It's a short ride up and down, but don't count on stellar picturesque views since the windows are a…read morebit iffy and the cars can be quite crowded - especially heading back up to town. For views, head up to Castelmola or (especially) the Greek theater. But I digress. Lots of fun little bars down at the beach area. I'm sure there are several routes you could take, but we took a right at the road, crossed the street, and took the staircase down to Mazzaró.

When you go down to the beach from Taormina, take the Funicular which is also called the Taormina…read moreCable car. Even if the line seems long, 72 people can get into the cars (6 cars x 12 people) each time they come around so the line moves fast. At the beach end, don't miss the bar in the middle of the parking lot. Great tunes & the owner mixes a strong & delicious Aperol Spritz -- he makes it with Prosecco which adds a nice fizziness. At the top end, look for the sign pointing down the hill -- that's it!!

Driving into Taormina is only allowed for locals, so you need to park your vehicle elsewhere. This…read moreis one of two big Parcheggios in town. Prices are not cheap, did cost 4 Euros an hour. And the building is terribly narrow. We came in with a Ford Station Wagon, which was about 5 meters long and that was quite difficult, but manageable. But there are some upsides as well. You don't need to walk to Taormina, because there's a free shuttle service if you park here. The busses arrive very frequent and the ride is just 5mins long. Staff here was friendly as well and we felt that our car was safe. Just one thing: Taormina itself overcrowded with tourists. It's a nice village, but there are nicer places to visit in Sicily. If you got some extra time to kill though it's a fine spot.

was easy to get to the price was reasonable, and from outside the parking garage, a bus will take…read moreyou in Taormina 5 minutes drive

Taormina Rocks Amayzingness! One of the more dramatic looking towns in Sicily, Taormina is place…read moreI keep visiting. Why? It's on top of a mountain, overlooking the coast of Eastern Sicily, the people are reserved as most Sicilians, the history incredible, the views of Mt. Etna (you can see lava flow at night) and the Ionian Sea, breathtaking!! The ceramics (if you haven't seen the color Taormina Red, is present in ceramics), the food, authentic. My fave resto in Taormina, Tischi Toschi sits off the main street. Oh yes, the delicious gelati (Sicilian pistachio, almonds/mandorla and liquirizia/licorice at O'scialty). Some friends who spent 5 days in the Amalfi, Positano and Sorrento found Taormina really cool, cheaper and fun also. The Amalfi is played out and trendy, not really known for cuisine and culture so I quest for less "fashionable" places when I travel. Taormina, although visited by Europeans, is one of those cool places I love. Taormina is situated on a mesa, winding roads past beautiful sea vistas, take you there. Or take the funicular up to the mountain if you're staying at the bottom. Aside from its interesting history of takeovers and invasions by different cultures, the village of Taormina is home to expats, artists, writers, photographers, intellectuals. It's one of the wealthier towns in Sicily, where tourists and residents take strolls into the evening, window-shopping, eating gelati, having a drink at some of the neighborhood bars.... stunning to walk in day or night. The people of Taormina are happy to oblige because they are appreciative that travelers make it up to their somewhat isolated village. Visits: 3, Yelp=1 Tip: Stay in Taormina your first time as the scenery changes from day to evening; it's stunning views are enough to make you fall in love with the place. Taormina is a shopper's paradise: clothing, Italian chic, Sicilian marzipan goods and almond type cookies, antiquities and great dining options. This city is great for a 2 day stay and you can drive your rental here with no issues; parking lots are accessible. Taormina is about 45 minutes by car from the Catania airport (reachable from London, Berlin and other cities in Europe for cheap and from many cities in Italy). Cabs cost about €85 one way, make sure you ask for the price before you get into the cab. There is a train from CTA that stops close to Taormina and cab it to your hotel. Airfare from FCO (Rome) to Catania (CTA) is approx $50 one way for an hour flight.

One of the most beatiful sea-side city I've ever been during my italian summer vacation. Amazing…read morelandscape, astonishinig sea-side and beaches and wonderfull restaurant/bar in which to spend time and have your lunch/dinner. People are warm and wellcome you kindly. Love Italy and love this city over others.

