Of all the places in Sicily that surprise visitors who come expecting something good and find something extraordinary, Syracuse is perhaps the most consistent. It is a city that has been continuously inhabited for nearly three thousand years, founded by Greek colonists from Corinth in 734 BC on a small island they called Ortigia, and it wears its layered history not as a museum exhibit but as a living texture: Greek temples embedded in cathedral walls, Norman towers rising above baroque piazzas, narrow streets that follow lines laid down before Rome existed.
The best things to do in Syracuse, Sicily are concentrated in two distinct areas: the island of Ortigia, which is the ancient and baroque heart of the city, entirely walkable and endlessly rewarding; and the Neapolis Archaeological Park on the mainland, where the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and the extraordinary Ear of Dionysius represent one of the finest concentrations of ancient ruins in Europe. Together they make Syracuse one of the most compelling destinations in the entire Mediterranean.
This guide covers everything you need to know to make the most of your time here.
In this guide
- Ortigia: how to explore the island
- The Cathedral and Piazza del Duomo
- Temple of Apollo
- Fonte Aretusa
- The seafront promenade and the Jewish Quarter
- The Ortigia Market
- Neapolis Archaeological Park
- Sunset boat tour around Ortigia
- Day trips from Syracuse
- What to eat in Syracuse
- Practical information
- Frequently asked questions
Quick facts about Syracuse
- Founded: 734 BC by Greek colonists from Corinth
- Location: Southeast coast of Sicily, 90 km south of Catania
- UNESCO status: World Heritage Site (along with the baroque towns of the Val di Noto)
- Best season: May, June, September, October
- How many days: 2 nights minimum, 3 ideal
- Famous for: Ortigia island, Greek Theatre, Ear of Dionysius, Fonte Aretusa, seafood
- Famous residents: Archimedes (born here, 287 BC)
Ortigia: the island at the heart of everything
Before going anywhere else in Syracuse, it helps to understand Ortigia. The island is tiny: approximately one kilometre long and 600 metres wide, connected to the mainland by two short bridges, and entirely walkable. It is the oldest part of the city and the part that contains almost everything worth seeing: the cathedral, the piazzas, the Fonte Aretusa, the Jewish Quarter, the market, the finest restaurants and the most beautiful waterfront in the southeast of Sicily. You will spend most of your time here.
The first impression of Ortigia, crossing the Ponte Umbertino from the mainland, is one of compression and density: the streets are narrow, the buildings tall and close together, and the stone glows honey-gold in the afternoon light in a way that makes the whole island look as if it was designed specifically to be beautiful. This is not entirely an accident. Like the baroque towns of the Val di Noto nearby, much of Ortigia was rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake in a confident baroque style that gave the island a coherence it might not otherwise have had. But unlike those towns, Ortigia also contains layers that predate the baroque: Greek columns embedded in cathedral walls, Roman roads beneath the medieval paving, Arab-Norman palaces tucked in alleys between baroque churches.
The best approach is to wander without a fixed plan for the first hour: cross the bridge, follow whatever looks interesting, get lost in the Jewish Quarter, find your way to the waterfront, sit down somewhere with a granita. Once you have a sense of the island’s geography, the specific sights will make much more sense and feel considerably less like a checklist.
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The Cathedral of Syracuse and Piazza del Duomo
The Cattedrale di Siracusa is one of the most fascinating buildings in Sicily, and that is a city in a country that does not lack for fascinating buildings. What makes it extraordinary is its history made visible: the cathedral was built in the 7th century AD around the columns of a 5th century BC Greek temple dedicated to Athena. The temple’s Doric columns are still standing, incorporated into the cathedral’s side walls, where you can see them from the street on the north and south facades: enormous, slightly irregular stone cylinders from 480 BC, holding up a Christian church built twelve centuries later. It is a physical embodiment of the layered history of Sicily that no history lesson can quite replicate.
Inside, the cathedral is spacious and somewhat austere by Sicilian baroque standards, its grandeur coming from scale and proportion rather than ornamentation. The side chapels contain some fine paintings and the remains of Santa Lucia, Syracuse’s patron saint. But the main reason to come inside is simply to stand in a space where the bones of one of the ancient world’s greatest temples are still doing structural work, and to let that reality settle.
