part (which is visitable) is underground, but equally fascinating!
San Berillo District
We'll reach the San Berillo District, a quarter where a recent interesting street art project has revalued its architectural beauty and its history. From a neighborhood at risk of abandonment, it has become a hub for cultural events and social gathering. A hidden gem of Catania's center that is worth discovering!
Ending Point
Theather Square
Want to personalize this tour?
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Visit the city
Historical explanations
Private Guide Mirco
entrance in the monuments
Tour Important Information
This tour will be a first imprinting on the city, for those who have
arrived in Catania and want to discover it from various points of view.
I will tell you during this tour about the relationship
between Etna and Catania, the eruptions (accompanied by images) that have changed the history
of the city and the relationship this city has with the sea. In addition to this, I will show the visitor
the streets of the evening nightlife (frequented by residents) and I will also give advice on typical local food, bar and restaurants.
In this tour, (precisely, alternative) you will NOT cross the most well-known
places (via Etnea, Piazza Università and Piazza Duomo), that normally are full of people, but you will walk on streets where only locals go.
You can choose whether to book the tour in the morning or in the afternoon, I highly recommend the latter option, since we will walk following the low light of the sun, which will gradually turn
towards the sunset, and little by little we will see the city preparing for nightlife.
From Villa Pacini, where we will meet, we will pass through the Fish Market, the Ursino Castle, Via Crociferi and the Amphitheater, also showing you some valuable works of street art that can be admired inside the center, in visible and less visible places.
Finally, I will show you a somewhat hidden gem: a
secluded square, for a few intimate people, with
numerous street art works as a backdrop.
Cancellation Policy
- Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
- 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
- No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time
Joined 2025
About Tour Guide Mirco M.
Hiking Guide and Tour Guide!
If you want to discover Etna, some natural beauties in East Sicily, or cities like Catania, Syracuse or Taormina, you can count on me.
Six years ago I gave life to a project, with the idea of shooting documentaries about each area of Sicily I visit, to document it through short videos and tell it to the viewers. Thanks to this idea, asking hospitality to the municipalities and, in return, I make a video, I have been discovering hundreds of hidden natural, urban and archeological gems.
What's the aim of my ''Gowithguide' profile? Show the travellers how much-hidden beauties we have in Sicily.
I want you to experience Sicily deeply as Sicilians do: this is my aim.
For this reason, thanks to my work of documentaries around Sicily (subtitled in English and many other languages) I am also known as “the popularizer of Sicilianity”!
See you soon in Sicily!
$36/ per group