Villas in Taormina

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a villa in Taormina?
• Villas in Taormina: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring Taormina: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in Taormina?

• Space and privacy: Villas here sit mainly on the hillsides above the town, offering private pools, gardens and terraces with room for families and couples travelling together.
• Where to base yourself: Taormina centre suits sightseeing, while Mazzarò, Giardini Naxos and Castelmola trade bustle for beaches, quiet lanes and wider views.
• Guest favourites: The best-reviewed stays score close to 10.0+, praised for sea views, parking and hosts who share proper local tips.
• Eating well: Google reviewers rank Ethica Chef's Table and Garden top, with tasting menus and Sicilian wine lists suiting a slower, grown-up evening.
• Days out: The Teatro Antico, Isola Bella and a full-day Etna excursion fill a week without ever needing a long drive.

Taormina's historic centre is compact, so most villas sit on the terraced slopes just outside it, in Mazzarò, Chianchitta or towards Castelmola. Expect walled gardens, sea-facing terraces and space for two families at once; smaller apartments in Taormina suit couples, and the wider choice across holiday lettings in Sicily and apartments in Sicily covers longer island tours. Most properties come with parking, which matters on these narrow lanes.

• Private pool with a view over the Ionian Sea
• Shaded garden or pergola-covered terrace for long dinners
• Air conditioning throughout, essential in high summer
• Off-street parking within reach of the centre
• Fully equipped kitchen for self-catering with market produce

Book early for July and August, when the larger pool villas go first.

What are the best areas to stay in Taormina?

For a first visit, stay within walking distance of Corso Umberto, where the theatre, gardens and restaurants are all a short stroll apart. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guests staying near Taormina consistently rate the views first: terraces looking straight down onto the bay, and Etna smoking on the horizon at breakfast. Ratings of 9.7+ are common, with reviewers singling out spotless kitchens, working air conditioning and hosts who explain where to park, which beach club to choose and when the theatre tickets go on sale.

Here are our top-rated places to stay in Taormina from the past year:

1. La Boheme - 10.0+: A villa for ten in Taormina with a private pool, sea view and generous terrace, ideal for two families sharing.
2. Sparviero Appartamento Taormina - 10.0+: A four-person apartment in Taormina with pool access, parking and a sea-view terrace for unhurried evenings.
3. Casa Carly Taormina - 9.7+: A holiday home in Mazzarò with parking and a terrace, minutes from the bay and the cable car.

Taormina sits on a clifftop terrace in north-east Sicily, high above the Ionian Sea, with Mount Etna filling the horizon to the south.

🥗Where to eat in Taormina?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Ethica Chef's Table and Garden is the best rated restaurant in Taormina. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Charlotte recommends the TreQuarti Taormina Antipasteria Siciliana in Taormina: a long, shared table of Sicilian antipasti and local wine, easy with children and unhurried enough for a proper grown-up evening.

1. See a show at the Teatro Antico
2. Swim at Isola Bella
3. Stroll Corso Umberto
4. Relax in the Villa Comunale gardens
5. Climb up to Castelmola
6. Spend a day on Etna
7. Follow the Godfather trail inland

1. See a show at the Teatro Antico

   The Teatro Antico is Taormina's defining sight: a Greek theatre cut into the rock, later reworked by the Romans, with the bay on one side and Etna on the other. Come early in the morning for the quiet and the light, or book an evening performance during the summer season, when concerts and the Taormina Film Festival fill the tiers. It is a ten-minute walk from most central villas, so an evening show needs no driving at all.

2. Swim at Isola Bella

   Below the cliffs, Isola Bella is a tiny nature reserve joined to the shore by a shingle spit you can walk across at low tide. The water is clear and deep enough for snorkelling just off the rocks. Take the cable car down from the town rather than driving, hire a sunbed for the day, and go back up in the late afternoon before the last crowds. Bring water shoes; the beach is pebble, not sand.

3. Stroll Corso Umberto

   Taormina's main street runs the length of the old town between two medieval gates, lined with pastry shops, ceramics and small piazzas that open suddenly onto the sea. Stop at Piazza IX Aprile for the view over the bay, try a granita with brioche for breakfast the way Sicilians do, and browse in the early evening when the light softens and the whole town comes out for the passeggiata.

4. Relax in the Villa Comunale gardens

   The Villa Comunale gardens were laid out by Florence Trevelyan, an Englishwoman who settled here in the 1880s, and they still feel like a private retreat: shaded paths, follies built from brick and lava stone, and terraces looking straight down the coast. Entry is free, there is plenty of room for children to run, and it is the best place in town for a picnic assembled from the morning market.

5. Climb up to Castelmola

   Castelmola perches a few kilometres above Taormina, reachable by a short bus ride or an hour's walk up the old mule path. The village is a knot of tiny lanes around a ruined castle, with viewpoints taking in the whole bay and Etna behind. Order the local almond wine in one of the piazza bars, then walk back down as the sun drops. It is noticeably cooler up here in August.

6. Spend a day on Etna

   Europe's most active volcano is around an hour and a half away, and full-day excursions leave Taormina every morning. Most combine the Rifugio Sapienza cable car with a four-wheel-drive ascent towards the summit craters, plus a stop at a lava-field wine estate. Take warm layers and proper shoes whatever the coastal weather is doing. Drivers can reach the southern approach easily; parking at the refuge is straightforward outside peak weekends.

7. Follow the Godfather trail inland

   The hill villages of Savoca and Forza d'Agrò, half an hour south, stood in for Corleone in the films, and both are worth the drive on their own terms: empty stone lanes, a church on a ridge and Bar Vitelli still serving lemon granita. Pair them with a night in apartments in Cefalù if you want to see more of the island's north coast before heading home.