Piazza del Duomo itself, the wide square in front of the cathedral, is one of the finest public spaces in Sicily. Lined on all sides by baroque buildings of pale stone, it is broad and unhurried, with cafe tables spreading across its paving in summer and an atmosphere of genuine civic elegance. In the early morning, before the day-trippers arrive, it has an almost theatrical beauty. In the evening, when the buildings are lit and the square fills with people, it is exactly what a great Italian piazza should be.
Temple of Apollo
At the entrance to Ortigia, just past the Ponte Umbertino, the Tempio di Apollo sits in a small open space surrounded by a low fence, its remaining columns and partial walls surrounded by grass and, depending on the hour, a collection of cats using the ancient stonework as a sun terrace. It is, according to archaeologists, one of the oldest Doric temples in the world, dating back to the 6th century BC, which makes it older than the Parthenon by about a century.
What remains is fragmentary: two columns still upright, a section of wall, the outline of the stylobate, and enough to give a sense of the building’s original scale. Like the cathedral, it carries within its stones a remarkable sequence of use: Greek temple, Byzantine church, Arab mosque, Norman church, Spanish barracks. Over the millennia it has been used as a church, mosque, basilica, and military barracks. The site cannot be entered but is fully visible from outside, and it is particularly beautiful when illuminated at night, when the warm light on the pale stone gives it a ghostly, slightly otherworldly quality.
Spend ten minutes here, then walk north into the market that spreads around the corner.
Fonte Aretusa — a freshwater spring beside the sea
The Fonte Aretusa is one of those places that is difficult to describe without sounding as though you are inventing the details. It is a natural freshwater spring that bubbles up from the ground at the southern tip of Ortigia, at the very edge of the island, surrounded by papyrus plants and overlooking the open sea. Fresh water, emerging from beneath a saltwater island, in a location that has been considered sacred or miraculous since antiquity. It is still there, still producing fresh water, still growing papyrus that was originally brought here from North Africa in ancient times.
The mythological explanation, which the Greeks considered entirely plausible, is that Arethusa was a nymph who fled from the river god Alpheus by diving into the sea off the Greek mainland and swimming underground all the way to Sicily, where she emerged as this spring. The version of events involving underground hydrology is less poetic but equally remarkable in its own way.
The spring is surrounded by a low terrace from which you can look out over the Porto Grande, the great harbour of Syracuse, and the open Ionian beyond. Ducks and fish swim in the spring pool. The papyrus grows tall and slightly improbable. In the late afternoon the light on the water is extraordinary. It is one of the most quietly magical spots in the whole of Sicily, and it costs nothing to visit.
The seafront promenade and the Jewish Quarter
Ortigia is completely surrounded by the sea, and the seafront promenade that runs around the island’s perimeter is one of its great pleasures. The full circuit takes about 45 minutes at a relaxed pace, passing rocky swimming spots, sailing boats moored in the small marina, views south across the open Mediterranean towards Malta, and stretches of old city wall descending directly into the sea. At sunset, the western side of the promenade facing the Porto Grande turns amber and pink in a way that is genuinely extraordinary, and the benches fill with residents rather than tourists.
Inland from the promenade, the Giudecca, Syracuse’s ancient Jewish Quarter, is one of the most atmospheric areas to explore in the city. Syracuse had one of the oldest and most significant Jewish communities in Sicily, established in late antiquity and active until the expulsion of Jews from the island in 1492. Walking the Giudecca today, the narrow streets feel particularly intimate and medieval, the buildings particularly close, the atmosphere particularly layered. Hidden within one of the palaces, accessible by guided tour, is an ancient mikveh: a Jewish ritual bath dating back possibly as far as the 6th century AD, one of the oldest in Europe and an extraordinary survival from a community that was erased from Sicily five centuries ago.
The mikveh is accessible through the Alla Giudecca hotel, which has excavated and preserved it. Visits are possible most days; check opening times with the hotel directly.
