Salvatore’s apartment is one floor up from the ground – no elevator, but a wide stately staircase. All the rooms have windows and balconies looking out on the Fontana de Aretusa and the harbour – the waterfront is across the street.
The area is swarming with restaurants, and the apartment is about five minutes from the Piazza del Duomo, the main and loveliest public space on the island. If you want a quiet place, it’s not here, though things do settle down around midnight. We found we slept just fine – good room darkening blinds.
We were very happy staying in this bright and airy apartment, in which Salvatore had left a generous supply of basic foods and coffee – yogurt, juice and water in the fridge on arrival, for example. There is nothing luxurious about it, but the bed was comfortable and everything worked fine.
Salvatore was very helpful in advising us, providing maps and recommendations, and even in calling us a cab to get us to the airport bus. He was quick to respond whenever we contacted him.
The little shuttle bus that goes around Siracusa stops outside the door of the apartment - about every 20 minutes during the daytime. It costs one euro. In the summer, at least, it goes around Ortigia also to the main tourist sites in Siracusa proper, such as the Archeological Museum and Neopolis with the Greek Theatre, the Roman amphitheatre, etc. No transfer needed.