Surroundings
Guy de Maupassant wrote: "Taormina is only a landscape, but a landscape, where you seem to find everything created on the earth to seduce the eyes, the spirit and the imagination".
Taormina, now a world-famous tourist resort, lies halfway between Messina and Catania.
From Taormina it is possible to organize many day trips: Castelmola, Naxos and the Alcantara Gorges; Messina and the Aeolian Islands; Catania and Mount Etna (the biggest active volcano in Europe); baroque Acireale, set on the volcanic plain of Timpa high above the rocky shore known as the Riviera dei Ciclopi; or Siracusa, with its fabulous Ancient Greek theatre and a perfectly preserved historic centre entirely surrounded by sea.
What to visit:
Duomo
Badia Vecchia, a 15th-century abbey housing an archeological museum with finds from Roman Taormina.
Bar Wunderbar The most famous bar in Taormina, once frequented by Greta Garbo and Werner) Fassbinder.
Torre dell’Orologio A 12th-century clock tower pierced by an arch.
Le Naumachie A massive Roman brick wall with 18 arched niches that once supported a huge water cistern.
Santa Caterina Baroque church built over the remains of a Roman brick Odeon.
Palazzo Corvaja Gothic Palazzo inlaid with intricate designs of black lava and white limestone. It now houses Taormina’s tourist office.
Teatro Greco
Founded by Greeks in the 3rd century BC.
Mazzaro and Isola Bella
A romantic beach connected by an isthmus to the tiny offshore island of Isola Bella. Take a cable car from Taormina or walk there, down a long flight of steps bordered by bougainvillea.
Castelmola
A perfectly maintained hilltown above Taormina with fantastic views from outside the church of San Nicola di Bari.
Distances
Taormina can be reached from Catania or from Messina by motorway or by train (Taormina Giardini station). The nearest airport is Catania Fontanarossa, 60km away.
Messina - 40 km / 24,84 Miles
Milazzo and ferry to the Aeolian islands - 80 km / 49,68 miles
Catania airport - 60 km / 37,26 miles
Etna east - 25 km / 15,52 miles
Siracusa - 120 km / 74,52 miles
Agrigento - 220 km / 136,62 miles
Caltagirone - 140 km / 86,94 miles
Palermo - 250 km / 155,25 miles