How to get to Taormina

How long it takes to get to Taormina by car. All drive times are relative to Taormina and represent the total time the drive takes. (So from Catania to Taormina is about 35 min., from Siracusa to Taormina is 1.5 hr. total) (Map courtesy of Google Maps)

Arriving in Taormina by train, car, bus, or plane

Taormina is on the northern half of the eastern coast of Sicily.

Taormina sits atop a cliff above the coastal A18 autostrada (and its parallel, the SS114 highway) between Catania and Messina, just 55km (34 miles) northeast of Mt. Etna.

If you are not driving, the best way to get there is by train.

» Jump down to Taormina city layout, information on parking (you cannot drive into the historic center), and the transport hubs (train station and bus depot).The closest airport is in Catania, 53km (33 miles) to the south.

Taormina city layout

Taormina is picturesquely set up upon a steep hillside overlooking the northeast Sicilian coastline, a long thin town shaped a bit like a hatchet with a backward-curved handle.

The Greco-Roman theater is at the upper tip of the hatchet's "blade." The Duomo is at the opposite end of town near the base of the "handle." Halfway between the two is the city's publis living room, Piazza 9 Aprile.

The main entrance into town is the Porta Messina at the north end of the historic cetner, outside of which runs Via Pirandello—the twisting main road down to the coast used by most cars and buses arriving in Taormina. (A short way along Via Pirandello to the right is the upper station of the Funivia cable car down to the coastal village of Mazzarò and the northerly beaches of Taormina.)

Downtown Taormina consists primarily of one major east-west pedestrain street, Corso Umberto, which stretches from Porta Messina in the northeast to Porta Catania in the southwest, and off of which run narrow alleys that are often so steep they become stairs.

Running roughly parallel to this main street on either side are two roads open to cars: Via Roma/Via Bagnoli Croce, which snakes around the edges of the lower, coastal side of town; and Via Circonvallazione, which runs along the upper, mountain-facing side.

Giardini: Taormina's sister city by the sea

Below Taormina on the coast is its modern sister city of Giardini (sometimes called Giardini-Naxos), a 20th century beach resort of ten-story hotels running almost uninterrupted along a long stretch of sand.

This swathe of package tour modernity and regimented beach umbrellas lies between the ancient site of Naxos and the train station which Giardini shares with Taormina towering above (whence the survivors fled when rival Siracusa destroyed Naxos in 403 BC).

The Taormina train station

The train station, Taormina-Giardini (tel. 0942-51-026 or 0942-51-511), is in a suburb down on the SS114 coastal road.

There's a left luggage open 6am to 10pm.

A local bus makes the 15-minute trip up to Taormina itself three times an hour up the switchbacked Via Pirandello road to a stop near Porta Messina, the north gate into town.

(This gate is also where those coming by bus, or by car from the north, will arrive.)

The Taormina bus terminal

There's a bus ticket booth at the bus station just outside the Port Messina town gate on Piazza Luigi Pirandello along Via Pirandello (tel. +39-0942-625-301).

Parking around Taormina

Note that if you are driving here on the A18 Autostrada you have to get off an an exit before or after town and onto the coastal SS 114 as the A18 highway itself actually tunnels beneath Taormina.

Taormina is currently experimenting with a ZTL ("Limited Traffic Zone"). Traffic cameras take pictures of your license plate if you enter the ZTL (in this case, the historic center). If you are not a resident who has paid for a registered pass, you will be hit with a huge fine.

Easy solution: Follow signts to park in one of the garages at the edges of town:

• Parcheggio Lumbi garage (northeast end of town) costs €2 for 1 hr. 15 min. (€4 in August), €12.50 for 24 hours (€14.50 in Aug). There's a free shuttle from the lot to Porta Messina.
• Parcheggio Mazzarò has both a garage and a cheap open lot (on Via Luigi Pirandello at the northeast entrance to town). The garage costs €5 for 2 hr. 30 min. (€7 in Aug), or €12.50 for 24 hours (€14.50 in Aug). The lot costs €3.50 for 3 hr. (€4 in July and Aug) or €6 per day (€9 in July and Aug)—though Nov to Mar the lot charges €2.50 no matter how long you park.
• Parcheggio Porta Catania garage (southwest end of town) is €1 per hour (€3 in Aug), or €14 for 24 hours (€16 in Aug).

I, for one, am happy about the ZTL, as I will never again be tempted to drive into the narrow streets of Taormina. It's just too stressful.

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