Taormina, Isola Bella, and Savoca

Taormina is the most celebrated town on Sicily's Ionian coast, perched on a terrace high above the sea about 55km from Catania and 50km from Messina. The easiest arrival is the Trenitalia regional train to Taormina-Giardini station at sea level (around €4.50, one hour from Catania), then the local Interbus shuttle or the cable car up the cliff to the old town; Interbus also runs direct coaches from Catania (about €5). Driving is possible but the centre is pedestrianised and parking sits in paid garages on the edge of town. The headline sight is the Teatro Antico, a Greek theatre begun in the 3rd century BC and later remodelled by the Romans, framing a postcard view of Mount Etna and the bay — best visited soon after it opens, before the cruise crowds arrive. From there the marble-paved Corso Umberto I runs the length of the town past baroque churches, the Piazza IX Aprile belvedere, and boutiques, gelaterias, and granita-and-brioche cafes. Below the town, the cable car (funivia) drops to the beach and the tiny nature-reserve islet of Isola Bella, joined to the shore by a thin pebble spit and ringed by clear water for swimming or kayaking. A good one-day arc is the theatre and Corso in the morning, lunch in town, and the beach and Isola Bella in the warm afternoon. Travellers with a car or on a guided tour often add the inland village of Savoca, about a 30-minute drive away, where Bar Vitelli and the church of San Nicolò featured in The Godfather; the village also has the Capuchin crypt with mummified bodies. For food, Taormina specialises in Sicilian seafood, pasta alla Norma, and almond-based sweets, while Savoca's Bar Vitelli is famous for its granita. Sunset from Piazza IX Aprile or the Saracen castle viewpoint is a fitting end before the evening train back.