I love my winter trips. I love my chilly city breaks. I love my adventure holidays. But nothing quite beats a Euro summer trip does it? And Euro summer started even earlier than normal this year as I kicked things off with 5 days in Sicily with my bestie Sophie at the end of April. I hereby declare that aperol spritz season has commenced!
We started strong with a bottle of fizz at the airport; a bottle that almost made us miss our flight because we were sat drinking instead of watching our flight status change from 'go to gate' to 'boarding' to 'final call'. But alls well that ends well and we made it to Catania! We'd booked an apartment for our stay and it wasn't ready yet since we arrived around 11am, but they let us store our bags so we were easy breezy and free to start exploring the city.
We didn't explore very far before we decided it was time to stop for a spritz. We had a beautiful view in the piazza San Francesco d'Assisi and while the weather had started with a bit of hazy cloud when we first arrived, it burned through with bright beautiful sunshine while we were sat there.
I'd never been to Sicily before this trip and the main thing I was excited about was all the beautiful pottery, the beautiful prints, and all the Sicilian Moor's heads! Naturally we had to have a little nosey in a cute pottery shop, but it's all also in abundance in the way that the bars and restaurants are decorated.
I always like to have the local dish wherever I go and while I was really looking forward to loads of fresh seafood, it was only right to start an Italian trip with pasta. Pasta alla Norma wouldn't usually be my first choice because I'm not the biggest aubergine lover, but when in Rome (slash Catania). This one was actually amazing - the aubergine was the perfect texture, the sauce was rich and the grated salted ricotta on the top was new for me and it was delicious. It also helped that food and drink were pretty cheap! I've gotten used to Milan prices from visiting Laura and Fulvio (which are similar to London prices), but everything here was cheaper than at home, with these pastas at Lettera 82 Risto Pub only setting us back €10 each.
We were only a stone's throw from our apartment which was based on the same piazza; Piazza Santa Maria dell'Indirizzo. A location we would come to half-regret later since it seems to be the heart of the nightlife in Catania and there was a loud DJ playing until 3am every night directly under our window! But apart from that, our apartment was incredible! Super spacious and beautiful, and it was reasonably priced too.
I don't often make it out for the sunset on holiday because it involves going out quite early and I usually prefer to stay out exploring quite late. But we'd had to head to our apartment early in order to check in, so it was the perfect night to go out nice and early and capture a beautiful sunset. And we found the perfect place to do it. There was a rooftop bar on the top of the Ostello degli Elefanti hostel, which overlooked the Piazza del Duomo, and offered a beautiful view of the mountains behind too. It was a little odd in that you had to sign up to be a member there for the price of about €10, but that included a drink. So you basically had to pre-pay for a drink online while you were downstairs, and then could go up and actually order it. Strange, but the view was totally worth it. We got a table right next to the balcony facing the sunset, and enjoyed the most spectacular views (and Hugo spritz') as the sun went down. It also just continued getting more and more beautiful as the buildings were lit up once it was darker!
Once it was dark (and getting a little chilly), it was time for wine. I always do my research on Google maps beforehand, and had found the cutest little wine bar called Il Calice dei Grulli. It really didn't disappoint! It was decorated so beautifully and they had loads of local wines to choose from. We also got a cheese and meat platter which was divine and had loads of local specialties. I've never tried a cheese made with saffron and red pepper before!
Our first night was just a warm up for the day after though, as we had a whole day of wine ahead! After being picked up in a minibus with 6 other people, we stopped at a cute little shop to try some olive oils, some local honeys, and some wines. Even though we had a whole day of wine tasting ahead, Sophie and I still decided to get a cheeky extra glass of orange wine at this place. What can I say, we're both professionals.
After driving up Mount Etna, we arrived at the first winery, La Gelsomina. We originally booked this excursion for the Friday but it had to be moved due to an Italian bank holiday. It ended up being perfect that we did it the Thursday instead because it was raining, and what do we do when it rains? Stay inside and drink wine. The building was really old and beautiful, and we got to try a white wine and 2 red wines, plus 2 different olive oils; one from Etna and one from the other side of the island. My favourite was actually the one from the other side of the island since it was pure Nocellara olive oil and Nocellara olives are undoubtedly the best!
The weather Gods must've been on our side because by the time we headed outside for a little nosey round, it was brightening up! The views at the winery were incredible and they had some pretty little surrounding gardens too. Wisteria is my absolute favourite so anywhere with that crawling up the building gets a 10 from me.
