Just Back From… Eastern Sicily

Taormina has long been the one place in Sicily that travelers have put on their list, beginning in the 18th-century Grand Tour period when Goethe arrived, followed by so many notables, from D.H. Lawrence to Truman Capote. And ever since The White Lotus filmed their second season here, the global interest in this tiny town has ballooned even more. Matt and I came here last weekend on a recon trip—it had been five years since our last visit—and I wanted to check in to see if and how it had changed, and to gather more intel, since so many friends and readers have asked about it. It’s interesting how little information there is tying together this part of eastern Sicily. We have done plenty on the Siracusa/Noto area—south of Catania—but not so much on Catania or Etna, which are both excellent day trips from Taormina, or if you’re a fan of Etna wines (which you will be after spending time here). As always, if you have any favorites we’ve missed, please let us know in the comments!

TAORMINA

Teatro Greco by Wilhelm von Gloeden, 1910

I first came to Taormina around 10 years ago when I was doing a shoot for Condé Nast Traveler in Noto, and we spent a couple of days at the Grand Hotel Timeo to shoot a cover. It was a magical stay—we befriended their bar manager, Alfio Liotta, did a fun video with him making an Etna Spritz, and have remained friends with him over the years. We went back twice in 2021—first in June to stay in the vicinity at Tre Contrade for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday, and the second time in September, when we went to experience the San Domenico Palace, which had just reopened as a Four Seasons. This town is so deeply beautiful, but it’s also fiercely popular, and fills up with busloads of people by day, particularly along Corso Umberto, the main street that is lined with endless shops selling limoncello, customized aprons, pottery and postcards—and now a growing number of luxury brands. Its small size and its popularity make it easy to draw comparisons to Portofino and Positano: too many people and terrible traffic. For the first couple of hours, it’s easy to dismiss it and think it’s not for you. But stay a couple of days and there’s something about it that makes you miss it before you even leave.

Giammona House

The key is to get off the beaten path—which isn’t hard. Take any side street and get lost: you’ll find kids playing on the stairs, nonnas talking about the heat—real life. Walk the stairs down to Isola Bella, or to lunch at Villa Sant’Andrea—that hike is breathtaking. Or go a bit further and have the best lunch of your life at either the very simple Re del Sole or La Dolce Vita beach clubs on the Spisone beach. On my last night in town, I was lucky to meet Guido Spinello through a mutual friend who lives in Noto. Guido is the owner of Morgana, the coolest bar/club in town since the early aughts, and is a co-founder of Sicily Lifestyle and Bella Repertoire. He was born and raised here, and after walking through town with him I can attest that he is indeed “the mayor”—we couldn’t move five feet without someone greeting him. I asked him to share his thoughts on his beloved hometown: “What I personally find special about Taormina is this unique balance: you can experience something deeply local and authentic, and at the same time something that feels truly international and refined,” he said. “This combination between tradition and global lifestyle is, for me, the real essence of Taormina.” Yes, there’s now an abundance of global brands on Corso Umberto—in fact, it has the only Louis Vuitton bar in the world, called Bar LV, and a Dolce Gabbana bar as well (Mocambo)—alongside all the other usual suspects. But there are, to Guido’s point, still so many local characters and their own independent businesses dotted throughout that it still has a soulfulness to it… and obviously is deeply beautiful.

So here’s the list I came back with—melded with a few other places I didn’t get to, from local friends:

Food and Drink

Side note: since my stay at the Mayrlife clinic in Austria in February, I’ve been on a strict gluten- and dairy-free diet. While I certainly missed the cheese, I have to say that most places offered gluten-free pasta or pizza—and if they were a small mom-and -pop place that didn’t, there were certainly plenty of other options.