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00 Taormina
Stemma di Taormina

Sicily · Messina

Taormina

A terrace on Monte Tauro above the Ionian, with Etna on the southern horizon.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
45 min from Catania
By train
Station in the comune
Population
10,471

Known for

  • TEATRO ANTICO

    Greek-Roman theatre carved into Monte Tauro in the third century BC, Sicily's second-largest ancient theatre, with Etna directly behind the stage.

  • GRAND TOUR

    Working tourist town since the nineteenth century, set on the Grand Tour route after Goethe's Italian Journey described the theatre in 1787.

  • ISOLA BELLA

    Small island reserve below the cliff, joined to the mainland by a sandbar, a Bandiera Blu beach reached by cable car or steep path.

  • LIMONE INTERDONATO MESSINA

    The commune lies inside the Limone Interdonato Messina IGP production zone.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J14°
  • F15°
  • M15°
  • A18°
  • M22°
  • J28°
  • J32°
  • A31°
  • S27°
  • O23°
  • N19°
  • D15°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Pancrazio di Taormina, 9 July

Why come

The town sits on the rock above the coast, on the Ionian shore halfway between Messina and Catania. The Siculi welcomed the survivors of the Greek colony of Naxos in 358 BC after Dionysius of Syracuse destroyed it, and Andromachus refounded them as Tauromenium on the height above. Augustus later made it a Roman colony, deporting much of the population and resettling it with Roman families.

The centro sits below the fortress and above the sea: the Arab-Norman stronghold occupies the rock, while further up the hillside the frazione of Castelmola hangs at 884, both looking down on the same stretch of coast the theatre faces. The small island reserve lies at the opposite end of that vertical arrangement, at sea level below the cliff, reached by cable car or path from the town above. A place built in tiers, from the beach at the base to the fortress on the rock to the village above that, all of it oriented toward the same view of the volcano and the water that made a nineteenth-century travel writer's description enough to start a tourist route still followed today.

The Sunday letter

Taormina is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Taormina comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Taormina in our articles

How to get there

From Catania (CTA), about 56 minutes by car.

By car from the centre of Palermo 3h 15m.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming by train into Catania Centrale? Taormina is about 46 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Catania airport.

Taormina, photo 1
Taormina, photo 2

What to see

  • Teatro Antico

    The stone rows face south, so the audience looks past the stage wall to Etna rather than toward it. 109 meters in diameter, the remodelling under Roman rule widened the space for spectacle beyond Greek drama.

  • Palazzo Corvaja

    Fourteenth-century Sicilian-Gothic palace at the entrance to Corso Umberto, on the site of the Roman forum and the Arab cube of the citadel.

  • Castello di Monte Tauro

    Arab-Norman fortress at 397 meters on the rock above the centro, reached on foot from Via Circonvallazione.

  • Isola Bella

    Small island below the centro, connected to the mainland by a thin sandbar, with a nature reserve and a Bandiera Blu beach.

  • Castelmola

    Hilltop frazione at 884 meters above Taormina, with remains of the Norman castle and a wider view over the Ionian and Etna.

  • Villa Comunale

    Public garden laid out in the late nineteenth century by Lady Florence Trevelyan, with Liberty-style pavilions and views over the coast.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Taormina fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

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We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Living here

  • Population 10,471
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Catania, 56 min drive
  • Regional capital Palermo, 3 h 15 min drive

Common questions

What is Taormina known for?
Taormina is a terrace on Monte Tauro above the Ionian, with Etna on the southern horizon.
Where is Taormina?
Taormina is a comune in the province of Messina, in Sicily, at 204 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Taormina?
Catania (CTA), about 56 minutes by car.
Can you get to Taormina without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Palermo to Taormina?
About 3h 15m by car.
When is the best time to visit Taormina?
Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Taormina?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Pancrazio di Taormina, 9 July.
Which other towns are like Taormina?
Cefalù, Riposto and Castelvetrano.
How many people live in Taormina?
10,471 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 204 m
  • Population: 10,471
  • Surface area: 13.13 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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