The hosts at the winery then took us round to see the actual vineyards. They told us about how this place was really unique because it's one of the only places on Mount Etna that can grow certain grapes like Muscat, which typically require warmer climes. It's because all their wine terraces are built of lava rock, which absorbs all the sun and feeds it back to the vines on colder days. I love days like this not only for all the wine drinking, but you also learn some pretty cool stuff too.
Our next stop was at a second winery, Emilio Sciacca. Instead of a wine tasting though, this one did us a food and wine pairing! So we enjoyed a delicious 4 course meal with 4 delicious wines. We started with an antipasti plate, then had asparagus risotto with a blue cheese sauce, then pork fillet wrapped in guanciale, then a hazelnut semifreddo with strawberry sauce to finish. All of the wines were amazing and the building itself was pretty impressive too. I loved the fact that it was such a small group tour. There was only 8 of us so everyone got chatting to each other! Sometimes when you book an excursion on GetYourGuide, it's a big bus load of you and it feels a lot less sociable. This one was amazing! It was £110 each but you did get a lot included for that so I'd highly recommend it.
We finished the tour with another little wander through the vineyard! All kinds of wine tasting days are fun; I love wine so obviously inner city or out in the countryside both sound great to me. But I don't think you can beat this type of wine tasting, where you're actually at the vineyard, seeing the vines and learning how it's made. A truly 10/10 day.
We'd successfully brought the sun back to the city with us so we decided to make the most of it and go for a little walk. We spied a cute market happening in the Giardino Pacini so we ticked that and the Porta Uzeda landmarks off at the same time.
We'd admired the cathedral a couple of times by this point, but this time it was time to actually go inside! We talked about going up the tower but you had to pay and given we'd had such an amazing view from the rooftop bar next to it less than 24 hours earlier, we couldn't imagine that fee being worth it.
We carried on walking around the city before eventually stopping for a beer in the sunshine (Birra Messina may be my new favourite). I really loved Catania and the way it was a bit rugged and crumbly, with lots of old buildings, ruins and graffiti. It reminded me of places such as Valletta in Malta, Napoli in Italy, and Athens in Greece. They're all cities that I refer to as being a bit "rough and ready" but I often prefer them to mega polished cities. There's a lot of authentic beauty it feels like.
After glamming up for the evening, we went for some mega strong cocktails at a place called Orange pub, and then we went for what I would say was our best meal of the whole holiday. Ciauru i mari (literally meaning scent of the sea) was an incredible seafood restaurant and we really selected the 'seafood max' option. Salad with tuna, grilled swordfish with tomatoes and olive oil, and a giant plate of seafood linguine. I love that me and Sophie love all the same foods and that she loves sharing everything as much as I do!
We were onto day 3 then and it felt a little strange because it didn't feel like we'd seen that much of the city! Normally I go into full explore mode straight away, but with our excursion, we'd not actually been in the city that much. So full explore mode was well and truly engaged! Starting strong by making sure to enjoy the local Sicilian breakfast of granita and brioche. I'd never had granita before and while I won't concede that it makes sense as a breakfast food, it was incredible. This pistachio one was like the fresher, lighter cousin to pistachio gelato. Loved it! Obviously no Italian breakfast is complete without coffee too.
The first stop on the itinerary was the Teatro Antico Greco. Obviously the actual amphitheatre was stunning, but there was also a cute little house to go around that had some lovely views. I loved all the buildings covered in ivy!
Then we went for a walk down the very scenic, Via Etnea (a famous street in Catania which is essentially their main high road). It has loads of cute little pockets of beauty as you go, with lovely little side streets and churches. The shops were really cool and we decided to have a nosey around a couple of them - I've been dying to buy this D&G Moka coffee pot for over 2 years since I bought my house and seeing it in the flesh at the Bialetti store didn't help!
By this point, we could tell we'd stumbled into the main hustle and bustle of the city, at the Piazza Stesicoro. There was another beautiful Roman amphitheatre (this time sunken down into the ground rather than built upwards), and it felt like the heart of tourism in the city. Which, naturally, made it my least favourite area we'd wandered through yet. For a lover of big cities, I really do hate crowds of people and I truly hate to see a walking tour (led by an umbrella) coming. Obviously I'm a tourist. But I just feel like I tourist better than other tourists, you know?
I needed an injection of nature as a palate cleanser from the previous stop and Catania delivered that massively with the Bellini gardens. The whole park was massive but the area at the front with the fountains and the music kiosk and the statues was so beautiful! They even display the day's date with neatly shaped number hedges that must get swapped out every day in the early hours.
