Taormina's magic if you dodge the cruise crowds and focus on the view

Taormina bears more resemblance to Cannes than to the rest of Sicily.  Like that magnet of the French Riviera, it sits on a stunning bay, is packed with upscale shops and restaurants, and owes its existence to posh, eccentric Brits who established a beachhead for over wintering here … and the European aristocracy followed.  In the 1950s it was one of the most elegant places in Italy, packed with stars who made this an alternative, slightly earthier Riviera.

Today it is, quite understandably, the tourism hub for the whole island.  It's tidier, more visually charming, packed with more retail, conveniently close to Catania airport, offers more English-speaking locals and is more expensive than anywhere else we went.  It's also far more crowded.  Not only are there 175 hotels listed in a village you could cross on foot in half an hour, but one or two cruise ships a day carry their passengers up the hill to wander, shop and tour the famous Greek theatre.

The result?  Between 10:30 am and 5 pm, the centre of Taormina isn't charming at all.  Mass tourism and the onslaught of cruising Americans have destroyed the quaint elegance they're here to see.  Which is why, perversely, you must stay in Taormina and spend some time there.  It's in the mornings and evenings, and on the edges of town, that you really capture the magic of the place.

We stayed at the Villa Diodoro for five nights.  The "we" in this case switching from my husband to friends Hillary and Lisa, as Sicily, Part 2 became our annual Northwestern Girls' trip.  (More on the hotel in another entry.)  Next to the communal gardens, on the northwest edge of the village, we were within easy walking distance of all we needed but had just enough of a cushion from the main drag of the Corso Umberto to get some distance from the crowds.  The 200 yards of the Via Bagnoli Croce outside our hotel felt like its own little neighbourhood, and we did our best to settle in like locals.  Lisa played with the coach at the local tennis club, we made friends with the team running the nearby Enoteca and market, and stopped there daily for happy hour.  By limiting our Taormina time to the beginning or endings of days, and spending the middle elsewhere or by the pool at the hotel, we feel we got the best the town has to offer.

Here are your four priorities for any visit.

1.  The views.  I don't think I've taken in a more spectacular combination of sea, mountain, flora and architecture without turning my head.  A visit to Taormina would be a triumph if you simply sat on a balcony at the Villa Diodoro and watched time pass.  Etna looms large and majestic in the centre of your view.  Snow-topped, massive, eternal … yet constantly changing.  Sometimes clear, sometimes ringed in clouds, sometimes puffing vapour from its still-active peak.  The light changes throughout the day, casting its slopes in different colours.  To your right, Taormina itself clambers up its hill; a soft palette of ochres, rusts, pinks and gold against green foliage, white stone and garish splashes of pink and purple bougainvillea.  To your left, the Mediterranean.  The coast stretching away in a gold and green arc, the water shimmering in a multitude of blues and greens.  An ever-changing cast of fishing boats, sailboats, luxury lots and cruise ships adds interest.  Pour yourself a glass of Etna Rosso, put your feet up and watch.

2.  The shopping.  One advantage of the tourist concentration:  All the stereotypically Sicilian stuff you'd want to buy is here.  Hand-painted pottery, hand-made linens, red coral jewellery, gourmet foodstuffs, wine and plenty of other souvenirs from traditional to tacky.  Taormina still pulls in a well-heeled crowd and this is obvious in clothing and accessory shops.  It's especially tempting on the shoe front.  Our greatest find was the Bottega del Sandalo at Via Bagnoli Croci, where a proper craftswoman will custom-make sandals to fit your foot, at prices from 50-100 euro.  You can choose from a variety of styles and colours, literally creating your vision from scratch in an afternoon.  A few doors down, at New Mamma Mia at No. 48, our friend Tania will introduce you to local wines while the gregarious Fabrizio assembles simple plates of antipasto from the adjoining, family-owned mini-market and deli.

3.  The theatre.  Honestly … if you're an aficionado of Greco-Roman ruins, the theatre here isn't that great.  It's quite a sparse, featureless ruin when compared to stunning examples like the ones at Epidaurus and Dougga.  But I doubt you're here to study the architecture of ancient Greek theatres. You're here for the view, and few ruins of any kind have such a dramatic backdrop.  They still use the theatre for concerts; we weren't in town for any but I'm sure that would be amazing.  Note, however, the result:  In the summer season the site is clad in bleachers and other infrastructure for the modern crowd.  Which might have contributed to its underwhelming impact as a piece of antiquity.  You do get a reduced price on admission at these times. 

4.  The garden.  For me, a delightful and unexpected highlight of Taormina.  Florence Trevelyan was one of those classic English eccentrics of the glory days of the empire.  She went on her grand tour, never went home, settled in Italy, married a Sicilian doctor and almost single-handedly put Taormina on the map with posh English people after her husband became mayor.  The garden … now a public park … is her creation.  It's a wacky combo of traditional forms, exotic plants, outrageous garden follies and giant bird cages.  She was also responsible for the gardens of what's now the extremely upscale Hotel Timeo, visible from the Greek Theatre.  (There's a story knocking about amongst local tour guides that Florence was a royal cousin who was exiled after having an affair with the Prince of Wales.  Not a
grain of truth in it, though his mistress Alice Keppel did decamp to Florence for a while.)

Trips from Taormina
The usual visits are Catania, Messina or traveling to the top of Etna … which we didn't do.  Or wine tasting around Etna and a day in Siracusa … which we did.  Those deserve their own articles, and are coming next.

A shorter, less historically significant, but enjoyable visit is to Acireale.  Good if you have an afternoon to kill and want something off the tourist track.  We took the coast road rather than the motorway.  Slow, but gives you a chance to take in local life and see plenty of architecture.  (Since you'll spend lots of time in traffic.)  We found the contrast between crumbling, derelict grand buildings and newly-renovated ones with "for rent" signs in their windows fascinating.  It feels like this whole coast is seeing renewal.

Acireale is a medium-sized town just north of Catania, known for its baroque architecture.  It's worth a wander around on a photo safari if you're a fan of architecture.  Nothing famous, but plenty of pleasant things to look at.  Not as crowded as Catania and someplace fairly untouched by mass tourism.

There's a tiny fishing village called Santamaria la Scala just next to Acireale, separated from town by a hill that maps show to be a nature reserve.  This offers another picturesque wander, well away from tourists, and a very authentic, fresh-from-the-sea fish restaurant called Il Mulino.  If you can put up with slightly surly service, the seafood is as fresh and authentic as you can get.