Holiday in Catania with children and teenagers

Detail

There's so much to see and do in Catania: museums, Baroque art buildings, theatres, public gardens.

You start from the Benedictine Monastery and make it up as you go along, like little Indiana Jones archaeologists with helmets and paddles grappling with digging and excavating, or, finally, mix eggs and flour in the Benedictine kitchens and make biscuits and sweets like the monks of the period did.

Through fairy tales and history, you'll take a trip through the history of the castle, Castello Ursino, an ancient mediaeval fortress, to learn about its trivia, architecture and characters, or transform into little painters inside its Art Gallery, experimenting with brushes and pastels.

Not to be missed is a trip to Le Ciminiere Complex, the old sulphur factories that are now used as modern exhibition spaces, where you’ll find the Museo dello Sbarco museum, a reconstruction of the environments and events of the historic landing in Sicily in 1943 with special effects and stunning interactive simulations, and the fantasticCinema Museum, a sentimental journey of discovery into cinema, the “seventh art”. They’re all worth a visit.

With just a little time left over, you’ll take a quick train ride or scenic bus trip along the streets and neighbourhoods of this baroque city where the black colour of Mount Etna’s stone prevail in both the basalt and buildings’ decorations, all while the volcano overlooks it from above.

Going a little outside the city, you easily arrive at the Ludum di Misterbianco, the Museum of Science, where adults and children can experience optical illusions, have their perceptions changed, as well as play electromagnetic and mechanical games, both ancient and modern.

To finish, you jump from “A Thousand and One Nights” to the Planetarium in Zafferana where children can have a close encounter with the stars and planets.

In Catania, in the ancient puppet workshop, you attend thePuppet Opera by F.lli Napoli.

In the nearby Acireale, the Puppet Theatre by E. Macrì there’s also an interesting exhibition, which can be visited for free, with a collection of 40 puppets and various sets. Orlando and Angelica and the puppets by the Ruggiero company are the most famous.

Also visit Kids Trip, the platform of integrated services dedicated to children and families that organises guided tours in Catania and the surrounding neighbourhood.

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