This may just be the most gorgeous train station I've ever visited. Everything still in tact and…read moreyou can just feel the history. The have a restroom on site for .50 euro which I will gladly pay if I've drank too much water and figuring out where to go was easy! Cafe was not opened but there was a petrol station across the street that was easy to run to for a drink or snack before leaving Taormina.

This is probably one of the most exquisite stations I've come across in my travels, it certainly…read moreretains a lot of the style from back in the day when this was a exclusive destination for Europe's rich and famous. This is the main station for destinations of Giardini, Naxos, Taormina and Isola Bella. There is a staffed ticket box where you can buy your tickets from and there is a bar where you can buy your bus tickets from or get something to eat. The staff was very well maintained unlike every other station that I visited in Sicily.

Hotel Caparena is a beach resort nestled into the Sicilian shoreline about a 10 minute drive from…read morethe town of Taormina. We visited mid-October which is the end of the summer season. The hotel was relatively deserted, our tour group seemed to be the only guests with a smattering of a few other folks. Everything seemed slightly lackluster by this point. We could tell things were winding down and the hotel was in need of 'refreshing' to get itself ready for the next season. For instance, the towels were clean, but fraying at all the edges. The carpet runners were vacuumed, but were puckering up from being walked on and probably wet when folks returned from the beach or pool...just little things like that which indicated to us that the hotel was ready to shut down and get ready for another season. We didn't have the best weather, but when the sun broke free we did sit on the beach for a bit (rockier than the beaches I'm used to, but still sandier than others I saw in Italy). The surf is rough, so we didn't venture into the water. There are also a lot of 'solicitors' that walk the beaches hawking things like massages. They weren't from the hotel (which features a spa) so that was weirding people out - especially because they weren't taking no for an answer. We also headed to the pool which is a combination indoor/outdoor pool. It can be enclosed by a solarium type dome or opened up to the air when the weather allows. There wasn't anyone manning the towel station and even when I made the walk back to hotel reception and asked for someone to come out to get us towels, no one ever came out. The towels are a whopping 3 euro per towel per day - in the peak season, that's quite the racket. Our room was very spacious, but lacked furniture. The whole left side of the room could have easily accommodated an overstuffed chair and ottoman, or a table with chairs. Additionally, while there were many televisions stations, only three were in English and all three were news channels (CNN World, BBC World, Al Jazeera). It would have been nice to have one channel playing movies or something easy to watch when we had downtime. The bathroom was very well-appointed and of all the places we stayed in Italy - it wins for the best shower. Great rainwater shower head. They provided soaps, shampoo and lotion ... but no conditioner. There was also a built in hairdryer. Between the beach and the resort is a train system. The trains go by every 15 minutes or so. It didn't bother us as much as we thought it might. Quite frankly, the noise of the surf is pleasantly loud - so we left our balcony door open to enjoy that. The train didn't keep us from sleeping. During peak season, there is a disco that happens down on the beach on Friday and Saturday. I have to imagine, given that a fair number of the rooms face that direction, it can get loud and very annoying to have that going until 3 AM. Thankfully, that had wrapped up by the time we stayed at the hotel. Another chief complaint is that wi-fi is only accessible from the lobby. You cannot access wi-fi anywhere else. Not in the restaurant, not at the beach or by the pool, and not in your rooms. That was a little inconvenient. We ate at both their restaurant (La Veranda) and their Beach Bar. The restaurant was actually quite good. We were impressed by the quality of food. The menu is small and they seem prone to running out of things, but we assumed that again, it was because we were staying at the end of season. Of note, their cannoli was one of the best we've ever had. The Beach Bar was underwhelming. It features beer and cocktails, and sandwiches. If you get a panini, it is relatively filling. The cold sandwiches feel like a pre-packaged meal that you buy at the airport. The service was also sub-par. It took forever for us to even order a drink and no one told us that at the end of the meal, we could simply stand up and pay inside at the desk. All in all, it certainly wasn't a bad spot to stay - though there were areas where things could be improved, I'm certain that staying at the end of the season affected our perception of things.

This is an awesome place for a quick bite if you're short on time. Just outside of the back…read moreentrance of Taormina. There's a big parking lot where all the cabbies park and they come here. Fast service, clean restrooms. 9€ for 2 slices of pizza and 2 bottles of Peroni? Heck yeah!

