Catania is an Italian city on the eastern coast of Sicily. It looks over the Ionian Sea and has a population of just fewer than 300,000 people.

Catania and the island of Sicily have been ruled by the Roman, Greek and Spanish empires. The Catanian culture and architecture shows a little bit of the city’s history in the variation of styles and customs spawning from different time periods. All together it makes for a great holiday spot.

A few hot spots for visitors of Catania include the Elephant Fountain, the opera house Teatro Massimo, some of the fish markets and Via Etnea for shopping.

Getting to Catania is easy from both mainland Italy and other points around Sicily. Busses and trains frequently travel to and from cities on the island as well as Naples and Rome . Flying is easiest from international destinations.

Catania-Fontanarossa Airport (airport code CTA) is the airport in Catania. Over the past few years it has been one of the busier airports in Italy, serving over 6 million travellers in 2008. It’s only a few kilometres outside of the city centre, and public transportation can take fliers between the airport and city.

More than 30 airlines fly out of Catania-Fontanarossa Airport. Major carriers include Lufthansa, Iberia, Alitalia and British Airways, although these airlines mainly fly to just one or two destinations in their originating countries. Most of the flights into Catania are flown by regional or low-cost carriers such as Easyjet and Smart Wings.