After we left Rome, we headed down to Taormina, Sicily. If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s located on the eastern side of the island, Sicily. In speaking with locals in both Venice & Rome, they had nothing but wonderful things to say about the area, so we were pretty excited as we approached this portion of the trip….
We strategically set our itinerary up in a way that would have the first half of our adventures consisting of heavy sightseeing, full days, and busy nights… with the second half being coastal, leaving more room for leisure, while simultaneously taking in the sites.
To reach Taormina from Rome, we took an hour flight south to Catania (where the major airport is located), and then a 50 minute taxi ride to Taormonia (we booked this ahead of time through our hotel). On the way, you can see the smoke coming out of Mt. Etna (which is considered to be one of the world’s most active volcanoes)… Harper thought that was so amazing, since she’s very into science.
Once in Taormina there are so many different lodging and dining options. Believe it or not, we booked this portion of our trip before the “White Lotus” season blew up, so we were entirely unfamiliar with the area (we still haven’t watched it… probably should). After some research we decided to stay at The Mazzaro Sea Palace… and it didn’t disappoint. The views were spectacular, rooms beautiful, the food and drinks were excellent, and the service was friendly. We loved that it was right on the water, with it’s own beach club, so you could sit by to ocean if you preferred (there are other non-hotel beach clubs on the same beach and all require reservations, just an FYI). The grounds were gorgeous, and TJ and I both agree we would absolutely go back.
As far as “what to do” we opted to primarily relax at the hotel during the day swimming by the ocean (it was SO hot- 98ish degrees so the ocean felt amazing), and then heading into the city center for dinners and a bit of exploring. I can’t recommend the city center more. It’s so beautiful, with so many restaurants, gelato shops, markets, and stores. I love that you can watch street performers playing music in front of any restaurant (this happened in front of Da Rita and they were amazing… I wish I could post a video of them) and the little alleyways are quintessentially Europe.
Since there are so many restaurants, and we were looking for authentic and family friendly, we loved asking locals for their recs. So all restaurant recommendations below are straight from locals that we met and chatted with at the hotel, and they were so delicious, and I recommend them all (nothing was super fancy, like Michelin star, but they were so good!)….
Night 1– we went to Ristorante Pizzeria Tiramisu– great pizza and seafood, along with a cute little outdoor space. TJ and I split both a pizza and the seafood risotto…
Night 2: our favorite spot was Osteria Da Rita– get here early (we got there at 6:30 and had to wait 20 minutes for outside seating) as they don’t take reservations and by the time we left the line was 30 people deep. Excellent everything- pasta, meats, seafood- you really can’t go wrong! Also, the street singers I referenced above frequent this spot.
Night 3: We went to Ristorante Pirandello 2.0 and it had (has) excellent and fresh seafood (split the fresh SeaBass if you can….) and pasta, and a beautiful ocean view!
There were also so many people who suggested visiting the Bam Bar (which I think was made famous from White Lotus…)… we walked to it, but the line was too long to wait with littles who were tired! It looked really cute though!
And that’s it! If you’re looking for a beautiful spot to visit that has a bit of relaxation and sightseeing, and it absolutely beautiful, then this is it! Sharing some snaps, and outfits, broken down into days, below…
Also… when we were chatting with one of the bartenders at the hotel in Venice, he was from Sicily and put the below guide together for us… if you’re planning a visit there, this would likely be worth adding to your Sicily plan (everything is always better coming from a local). It felt a bit ambitious with our girls, so we saved it for another (hopefully) visit….
DAY 1
(Skort, Tank, Sandals, Anklet, Cover-Up Top, Linen Shorts, Swimsuit)
DAY 2
(Bathing Suit, Coverup, Dress, Earrings)
DAY 3
