Day trip to Calabria
 

We are staying in Taormina in Sicily and were thinking of doing a day trip by car to visit the area where my husband's family lived, around the area of Siderno and Gerace. Not knowing much about this area, can we do this in a day and return to Taormina that night?

I am interested in this as I was thinking of doing the same thing. My family is in Marina di Giosia Jonica.

topping for some good advice

Can it be done? Sure, but depending on traffic, it could be a long day. It takes about half and hour to drive from Taormina to Messina. When we crossed the Straits in July, we were lucky that there was not much traffic on the Sicily side waiting to board the ferry. After about 20 minutes in line, during which time we bought the ferry ticket, we were one of the last cars to board the waiting ferry. So that's about 1 hour from Taormina to the ferry. Then a half hour to cross and about an hour and a half to disembark, and drive the 82 kilometers to Sidera. Therefore, your minimum driving time each way will be around around 2 and a half hours. As we left the ferry in Villa San Giovanni, we noticed the line to board the boats to Messina was immense--it stretched well past the ferry terminal and well into the city of San Giovanni, tying up traffic at many intersections. If we had wanted to go to Messina that day, the wait just to get on the boat would have been at least two hours, possibly much more. You don't say when you are leaving, but also be advised that major road construction/repair just began on the A3 this summer and probably won't be completed for another two years.

Any more comments on Calabria?