Siracusa

Introduction

Amphitheatre, Syracusa

© All Rights Reserved SEINGRU

Siracusa, situated on the southeastern coastline of Sicily, Italy, was heavily involved in the war between Athens and Sparta at the time of the Greek city states. Now it has a wealth of Greek and Roman remains to display to visitors.

Sights and Activities

The city of Siracusa, together with the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica, is a Unesco World Heritage Site. One of the main sights include:

• Ortygia - a separate island connected by a bridge. This is the oldest part of Siracusa and the cathedral is located here - as is the Tourist Office.
• Regional Archeological Museum
• Archaeological Park - a must-see area that includes a Greek theatre, a Roman amphitheatre and the so-called Paradise Quarries.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Siracusa has a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild but wetter winters. Average daytime temperatures ranges from around 15 or 16 degrees Celsius from December to February to around 33 degrees Celsius during July and August. Average minimum temperatures are ranging between 4 degrees Celsius in January and February to 18 degrees Celsius during July and August. Under specific conditions, when winds blow directly from Africa, temperatures can be much higher though, over 40 during the day and even nights around 28 degrees are not unheard of. While summers are almost completely dry, most of the rain falls between October and March.
Frost and snow are very rare.

Getting There

By Plane

Siracusa hasn't got its own airport, the nearest one is at Catania. For more details about that airport, have a look at the getting there by plane sections in the Catania article.
Interbus offers direct services to Siracusa from Catania Airport.

By Train

Siracusa is connected to Catania and Taormina by a service that runs quite frequently, about once every hour. From Rome there are some direct trains for Siracusa (via Naples).

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Post Italiane is the national postal services of Italy and has quite an efficient network of postal offices and reliable postal services. Standard letters and postcards (up to 20 grams) cost €0.39 to send within Europe and the Mediterranean countries outside Europe and €0.41 to all other destinations throughout the country. Up to 50 grams, prices start at €0.52 for Europe, €0.62 for other areas. Packages start at €1.55 within Europe, and around €2.50 for other countries. Post office business hours in Italy are from 8:30am to 2:00pm from Monday to Friday, with closing times at Saturday and the last day of the month at 12 noon.