Is Taormina too touristy?
 

I'm planning a trip to Sicily in September and I am thinking of ending in Taormina for a few days. I am concerned that it will be crowds and souvenir stores. Any thoughts about this? Will it be beach weather around Sept 20? Any suggestions for alternatives?

There will be crowds--both Italian and foreign-- especially on weekends.

You should still be able to swim.

Let us know more about what you are looking for and we can give alternatives.

Taormina is one of my favorite places on earth. Yes, it's touristy. That's part of its charm. It provides a nice contrast to the rest of Sicily, which I also loved.

It's very touristy but also very beautiful, with fabulous views of the sea and lush foliage. And upscale stores. Cruises bring people during the day, but you could be at the beach. I think Sept. 20 should be OK for swimming, weather vagaries permitting.

As for alternatives, that's a problem. Do you fly out of Catania?

The main street is lined with high-end shops and, particularly during the day, it is filled with tourists. But it is much quieter in the evening and you can escape the crowds during the day by turning into one of the side streets. There is a reason why so many go to Taormina - it is beautiful!

We were there shortly after Easter this year. We really liked it but there were not tons of tourists this time of the year. As mentioned there are many high-end shops. We're glad we were not visiting in the summer, we imagined how crowded and hot it must be. I think by the time you go in September, it shouldn't be uncomfortably crowded. Swimming should be no problem, we even saw some people swimming while we were there (temps were probably in the high 60's which to me is too cold!)

As in every area of life we all have our opinions.

In answer to the original - yes it is far too touristy. When you throw cruise parties of 1000 plus the effect in simply awful. It has a stunning setting and the view of Etna is like no other. However, once the number of tourists of added it is simply dire. There are some "posh" shops but there is an lot of tat. Thankfully we didn't stay there - the hotel that would have been happy to take 300 euros plus off us (can't remember the name but next to the roman ruins) had a huge stretch of burger vans and fake Gucci belt stalls leading up to the doors. It was like Africa.

The swimming is not good as the beaches are very overcrowded and compared with say Sardina, don't even register on the stunning scale of 1 to 10.

In short for us it was an average let down of a day trip.

Go to Sircusa.

Yes it's touristy. But also very beautiful. I loved it despite the crowds and I was there in July. My hotel was 85€ for a double so not more than any place else. Look at my trip report and link to photos and decide for yourself. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-and-switz.cfm

But as for whether you should include it - where else do you plan to go in Sicily? If you are not planning on Siracusa then you might do that instead - also beautiful but a little less touristy. But if you are already including Siracusa in your itinerary and need somewhere else for a few days then certainly go to Taormina .

Taormina-way too touristy in my opinion.Now with all of the cruise ships it is obnoxious. There are way too many other cities in Sicily that would get my vote instead!

I was in Taormina in October and the streets at night were still elbow to elbow - which is fine with me as i rather like these people-watching places

and nothing can obscure the mesmerizing vision of Mount Etna in the distance - but yes Taormina is a tourist place on the par with the Cinque Terre towns, Portofino, Bellagio, Sirmione, etc.

What about staying in Acireale? That town should have good views of Etna.

I loved Taormina, despite its tourist traffic - it was simply one of the most beautiful towms in Sicily. And the beach at Isola Bella was gorgeous. We really enjoyed having lunch at one of the cafes on the beach and renting an umbrella and lounge chairs for a lazy afternoon nap and swim.

We absolutely loved Taormina. The views from everywhere are spectacular. We were there in mid September. The weather was great and people were still swimming. It is touristy on the main street but there are lots of places to go to get away from the crowds. We spent three days there and found it a great place to relax after a week in Sicily including Palermo, Monreale, Agrigente, Siracusa and Piazza Amerina. There is a reason lots of tourists visit. It is beautiful and the views can't be beat.

Way too touristy for me. I'm sorry I stayed there. I would have daytripped in to see the Greek theater, which is worth wading your way through the tourist tat and throngs to see, but that's it. If I ever have a reason to go back, I would stay above the town in Castelmola.

Since I have a related question, I'll ask: If one were to visit Taormina for only an afternoon, what should be the high points, besides the Greek theater? We have decided to stay in Siracusa after landing in Sicily, for several nights, instead of Taormina in August.

As a tourist, we loved Taormina. Besides the Greek theater, just being in this old town ands walking the streets was inspiring. Then there are the views. Beautiful and someday hope to return.

The OP stated she was considering staying there "a few days", maybe she could just start out in Taormina for a couple of nights to ease into Sicily. It would be a shame to miss it altogether, but several days may be too much. We stayed in Giardini-Naxos down at the beach and that was much more low-key and affordable than staying in Taormina proper.

I believe there are trips you can take from Siracusa to see Mt. Atena and stop in Taormina. When we stayed in Taormina, we went on The Godfather tour. Since it was not tourist season, we had the guide all to ourselves. We visited towns around Taormina - Savoca, Forza d'Agro where scenes were shot for the movie. It was a good tour. Besides the Godfather stuff, we were shown other places of interest in these towns such as the churches and the mummies in Savoca.

In answer to EdEdwards' question, the public gardens are pleasant, lusher than usual in Italy, with Taormina's great views, and not so very visited. Although I wonder about August. When you daytrip to touristy places at the height of the high season, they're not going to be at their best during the day.

Markrosy had a bad experience that soured him on Sicily -- to the point that he didn't notice he was staying adjacent to the Greek theater rather than Roman ruins.