The Ortigia Market
Every morning except Sunday, the streets around the Temple of Apollo fill with the Ortigia Market: a small but beautifully stocked food market that is one of the liveliest and most photogenic in eastern Sicily. The stalls are piled with blood oranges and lemons from the Catania plain, artichokes from the surrounding countryside, fresh ricotta and mozzarella from small dairies, dried pasta in every shape known to the Sicilian kitchen, herbs, spices, olives, capers from Pantelleria and the Aeolian Islands, and fish caught the same morning from the Ionian Sea.
The market is smaller and more manageable than Palermo’s Ballarò or Catania’s Pescheria, which makes it easier to navigate and more pleasant to browse without feeling overwhelmed. At the stalls of Caseificio Borderi, a cheese and delicatessen stand with a devoted following among regular visitors, the platters of local cheese, cured meats and Sicilian caponata make one of the finest informal lunches available anywhere on the island. The freshly made mozzarella is particularly celebrated.
A guided street food tour starting at the market is an excellent way to begin a visit to Ortigia, particularly on a first day when you want to understand the food culture and the layout of the island simultaneously.
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Neapolis Archaeological Park
Three kilometres from Ortigia on the mainland, the Parco Archeologico della Neapolis is the other essential experience in Syracuse, and it operates on a completely different scale from anything in the old town. This is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Mediterranean: a vast open-air park containing the ruins of the ancient city of Syracuse at the height of its power, when it was, in the 5th century BC, one of the largest and most powerful cities in the Greek world.
The Greek Theatre
The centrepiece of the park is the Teatro Greco, a theatre carved directly into the living rock of the hillside in the 5th century BC, enlarged several times over the following centuries, and capable of seating around 15,000 spectators in its original form. It is one of the largest ancient theatres in the world and one of the best preserved: the tiered seating, cut from the natural limestone of the hill, survives almost intact, along with the stage area and the cavea that frames a panoramic view over the city and, on clear days, the open sea.
What makes this theatre particularly remarkable is that it still functions as a performance venue. The INDA Festival (Instituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico) brings ancient Greek tragedies and comedies to this stage every May and June, with performances by leading Italian and international theatre companies. Sitting in a 2,500-year-old theatre watching Sophocles performed in the original setting, as the sun descends and the stone turns golden around you, is one of the defining Sicilian experiences. Tickets should be booked well in advance for the summer season.
The Ear of Dionysius
A short walk from the theatre, through a landscape of ancient quarries that once supplied the stone for much of the city, the Orecchio di Dionisio is one of the most extraordinary spaces in Sicily. It is an artificial cave: a narrow, 65-metre-deep cavern carved from the limestone cliff, with a ceiling that soars 23 metres above and curves in a shape that from outside resembles the profile of a human ear. The acoustic properties of the space are remarkable: a whisper at one end can be heard clearly at the other, and the slightest sound is amplified and transformed into a resonant, slightly eerie echo.
The name comes from a story attributed to the painter Caravaggio, who visited Syracuse in 1608 and suggested that the cave’s acoustic properties allowed the tyrant Dionysius to listen to the conversations of prisoners held inside. Whether the story is true is impossible to verify, but the cave itself is entirely real and genuinely astonishing to stand inside, especially with a crowd: the collective sound of sixty tourists whispering creates something between a symphony and a haunting.
The Roman Amphitheatre
Slightly further into the park, the Anfiteatro Romano dates from the Imperial period and was used for gladiatorial combat and animal hunts. It is smaller and less well-preserved than the Greek Theatre but still impressive in scale, and the contrast between the two structures, separated by several centuries and representing two entirely different civilisations’ approach to public spectacle, is one of the most intellectually interesting aspects of the park as a whole.
Practical information: The park is open daily from 8.30am, with closing times varying by season. Entry costs €14 for adults and €7 for concessions. A guided tour is strongly recommended for the context it provides.
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Sunset boat tour around Ortigia
One of the most memorable things you can do in Syracuse requires no walking and very little planning: take a small boat tour around the perimeter of Ortigia at sunset. Several operators offer evening boat trips departing from the harbour near the Fonte Aretusa, circling the island at water level as the sun descends over the Porto Grande and the baroque facades turn amber and rose.
