The Greek Theatre
The Teatro Antico di Taormina was built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC and substantially rebuilt by the Romans. Its most remarkable quality is its setting: the stage opens to a panorama of Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea, meaning that every performance has a backdrop that no stage designer could improve on. In summer, the theatre hosts film screenings and concerts. Outside performance season, it is simply one of the best places to sit and do nothing in Sicily.
The Town and its Gardens
Taormina's main street, Corso Umberto I, is a 1.5-kilometre pedestrian promenade of cafes, ceramics shops, and medieval churches running the length of the ridge. The Villa Comunale gardens — created by an English aristocrat in the 19th century — hang over the eastern cliff with views of the sea and Etna. They are planted with exotic species and maintained with a care that makes them one of the most pleasant places in Sicily to spend a morning.
The Coast Below
The beach at Isola Bella — a small protected island connected to the shore by a narrow strip of pebble — is accessible by cable car from the town above. The water here is exceptional: clear, cold in the morning, warm by noon, the pebbles bleached white. In summer it is crowded; in May or October it is almost empty. From the water, looking up at Taormina on its ridge with Etna behind it, the composition is almost unreasonably beautiful.
Etna and the Alcántara Gorge
Taormina sits at the centre of the most spectacular section of eastern Sicily. Within forty minutes are the wine villages on Etna's eastern slopes, the Alcántara Gorge — a basalt canyon with a cold, clear river running through it — and the ferry port at Messina. The Circumetnea narrow-gauge railway circles the base of Etna from Catania in a journey of extraordinary scenery. From Taormina on a clear evening, the sight of Etna active — a thread of smoke or, on fortunate nights, an orange glow from the summit crater — is one of the defining images of Sicily.
Updated