Sardinia (Cagliari) & Taormina
 

We have 1 day to spend in each place since on a cruise. Do we need a tour of these cities or is it easy to navigate on our own?

A TOUR For Taormina is really not necessary at all.

You are only there for 1 day from a cruise..... so I suggest:
walk around the town, visit the Greek Theatre which is scenic and wonderful to see.
Have am amazing Lunch as there are so many great restaurants.
BEAUTIFUL ceramic shops with Italian colorful merchandise.

There are some lovely gardens with beautiful flowers, trees....views at some places of Mt. Etna. Yes

It will be very crowded if you are only there during the day, but it is VERY BEAUTIFUL, and unique.


Enjoy!

What TrendGirl2 said. Also consider heading up the hill to Castlemolo, there is some chance it will be less crowded.

Thanks

Do take the bus to Castlemola, the ride up and back is well worth the trip. The local blue Interbus goes up every hour, and costs 3 euro. I took the sightseeing bus and it was 10 euro for the day. I was there in early May. Beautiful area. Spent 6 days in Taromina. Started out as a 2 night stay and since I had an unscheduled schedule, I just re-booked for 4 more nights. 2 south of the city center and 2 at the beach.
I just loved Sicily.

I LOVED SICILY TOO!

I also loved my stay in Taormina & glad I did stay there instead of just a visit for a day.

The evenings were fun & lively in the town center even though many tourists. It was a nice end to a vacation in Sicily.


TrendGirl2

I loved Sicily. I did not love Taormina. I had a choice of extra days in Taormina or extra days in Ortygia. I was VERY happy that I chose Ortygia. Yes, the views from Taormina are excellent, but one day is sufficient to appreciate them. And I was there in April several years back.

Cagliari isn't very interesting (except the archeological museum). A tour to Barumini would be much better (impossible by public transport in such a short time).

I haven't been to Cagliari, but meant what I said on your other post about Taormina:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-need-tour.cfm

When I was there, in May 2007, the crush of tourists was so thick that I was unintentionally swept up with them -- and smashed in between them -- from the Greek Theater through the center of town, where I finally made it to the edge of the crowd and escaped into a side street. I wasn't just jostled, I was literally smashed shoulder-to-shoulder between people, sometimes forced into a sideways position (which was more narrow than my forward-looking position), sometimes forced to stumble as the pressure from people on one side or the other lifted me partially above the ground, etc. It was not pleasant at all.

But yes, the views were spectacular.

Wordsmith, you don't say when you will be there. We just spent 4 nights in mid-May and the crowds were not bad at all. Of course, when staying in town, one can get out to the Greek Theatre when it opens and before the crush of tourists come. I would suggest if at all possible to get there early, then spend some time in the quiet and cool park, and people watch in the main piazzas. We had a really great time.
Taormina is not a big place. You can walk from one gate to the other along the main street, easily in half an hour.
The Grand Hotel Timeo has a very nice patio with a wondrous view if you care to drop a few euros for a drink, or a coffee.