Seen from the water, Ortigia reveals aspects of itself that are completely invisible from the streets: the sea caves carved into the island’s base, the old city walls descending directly into the water, the surprising greenery of terraces and hidden gardens above the seafront, and the extraordinary quality of the evening light on the honey-coloured stone. Many tours include a glass of wine or a Sicilian aperitivo on board. The combination of sea, light, ancient stone and a cold glass of something is, by any reasonable standard, one of the finest evenings available in Sicily.
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Day trips from Syracuse
Syracuse’s position on the southeastern coast makes it an excellent base for exploring the surrounding area, which contains some of the finest destinations in all of Sicily.
Noto
Thirty kilometres southwest, Noto is the capital of Sicilian baroque: a town rebuilt entirely after the 1693 earthquake in a style of extraordinary theatrical elegance, whose main street is considered one of the most beautiful in Italy. The drive from Syracuse takes about 40 minutes; the town rewards two to three hours of slow walking. Read our complete Sicily 7-day itinerary for how Noto fits into a broader southeastern Sicily route.
Ragusa Ibla
An hour’s drive west, Ragusa Ibla is the intimate baroque twin to Noto’s grandeur: a labyrinth of staircases, small piazzas and flowering balconies that rewards a full afternoon of unhurried exploration. The Duomo di San Giorgio, rising at the top of a broad staircase above the town, is one of the masterpieces of the Val di Noto UNESCO ensemble.
Fontane Bianche beach
Twenty minutes south of Syracuse, Fontane Bianche is one of the finest beaches on the eastern coast: a long stretch of white sand and very clear water whose name comes from the freshwater springs that emerge below the sea surface. It is the ideal beach day from a Syracuse base, particularly in late June through September when the sea is at its warmest. Read our guide to the best beaches in Sicily for more beach options in the area.
Catania
One hour north by car or train, Catania offers a completely different Sicilian experience: rough, volcanic, alive with the energy of a real working city, with one of the finest fish markets in Sicily and the drama of Mount Etna looming above everything. Read our complete guide to things to do in Catania before you go.
What to eat in Syracuse
The food culture of Syracuse is built around the sea and the extraordinary produce of the surrounding countryside, and the combination produces a kitchen that is both refined and deeply satisfying.
Seafood
Syracuse sits at one of the richest fishing areas of the Ionian coast, and fresh seafood is the foundation of the best meals in the city. Sea urchin pasta, grilled swordfish with capers and lemon, raw shellfish at the market, fried calamari from a street stall near the Fonte Aretusa: all of it is exceptionally good and priced considerably more reasonably than in Taormina. The restaurants immediately surrounding the fish market at Ortigia, which cook whatever came in that morning, are reliably excellent.
Arancini
The indispensable Sicilian street food is particularly good at the stalls around the Ortigia market, where they are made fresh throughout the morning and served hot, with a perfectly crisp shell and a generously filled interior of saffron rice, ragù and melting mozzarella.
Scacce Ragusane
A specialty of the southeastern corner of Sicily rather than the whole island, scacce are thin sheets of dough folded multiple times around fillings of tomato and cheese, onion, or ricotta and sausage, then baked until the pastry is crisp and layered and the filling is completely molten. You will find them at the Ortigia market and in the bakeries of the old town, and they are one of those things that are essentially impossible to eat just one of.
Granita di mandorla
The Sicilian breakfast of granita with warm brioche reaches a particular perfection in Syracuse, where the almond granita has a depth and intensity that reflects the quality of the local almonds. Order it at any of the bars on or near Piazza del Duomo in the morning and sit outside with it in the early quiet before the day heats up. There is genuinely no better way to start a Sicilian morning.
For the full story on Sicilian food, read our complete guide to Sicilian cuisine.
Practical information for visiting Syracuse
How to get there
The nearest airport is Catania Fontanarossa (CTA), approximately 90 kilometres north. From the airport, the Interbus service reaches Syracuse in about 55 minutes and costs around €7. Trains from Catania station take approximately one hour. By car from Catania, the drive on the E45 motorway takes just over an hour in normal traffic. If you are driving and staying in Ortigia, be aware that the island is largely pedestrianised. The main car parks are at the island’s northern entrance, at Talete and Marina, and both involve a short walk to the centre.
