Has anyone visited Ortigia in mid October?
We are not too confident in taking a car around in Italy. Have any of you driven around from Catania to Ortigia? From what I remeber (25yrs ago) it was scary driving around Sicily.
How easy is it to get to Catania airport to Ortigia. if you do not drive?
Thank you
Right outside the airport there is a bus stand - the bus goes, via a very interesting landscape, right into Ortigia. Well, actually Siracusa but it's about a 10 minute walk onto the island. Taxis are available at the bus stop but I found the walk easy (I'm not young) especially when the driver had a 'set fare' and wouldn't use the meter. Ortigia is one of my favorite places in all of Italy!
Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, Interbus connects Catania Airport to Syracuse without passing through the city center. The journey takes about an hour and fifteen minutes; buses depart every half hour from just outside the arrivals terminal. Here is the link to the Interbus website:
This is the best option, as taking the train would require you to first get to the Catania Centrale station.
Regarding your fear of driving: your concern may be valid, but, in my opinion, for the wrong reason. The problem isn't Sicilian traffic itself, but rather the fact that Ortigia has a ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone); the island is almost entirely pedestrianized or restricted to limited traffic. Below are the official regulations from the Municipality of Syracuse website:
The Limited Traffic Zone (ZTL) in the historic center of Ortigia is in place to regulate access for unauthorized vehicles, aiming to preserve the area's historical and artistic heritage while improving livability and urban safety.
ZTL Activation Times
Type of Day | Active Time Slots (Access Prohibited)
Weekdays (Monday to Saturday)
11:00 AM – 3:30 PM
5:00 PM – 2:00 AM (the following day)
Sundays and Public Holidays
10:00 AM – 2:00 AM (the following day) (Continuous coverage)
If you arrived by car, you wouldn't know where to park it, unless you decided to leave it outside the island.
My advice is this: you don't need a car in Ortigia. It is an island measuring one kilometer by five hundred meters, and you can get around the whole place on foot.
We drove around eastern Sicily in May and did not find it scary. I would assume some of that depends on the type of driving you are used to at home.
We did not want to drive right after a transatlantic flight nor did we want to deal with a car in Ortigia so we opted for a private transfer. We used Sicily Life and our experience was very good. It was €120 from the airport to our apartment. The driver spoke excellent English and shared some history/stories on the drive. We picked up a car on our way out near the train station then returned it in Catania before flying home.
You can get a train directly from Catania Airport to Syracuse and then either walk or get a short taxi from there to Ortigia. There’s no need to change trains anywhere- I know because we did the journey in April of this year.
