Lapis and Ciao Catania are monthly bulletins issued by the tourist office, and available at hotels and bars throughout Catania. They document any special concerts or festivals, movies, or nightclubs (such as they are).
Music lovers should head for the Teatro Massimo, sometimes called Teatro Bellini in honor of the hometown composer. It's at Piazza Teatro Massimo, Via Perotta Giuseppe 12 (tel. 095-7306111). Some of Italy's best operas and concerts are presented here, with tickets costing from 11€ to 70€ ($13-$84). Nothing is grander than hearing Bellini's Norma or La Sonnambula on its home turf. The opera and ballet seasons extend from mid-January to right before Christmas, whereas the concert season runs from mid-October to late May. The box office is open Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 12:30pm and Tuesday to Friday 5 to 7pm. Bus: 429.
Pubs and dance clubs rule the night. One such option is Royal Pub Ceres, Via San Giuseppe al Duomo 17-21 (tel. 095-7152294), on a block northwest of the Duomo. This woodsy-looking English pub comes complete with a carved Victorian-style bar and a crowd of good-looking people under 35. Its reputation for beers on tap is unequaled in Catania. The venue sometimes spills onto the narrow street outside. The place rocks daily from 7am (for that early libation) to 2am. Take bus no. 448, 449, 457, 722, or 733.
In the same vicinity, another popular after-dark rendezvous occurs at Mr. Bahia Pub, Via Alessi 16 (tel. 095-2500083), a 5-minute walk northwest of the Duomo. This is a wide-open, airy club whose architects inserted stainless-steel bar tops and catwalks into an older, stately building. The result is a bustling room suitable for cocktails, snacks, and meeting the scads of 20- and 30-somethings who flood here late at night. Part of the venue moves onto the quiet piazza outside. Open Friday to Wednesday 5:30pm to 3am; closed for 2 weeks in August. Take bus no. 448, 449, 457, 722, or 733.
Bar Nievsky, Scalinetta d'Alessi 13 (tel. 095-313792), is the most visible of Catania's limited number of counterculture bars, where -- if labels like this were still fashionable today -- Marxists, Communists, anarchists, and leftists of any ilk feel genuinely welcome. It's also the self-acknowledged haven for bikers, radical feminists, gay liberationists, and avant-garde painters. It sprawls across a multilevel labyrinth of early-20th-century rooms. Entrance is via a flight of steps from the Chiesa San Placido, a 5-minute walk northwest of the Duomo. Most people come here to drink, but the bar also serves macrobiotic salads and sandwiches. You can get there on bus no. 448, 449, 457, 722, or 733.