Getting around
Ortigia is entirely walkable. The island is so small that it is genuinely impossible to get lost for more than ten minutes, and every wrong turn leads somewhere interesting. For the Neapolis Archaeological Park, take a taxi from Ortigia (about €10 each way) or the bus circular route 105, which connects the park with Ortigia and costs €1.20 per journey. Buses depart every 25 minutes.
When to visit
May, June, September and October are the finest months. July and August are hot and moderately busy, but Syracuse does not reach the extreme crowding of Taormina in peak season. The city is pleasant to visit year-round, and the winter months, particularly for the archaeological sites and Ortigia’s evening atmosphere, have a quiet beauty that summer cannot replicate. For a full seasonal breakdown, read our guide to the best time to visit Sicily.
Where to stay
Staying in Ortigia is strongly recommended. The island is small enough that any hotel on it puts you within walking distance of everything, and the experience of waking up in the old town, walking to a bar for granita and watching Ortigia wake up slowly around you, is one of the things that makes a Syracuse visit genuinely memorable. Hotels in Ortigia range from intimate boutique guesthouses to the grand Grand Hotel Ortigia, which has a terrace with sea views that justifies the price in summer.
Budget
Syracuse is one of the more affordable cities in Sicily. A dinner for two with wine at a good fish restaurant costs €45 to €65. Street food at the market is very cheap. The Neapolis Archaeological Park entry fee is €14 per adult. Accommodation in Ortigia ranges from around €70 per night for a well-located guesthouse to €200 and above for boutique hotels in peak season.
Frequently asked questions about Syracuse, Sicily
Is Syracuse Sicily worth visiting?
Yes, without reservation. Syracuse is one of the most historically significant and visually beautiful cities in the entire Mediterranean. The combination of Ortigia’s baroque island, the Greek Theatre, the Ear of Dionysius, the Fonte Aretusa and the quality of the food makes it a destination that consistently exceeds expectations. It is often considered the finest city in Sicily by those who have visited the whole island.
How many days do you need in Syracuse?
Two full days gives you time to explore Ortigia thoroughly and visit the Neapolis Archaeological Park. Three days allows you to add a day trip to Noto or the beaches at Fontane Bianche. If you are using Syracuse as a base for the southeastern corner of Sicily, three to four nights makes the most sense.
What is Ortigia in Syracuse?
Ortigia is the ancient island at the heart of Syracuse, connected to the mainland by two short bridges. It is the original Greek colony founded in 734 BC and is today the historic centre of the city, containing almost all of the main sights, the best restaurants and the most beautiful architecture. When people refer to visiting Syracuse, they almost always mean spending their time in Ortigia.
Is Syracuse better than Taormina?
They offer different things. Taormina is more immediately spectacular in its physical setting, more glamorous and more visited. Syracuse is more historically profound, more authentic in its daily life, more affordable and less crowded. Many experienced Sicily travellers rate Syracuse as the more rewarding of the two. The ideal itinerary includes both. Read our complete guide to Taormina for a full picture of what that town offers.
Can you visit Syracuse as a day trip from Catania?
Yes, and it is one of the most popular day trips in eastern Sicily. The train from Catania takes about one hour and costs less than €8. You can comfortably visit the Neapolis Archaeological Park and explore Ortigia in a single day. That said, staying overnight transforms the experience: the city after the day-trippers leave, particularly the evening light on the Piazza del Duomo and the promenade at sunset, is one of the great pleasures of Sicilian travel.
Ready to discover Syracuse?
Syracuse rewards the kind of travel that is increasingly rare: slow, attentive, willing to sit in a piazza for an hour and simply watch. The city does not perform itself for you the way that some Sicilian destinations do. It simply exists, with extraordinary density and continuity, on its small island above the Ionian Sea, and the longer you spend with it the more it reveals.
For help planning the rest of your eastern Sicily trip, read our complete Sicily 7-day itinerary, our guide to things to do in Catania, and our guide to the best beaches in Sicily.
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