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45 minutes north on the motorway A18, Taormina is Sicily's most picturesque medieval town, perched high on a rocky hillside and offering stunning views of Southern Calabria, the Sicilian coastline and smoking volcano.
A favourite playground of the European Jet-set, it houses the Taormina International Film Festival in June (www.taorminafilmfest.it), the Womad Music Festival in July (www.worldmusiccentral.org) and Arts Festival throughout July and August (www.taormina-arte.com). These include open-air performances in the most dramatically located Greek theatre in the whole of Italy.
Taormina is very expensive and busy in summer however, it still retains just enough of the hilltop village character, which seduced the likes of D.H. Lawrence and Goethe.
For a refreshing swim and sunbathe, you can take a short cable-car ride down the hillside to the WWF protected marine park of Isola Bella (the beautiful island), one of the most spectacular coastlines in Sicily. The water here is crystal clear and rich in sea life, so perfect for snorkelling and scuba diving (www.divenike.com).
In addition to the spectacular gorges of the nearby Alcantara Valley, the hills surrounding Taormina have preserved timeless, sleepy villages from the ever-changing world.
It was the particular charm of these villages that inspired Francis Ford Coppola to feature Savoca (with its eerie catacombs) and Forza D'Agro (with a fantastic taverna 'Sapori Di Vini' and views - tel: 0942 721198) as locations for The Godfather films.
Buon Appetito, Don Corleone!!!
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