Catania, at the foot of Mount Etna, is cheaper to park in than most Italian cities – if you know which streets you cannot drive into. Blue-line bays cost about €1.00 per hour and are free by day on Sundays; the municipal operator AMTS also runs car parks next to the Duomo and at the airport. This guide gives the official AMTS tariffs and hours, the car parks worth knowing, and how to stay out of the ZTL and the pedestrian streets.
Still choosing a car? Our Italy car rental guide compares the rental desks and prices – in Catania a small car is much easier to park.
Paid street parking and the municipal car parks are run by AMTS, the city’s transport and parking company (the older name Sostare still appears on some signs and websites). Blue-line bays are divided into two tariff zones. In the historic centre, Via Etnea is a pedestrian street and the area around the Teatro Massimo Bellini is a camera-controlled limited-traffic zone.
Planning your trip – do you need a car?
Tick what applies and we’ll tell you if a rental is worth it.
| Where | Tariff | Paid hours |
|---|---|---|
| Zone A (central zones) | €0.90 for the first hour, then €1.00 per hour; half-day ticket €3.95 | Monday to Saturday, 08:00–14:00 and 15:00–20:00 |
| Zone B (outer zones) | €0.90 per hour; half-day ticket €3.60 | Monday to Saturday, 08:00–14:00 and 15:00–20:00 |
| “Movida Park” (historic-centre nightlife streets) | Flat €1.00 | 21:00–02:00, including Sundays and holidays |
Tariffs from the AMTS price list. The official evening end time is 21:00, but since 18 July 2026 the city no longer fines non-payment between 20:00 and 21:00 outside the nightlife streets. By day, Sundays and public holidays are free. The zone and hours are shown on the signs in each street.
AMTS runs the public car parks. These are the ones most useful to visitors; we give a tariff only where AMTS publishes it.
AMTS car park below the cathedral square, beside the port arches (Archi della Marina), a few minutes on foot from Piazza del Duomo and the fish market. Check the current tariff at the entrance.
AMTS car park at Corso Sicilia 64, between Piazza Stesicoro on Via Etnea and the central station. Convenient for the shopping district.
AMTS car park at Via Plebiscito 747, on the western edge of the historic centre, towards Castello Ursino.
Two large interchange car parks on the northern (Via Francesco Lo Jacono) and western (Via Michele Amari) edge of the city, intended for leaving the car and continuing by public transport. Conditions are posted at the entrance.
Large AMTS car park in Via Forcile, near Catania airport, with more than 2,200 spaces. A cheap option for a long stay if you are flying out.
For a day in the centre, a blue bay in zone A costs about €3.95 for half a day. Piazza Borsellino saves the walk to the Duomo. If you are staying several days and do not need the car, the airport car park at €3.50 per day is hard to beat.
Catania’s camera-controlled limited-traffic zone is the ZTL Bellini, the block of streets around the Teatro Massimo Bellini; its electronic gates stand in Via Sant’Agata and Via Landolina, off Via Vittorio Emanuele II. Guides to the zone describe it as active around the clock. Separately, several streets are pedestrian areas monitored by cameras, among them Via Etnea, Via dei Crociferi and Piazza Vincenzo Bellini.
Do not follow a sat-nav into either: each passage is recorded and the fine reaches you through the rental company, which adds its own fee. If your accommodation is inside the ZTL, ask it in advance to register your number plate.
You can pay at the parking meters or by phone. AMTS’s own app, AMTS Smart Parking, charges no commission. AMTS says more than a dozen apps are enabled; third-party listings include Telepass, EasyPark and MooneyGo (the former MyCicero), some of which add a small service fee.
For Etna you do not park in Catania: drive to Rifugio Sapienza (about 1,900 m) on the south side, roughly an hour from the city, where the cable car starts and there are large car parks, or join a tour that picks up in town.
Parking cost estimator
Pre-book a car park in Catania →Pre-filled with the zone A hourly rate after the first hour (€1.00). A half-day ticket costs €3.95.
In zone A (central) €0.90 for the first hour and €1.00 per hour after that; in zone B €0.90 per hour. Half-day tickets cost €3.95 and €3.60.
Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 14:00 and from 15:00 to 20:00. In the nightlife streets of the historic centre a flat €1.00 also applies from 21:00 to 02:00 every day.
By day, yes: blue-line bays are not charged on Sundays and public holidays. The evening Movida Park tariff in the historic centre applies on those days too.
Yes, the ZTL Bellini around the Teatro Massimo Bellini, with camera gates in Via Sant’Agata and Via Landolina. Via Etnea is not a ZTL but a pedestrian street with cameras, so you cannot drive along it either.
The AMTS car park in Piazza Borsellino, below the cathedral square, is the closest. Blue-line bays in zone A are the alternative.
The official one is AMTS Smart Parking, which has no commission. Telepass, EasyPark and MooneyGo are also listed for Catania.