This place was great! The price seriously can't be beat. It ended up being like $1.50 per slice of…read morepizza and they were decent sized slices. I can't remember the exact names of the pizzas, but one had ham, mushrooms, and cream fresh and the other was eggplant. We also got an arancini which was roughly $2.50. It was big and tasty. Overall we were very happy to stop here for a quick cheap lunch and the food was great!

If you have an opportunity, I think this little village (built on the ruins of a Norman castle) is…read moreworth the visit. Take a 45 minute walk from the town or grab a bus to take you up here. If you walk you'll want to plop down at the little café as you enter the village and enjoy some of their biscotti with almond wine/liqueur. From there, wander around the village and ... well, simply enjoy. Check out the well maintained (and active) Chiesa (Church) di San Nicolo di Bari. And um, if you're tired of churches there's a bar in the same square that's full of ... well ... how should I put this? There are several spires, but not religious ones. If you're not the stuffy type, you'll get a kick out of it.

Beautiful villiage with amazing vistas each way you walk. Top of the mountain over Taomarina. Views…read moreof the Mediterranean, and Mount Etna as well as surrounding textured mountains. Lots of cute shops and restaurants in town. You can walk a trail from Taormina, it will be uphill and takes about 40 minutes. There is also a bus for 10 Euro a day that will take you back and forth. This is the furthest a cab will take you up the mountain. From here you take a walkway to a castle that sits high on top for even more magnificent views!

We'd read fabulous reviews for Hotel El Jebel on TripAdvisor and other travel sites. Unfortunately,…read morewhile some parts of the stay were very strong, others were hugely lacking for the price tag and 5 star rating the hotel has. We were told the hotel had just opened for the season the day we arrived to check in for our honeymoon, which may have explained some of the issues. - Staff: Extremely friendly. Happy to make reservations for us, print directions for us and change rooms immediately for us when we had room issues. Very polite and friendly every time we saw them. - Breakfast: The breakfast was excellent. A homemade omelet everyday to our liking, fresh croissants (plain, sesame seed, chocolate), whole wheat and white bread, lots of jam flavors and butter, fresh whole fruits, cereal and tarts. Homemade cappuccinos topped with chocolate and breakfast tea were also always on our menu. Everything was displayed nicely and with care, especially considering we were usually the only ones eating. - Rooms: The rooms were large and nicely decorated. Easily the largest I've ever stayed in in Europe. The beds were king sized and comfortable. Unfortunately, towels had some brown residue on them and smelled of cigarette smoke, wifi barely worked in the room as advertised, unless sitting in one area near the bathroom and the shower was very hard to get a temperature we liked. And this was all after the third time we were given a room change and to their nicest suite in the hotel! When we'd initially checked in, we had a nice suite (already an upgrade from what we first booked), and we were given champagne complimentary for our honeymoon. The room had a dark feel but beautiful views of the sea (as did our final room). However, the heat was not working and the weather was in the 50s and rainy for most of our stay. The heat was particularly not working well in the bathroom, so we requested it to be fixed or to have our room switched. We switched rooms to an equally-sized room that was much brighter but had no views of the sea. It still felt chillier than it should, and, unfortunately, the shower water would be hot for one minute and then cold for about two. It made showering comfortably near impossible. Thus, we were finally upgraded to the final suite I first mentioned. All of this was less than ideal for a 5 star hotel. To their credit, they did work on fixing the heat problem while we were there. - Spa: We booked this in advance when we booked our room and got a deal on the massage. The spa itself was pretty with a nice hot tub in the middle, and perhaps they have a full-time spa staff during high season, but our massage was not great. The masseuse did not back off when it was clear I didn't like something, and even rubbed oil on my face and all within my hair. It was a squirmy hour for me and certainly not relaxing. When we left the spa, we saw the two masseuses saying bye at the front desk, and it was clear they were either outside masseuses called in for our massage, or just two people they randomly found to give massages. The hotel was very pretty, and I imagine bustling during high season. It's well-located on Taormina's main street, though away from heavy pedestrian traffic. I'd likely rate it a 2.5, but given how much the room shaped our experience, I feel the need to round down to a 2.