Of course it depends on what you like. If you're shopper you might want longer in Taormina than I would. I thought two nights were one too many - yes, there are good views, and yes, there is a Greek theater, and yes, the gardens are pretty, but you don't need several days. I was much happier in Siracusa (click on my name for my Sicily TR).

The highlight of staying in Taormina for me were the views of Etna and the daytrip we took, by car, to Mt. Etna. But even the first week in May, the town was overrun with tourists.

Has anyone here stayed in Acireale? There seem to be lots of hotels and the photos show a great view of Etna from the town. Acireale is famous for its ice cream , which was originally made from the snows of Etna, and for its Carnival. It is close to both Etna and Catania airport, and near Taormina as well.

Strangely, the first hotel listed in the Acireale chapter of my Cadogan Sicily guide is called the Aloha d'Oro!

Mimar

I wasn't staying in Taormina (if you read my post).

I certainly wasn't fighting through the burger vans to find out whether they were Greel, Roman or Jedi ruins.

We visited Taormina as a day trip from our B&B near Acireale. I'm glad we stayed there rather than Taormina. Yes, it was very beautiful, but honestly, it felt too much like a "resort town" - the only words I can use to describe it. It was FULL of what I assumed were honeymooners, so many "beautiful people" dressed in high fashion white (seriously!) clothes. For some reason I just didn't like the feel of the city as much as I liked other places in Sicily - even Palermo.

Our B&B - Palazzo Giovanni - was located actually in Stazzo, a very small town near Acireale. We used this as the base to explore Mt. Etna, Siracusa, and Taormina. The views of Mt. Etna from the rooftop where we had breakfast and before dinner drinks were incredible. We enjoyed mixing with what looked like just normal residents during the evening "stroll" and our dinners there were cheaper and better than what we had in Taormina.

I don't usually mind a "touristy" spot - I'd go back to Venice in a heartbeat, but Taormina is one place I can cross off my list.

Atl:

Thanks for sharing the info about your stay in Acireale.

Would you recommend spending a couple of days there? Is the town attractive?

ek-our B&B was actually in Stazzo which was a VERY small town near Acireale. I found it while looking on Tripadvisor under Acireale as I couldn't decided whether to stay in Siracusa or Taormina so was looking for something halfway. I don't remember much of the bigger town at all. The way it's all connected is a narrow winding main road that you detour off of in order to get to where we stayed. Stazzo was, as I said, a very small town - only a few real restaurants/cafes but we enjoyed staying there as it was very quiet, tourist-wise. We enjoyed the more "real" feel of the town. We also found it convenient to travel to Siracusa for one day, as well as going to Mt. Etna, doing a wine tasting and visiting Taormina for a few hours.

I know too that part of the reason we liked where we stayed was the owners of our B&B. They were so nice, we really felt like we were getting very personalized suggestions of what to do and where to go. And when we left our host sent us off with a big bag of lemons from the grove that his grandfather owned.

Thanks very much. That is good information.

In 2007 I stayed in Aci Castello, a few miles south of Acireale (rented a beautiful but rather expensive apartment from thinksicily.com overlooking the sea, Il Ciclopi, and the fort), and found the location perfect for exploring all the sites along the coast. Aci Castello has a cute little "downtown" where we had fun interacting with local restaurant and cafe staff. We enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, my son and his partner stayed in Acireale, in an apartment they rented through hostelworld.com, I believe, which was cheap, cozy, and centrally located. Acireale seemed like a "normal" Italian town--no tourists to speak of, but bustling and active with people going about their business. We didn't really do much there but it seemed lively. We didn't get views Mt. Etna in the city itself (may just have been a matter of their apartment's location), but going into and out of town the views of the mountain were spectacular--when it was clear, that is (mostly it was rainy--it was March). Acireale was much less hectic than Catania, of course, though it's within easy striking distance by bus (we had a car).

We did visit Taormina--in the rain, in March--and thought it was charming, and certainly not overloaded with tourists at that time of the year. The views from Castelmola, above Taormina, are just gorgeous. We are returning to Taormina next week for a couple of nights before heading on to the Aeolian Islands. I'll report back on my impressions of the town in this "higher" season. We are staying at Hotel Condor, with a sea-view/balcony room, for $122 a night. Hoping it is good!

As for our brief visit to Taormina after landing in Catania, planning to spend that night in Siracusa -- I thank everyone for their advice. I think we'll visit the Greek theater and gardens in Taormina, then drive to Etna en route to Siracusa late in the day.

trivbeck
one of the reasons for our stay in Taormina is to visit godfather locations in the area. Besides Savoca, Forza D'Agro & the train station in Taormina - are there any other places on the tour that you remember.
I will be hiring a car that we have to park in the multi storey, use the bus to our apartment close to Corso Umberto. We have 3 days there.

johngerard: We had a car, but decided to go on the tour instead of going ourselves. We are glad we did that because the guide gave us more information on these towns so we saw things we never would have known about - especially the mummies in Savoca. We went to Savoca and Forza D'Agro, he told us about the train station. Our tour also took us up to Castlemola (no Godfather ties) to look at the views and have lunch. Though we were in Palermo before Taormina, we didn't check out the places around there or Corleone. Driving in Sicily is a bit nerve wracking. The other reason we went on the tour is because my husband does not like to drive up steep, curvy and VERY HIGH roads. Actually, he said driving up is not as bad for him as the driving down part.

aprillilacs: We stayed at the Hotel Condor also. We were happy with the room, location and the staff are very nice!