How to get to Siracusa

How long it takes to get to Siracusa by car. All drive times are relative to Siracusa and represent the total time it would take along that route. (So from Agrigento to Siracusa via Catania is 2.5 hr.; via Ragusa it's closer to 3 hr.) (Map courtesy of Google Maps)

Arriving in Siracusa by train, bus, car, or plane

Siracusa is in the southeast corner of Sicily, on Sicily's east coast about an hour south of Catania.

If you are not driving, the best way to get there is by train. (Unless you're coming from a smaller town in the interior like Piazza Armerina or Caltagirone—plus, oddly, Palermo—in which case the bus is best.)

» Jump down to Siracusa city layout and transport hubs (train station and bus depots). The closest airport is in Catania, 72km (45 miles) to the north.

Siracusa layout

Siracusa is roughly divided into two sections.

Ortigia—an island connected to the mainland by a trio of short bridges—contains the "Old City" of whitewashed alleyways and baroque buildings, the cathedral and the seaside promenades.

» Note that most of Ortigia (downtown Siracusa) is now closed to traffic, though you can park on its north end. » more

The "New City" sprawls over the adjacent mainland. Calling it "new city" is slightly confusing since, while much of it is, indeed, 19th and 20th century construction, the "new city" also contains all of the main ancient Greek and Roman sites (plus the fab archaeological museum)—plus the train station.

The reason for this is that ancient Syracuse was much larger than medeival/baroque-era Siracusa—which had shrunk to pretty much just Ortigia—and the city didn't start re-growing back to fill its ancient foorprint until the past 100 years or so.

Siracusa Centrale train station

Siracusa's train station (tel. +39-0931-406-353, www.trenitalia.com,
www.raileurope.com) is on Via G. Rubino (where Corso Umberto I and Via Ermocrate come together) in the "New City" mainland.

It is just south of the archaeological zone and about a dozen blocks west of the bridges to Ortigia (the "old town" on an island).

From the train station you can walk to Ortigia (in 15 minutes) or take one of three city buses (in 5 minutes). » more

Siracusa bus stations

Siracusa has two bus depots (one at the train station, one on Ortigia) depending on which line you are taking; see the sidebar up on the right for details.

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