Five family-friendly places to discover Catania

I asked my sons what would be a Catania route to be recommended to a friend visiting Catania. Here are five places to discover the city with your children.

By Bianca Caccamese di Kids Trip

Some of the games I like to do with my kids concern the experiences, particularly relative to travel. For example, there is a game I call “Eating is like traveling”: choose a city where you want to go and cook together a typical dish, after buying all the ingredients together. Or read some news about the city that you’d like to visit and draw a map with the main attractions. 

  1. Bellini’a Villa

    A park in the heart of the city where you can run, ride a bicycle and play football. Inside the Bellini’s Garden there are also some game areas with different slides and swings of various types and sizes. My kids love the cloister of the music on top of the hill, where they play to the theater and invent fantastic shows! After playing inside the Bellini’s Villa, they love to do two things in this area. The first is eating pizza at Savia, just opposite the entrance of the Villa; the other is going to Bafè, a children’s bookstore in via Monte Sant’Agata where there are lots of wonderful books, creative labs and animated readings.

  2. Ursino Castle

    A real fortress,  with towers and a moat. My older son has the same name of the emperor who ordered its construction, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor! A place always beautiful to visit, even more when there are temporary exhibitions of art which often host a guided tour for children, followed by a creative workshop. Inside there is also a small bookshop where children can play in two equipped tables or read. The visit makes adults and children happy.

  3. Benedictine Monastery

    Within this historic building in the heart of Catania operates Officine Culturali, an organization which often offers children-friendly tours  and play-educational workshops aimed at knowledge and enjoyment of a place load of history.

  4. San Giovanni Li Cuti beach

    It’s a small beach near the city center, characterized by black sand and smooth round rocks from the sea, called “cuti”, on which it’s funny to climb up to reach those lapped the water. I have fond memories of mornings spent on these rocks as a child: my father took there me and my brother with a book to read. Today my children like to hear the story of Colapesce, the son of a Sicilian fisherman tested by Frederick II. The beach can be reached on foot from the seafront where, after a visit to the small fishing village, you can enjoy an ice cream in one of the many bar on the road (the favorite of my sons is Ernesto).

  5. Piazza Castello

    Just outside Catania there is Aci Castello, dominated by a beautiful Norman castle below which extends a large square with a view of Aci Trezza. The visit to the castle deserves – not only for the beautiful view – even for the small botanical garden: the favorite attraction by children is undoubtedly the cannon that is on the highest terrace. The sighting of the pirates is the favorite game of my children, while the large square encourages long runs and chases. In front of the garden there is always the stall of a peddler, the official supplier of footballs Super Santos for impromptu games.

 

Our tips about the visit of Catania with your family can’t exlcude a “sweet” advice: “I dolci di Nonna Vincenza”, a small pastry shop in the old town (but it is also present at the airport!) where adults and children can find and taste lots of delicious candy and sweets.