We stayed in Catania for five days during the winter, in James’ place. It was great.
Location is in the heart of the city, 100 metres from one of the main squares. The store and the market are also really close and pretty cheap. I definitely recommend visiting the market, the products (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish) are fresh and the whole experience is special.
The apartament is beautifully arranged and spacious. There are 2 bathrooms which came in pretty handy considering there were 5 of us. The kitchen is nice and has all the appliances you need. Bedrooms are nice and cozy, one with a king, and the other with a queen bed. The best thing about the apartament for me were the terraces! You have two terraces that overlook the street - great for reading, relaxing, drinking coffee etc.
The hosts James and Dario were great. They helped us with everything we needed and were at our disposal 24/7. They helped us getting the rent a car and also gave us really important information about the city and its sights. On the last day, they let us stay in the apartament until we had to go to the airport. It helped us tremendously, considering we were travelling with our kids.
The city itself is beautiful, there are a lot of things to see and do. We visited Etna, Taormina ... We also visited the castles in Catania, went to the beautiful beach, went to some museums and tried great food and wine - both at Home and in the restaurants.
Just below the apartament, in the street are 2 great bars where we used to visit (both in the morning and in the evening). There’s also a pizza restaurant 2 streets from the apartament. You can order it from the street and get it in 2-3 minutes. It’s really great if you’re hungry and in a hurry.
We’ll definitely come back to Catania and James’ place. We really loved it there, the people are nice, laid-back and the scenery is beautiful. Thanks to Dario and James once again for being great hosts! One more thing, unlike alot of Italians, they speak really great English so there’s no communication problems.