The shortlist

The coolest neighborhoods in Catania.

The whole point of this site is one answer per city. For Catania, that answer is San Berillo, and it wasn't a coin flip. But three other neighborhoods made the shortlist, and each one tells you something about where this city is headed. Here they are, in order.

01

San Berillo The pick

San Berillo won on the direction of travel. Every neighborhood in Catania is changing, but here the change is coming from the ground up. Artists, activists, and small operators moved into empty buildings before any developer noticed, and the result is a district that runs on culture instead of tourist euros. You can browse Libreria Prampolini in the afternoon, eat at Le Quinte Gourmet Pizza, then close the night at Bohéme Mixology Bar. Ask anyone who goes out in Catania where they end up after 1am. The answer is San Berillo. The other three neighborhoods on this list are worth your time. This one is worth your attention.

Read the full case for San Berillo →
02

Borgo-Sanzio

The residential quarter along upper Via Etnea, anchored by Piazza Cavour and served by three metro stations, more than almost anywhere else in the city. A Q1 2025 study named it Catania's most in-demand and most expensive place to buy, and the council approved a greenway on a disused rail line in late 2024. The granita at Bar Condorelli alone justifies the trip north. What kept it at #2: it has money and comfort but no friction. If the greenway lands and the ground floors turn over, check back.

03

Pescheria

The old fish market behind Piazza del Duomo, still called A' Piscarìa on the hand-painted stall signs. It's changing faster than anywhere in Catania, with around 50 fishmonger stalls converted to restaurants in recent years. Some of what's arrived is excellent, like Vuciata Kitchen Market in a former tannery on Via Gisira. Some of what remains is irreplaceable, like Trattoria La Paglia on Via Pardo, family-run since 1814. But the engine here is tourist demand, not local invention, and that's the difference between velocity and cool.

04

Piazza Bellini

The square in front of the Teatro Massimo Bellini ticket office, and the center of gravity for Catania's most concentrated nightlife. Roughly 50,000 university students keep the bars within a half kilometer busy even on a Tuesday, and in summer the opera moves outdoors into the piazza itself. It's the most reliable good night in the city. It's also the most predictable one. Young professionals, students, longer-stay visitors, everyone following the same script. The night begins here. It gets interesting somewhere else.

No juries, no sponsors. How we pick explains the rules; San Berillo is where they landed.

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