After a cheeky beer, we went in search of lunch. Mad in Italy won out in the end because we were both in the mood for pizza and they looked like they did 10/10 Neapolitan ones. They didn't disappoint! Extra points were naturally awarded for the beautiful plates and cocktail glass!
We then walked up to the monastery, intending to have a look around properly. But we were thwarted as it was clearly gradutation day and so students were spilling out to lots of confetti canons and flower crowns. We decided not to get in the way and just admired the ruins in the grounds outside. Well, I admired them. I'm a bit more of a history lover than Sophie and I think she'd hit her tolerance for piles of old bricks by this point. Luckily, her whole day had already been made because she'd made friends with a cute cat on the way. So the day had plenty for both of our passions!
All good days end with a spritz. And the really good days contain lots of spritz' throughout too. Ursino castle was closed for refurbishment so it wasn't something we could go round, but it was nice to end the day there and see it regardless. It was also a pretty cool area around there and we chose a bar with a very eccentric owner who was singing and dancing, and kept reappearing in different hats and wigs. He insisted that me and Sophie wear some of the hats and even despite my protesting that I had a "grande testa" and it wouldn't fit, it had to be seen to be believed apparently!
Me and Sophie have a special superpower called 'bestie fashion telepathy'. The amount of times we've turned up to plans with either the same outfit, or the same style of top, or the same jacket is statistically weird! We have loads of items the exact same (bought without knowing the other has it too) and often manage to bring the same stuff on holiday together. So naturally, we like to wear them on the same night. We declared this night as red silk skirt night.
There was a very red theme to the night actually as Mamaro Bistrot had a cool red, art deco vibe going on. While the restaurant scored points for the decor and the strong cocktails, it lost out because of the size of the food portions. Nothing suggested that anything was designed to be a sharing portion but my octopus left a lot to be desired. It was delicious but half a small octopus and some sauce doesn't constitute dinner for me! So I got an extra little snack at Nanu when we went for drinks on our square afterwards; cocktails and snack were both amazing.
For our last day, we'd planned to head to the beach! It was about a half an hour walk from the city to the start of the sand, and then probably another half an hour to walk down the length of the beach. It's fair to say that by the time we got there, we were both a little stressed! Sophie was stressed from the walk through the city, since it was a mostly pavement-less walk with lots of traffic. I was stressed from the walk on the sand because in every spot that there was supposedly going to be a lido that was open, there was nothing but sand and the odd digger moving it around. I think it's fair to say we arrived a little bit early for the main beach season, or that Catania just isn't much of a beach destination. When we were close to giving up and coming up with a plan B for the day, we found 102 Beach which offered sunbed rentals, a spot for breakfast, and the saviour of our moods! Stressful walk or not, there's nothing that a good old croissant can't fix (or should I say cornetto, since we were in Italy).
The prices weren't bad at €15 for 2 sunbeds and an umbrella, so we set up camp and had a nice relaxing few hours. My favourite thing about going to the beach in Italy is that all the sunbeds always have this cool little hood attachment so you can protect your head from the sun while you read! Why this hasn't caught on with sunbeds around the world is beyond me.
There was no proper restaurant at the beach and I'll be damned if I'm wasting a meal on holiday with something bog standard! So I ended up having a super late lunch (even by my standards) when we got back to the city at around 4pm. But it was a lunch worth waiting for. Sicily is known for their fried fish and I got a mixed selection box that had a little bit of everything; octopus, squid, prawns, anchovies, fish. It was delicious! I wouldn't normally have gone for a dessert after. But I suddenly realised it was my last chance and I hadn't had any cannoli yet; it would've been a crime to return home without having had one. Top tip: always look for places that stock the cannolo shells empty and then pipe them with the filling as and when you order them. They're the best ones!
Sophie and I think similarly about so many things. But there's nothing we agree more on than wine glasses; long thin stem, giant bowl of a glass. So when we walked past Tantikkia the night before and spied their giant, perfect wine glasses on the table, we knew that that was our dinner spot for our last night! Although we ordered a bottle of white wine, so the waiter brought us the slightly smaller glasses at first and we had to ask for the giant ones specifically - that's how much we loved them. It wasn't only the glasses that pulled us into this place though. It was one I'd saved on maps already as it had a 4.6 rating and the food looked awesome. It didn't disappoint, and we had a fabulous last meal to round off the holiday.
We were up bright and early the next day to wave Catania goodbye. I'd wanted to go to Sicily for so long and it was lovely to finally visit. I really enjoyed Catania but it was a pretty compact city so I think if I go back, I'll look to explore a few different cities, or potentially head to the other side of the island and do Palermo. For now though, it's time to see where else the Spritz season of 2026 will take me...
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