Page 281 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

Car and scooter rental Avis, Via S. Pancrazio 7 ( 0942 23 041); California, Via
Bagnoli Croce 86 ( 0942 896 203); City, Piazza Sant’Antonio 5 ( 0942 23 161);
Italia, Via Luigi Pirandello 29 ( 0942 23 973); Sicily By Car, Via Apollo Arcageta 4
( 0942 21 252).

INFORMATION AND TOURS

Tourist information There’s a small tourist office (Mon–Fri 9am–2pm; 0942 52
189) in the train station, and another inside Palazzo Corvaja, off Piazza Vittorio
Emanuele (Mon–Fri 8.30am–2.15pm & 3.30–7pm; 0942 23 243,
gate2taormina.ns0.it). Staff are extremely well informed.

Tours From Taormina, there are lots of tours are offered to Etna, the Alcantara gorge
and Siracusa, or further afield to places like the Valley of the Temples and Piazza
Armerina, from around €35 for a day for the Alcantara gorge and the Etna foothills to
€75 for an Etna summit jeep tour. The tourist office has flyers and brochures.

A WALK TO THE CASTELLO SARACENO

It ‘s well worth taking a walk up above Taormina to the the cliff-top chapel of
Madonna della Rocca and the remains of the town’s tumbledown medieval
Castello Saraceno. There are glorious views over the theatre and town to the coast,
and a couple of restaurants and cafés here that are perfect for a sundowner. Buses

taking just a few minutes run up the winding road once or twice hourly from town,
but it’s more evocative to walk up – there’s a steep processional path to the chapel
(signposted “Castel Taormina/Via Crucis”) from Via Circonvallazione, starting just
past the Q8 petrol station, and taking around twenty minutes.

ACCOMMODATION

Nowhere else in Sicily can match Taormina for its range of gorgeously sited places to
stay (many of them elegant old villas) with sweeping views of sea and mountain.
Although there are excellent deals to be had online if you book in advance, prices can
be steep if you arrive on spec. Drivers should enquire whether their hotel has parking
facilities, as otherwise cars have to be left in one of the car parks. Note that a city
tourist tax ranging from €1 to €2.50 per person per night (depending on the category of

hotel) will be added to the room rate.

PARKING IN TAORMINA

Unless there’s parking at your hotel, drivers will have to use one of the long-stay car
parks signposted on the approaches to Taormina, notably outside Porta Catania at
the southwestern end of town or at the Lumbi car park northeast of the centre; Lumbi