Taormina: The Pearl of the Ionian

Taormina is known as "The Pearl Of the Ionian" and is a huge drawcard in Sicily. We are day 2 of our road trip from the sleepy seaside town of Marzamemi towards Taormina after our Sicilian Food Tour. This stunning and cinematic medieval town is Sicily's busiest and for good reason. But what is the best time to visit Taormina, what can you see and is it worth visiting? And can you still see Taormina without paying a fortune?

For local Sicilians, the main issue with Taormina is that it is very touristy. One Sicilian even said to me that she had never had a good meal at Taormina before relenting and giving me some recommendations. Even for tourists, Taormina could be an easy city to grumble about. If you visited during July it would be shoulder-to-shoulder crowded with visitors. There's the White Lotus effect that tripled (or quadrupled) the price of hotels. Restaurants would also be impossible to book. But if you visit mid October you can enjoy 27C/80F days with much less crowds, reasonably priced accommodation and easy to get into restaurants. The only drawback is that service can be perfunctory and tired as it is the end of tourist season.

Our first stop when we arrive in Taormina is to our hotel. Hotels in Taormina are expensive and prices can be astronomic - the San Domenico Palace featured in The White Lotus commands prices of $4,700AUD a night. If you can get a room that is; the hotel is booked far ahead of time.

Our hotel in Taormina is the Villa Angela, chosen for its expansive views of Mount Etna and the Ionian ocean from high up above. To get here requires a curvy, twisty drive but the rewards are great (even the car park has a beautiful view). While there is no White Lotus connection there is an entertainment connection at Villa Angela. The hotel's owner is Simple Minds' Scottish singer Jim Kerr. He lives in Taormina and has Italian citizenship. You'll see some tartan and Scottish touches in the hotel too.

Staff at Villa Angela are kind and helpful and nothing is too much trouble. Although this is technically a 4 star hotel, the service feels like a 5 star. Our double room was a relative bargain at $433AUD/$275USD and is traditionally outfitted with a comfortable queen bed and a decent sized bathroom. Another selling point is that each and every room at Villa Angela faces the water and each one has a good sized balcony. I think we got the cheapest and most remote room to the view as we booked very last minute but it was still spectacular.

Because the hotel is perched so high there is an efficient complimentary (for the first night) shuttle service that leaves once an hour. You can also whatsapp them to arrange a pick up at the scheduled time depending on what time you finish dinner. I take a quick look at the pool area (this too has a wonderful view) and before long it's time to take the shuttle to Taormina city centre below.

The bus drops us off near the gates to Taormina Old Town (Centro Storico). This street is busy with shops, cafes and restaurants. Taormina follows a few different rules than other Sicilian cities: there is no siesta time so that the shops are open all afternoon and the restaurants are either open all day or open at 6pm rather than the 7:30pm elsewhere, to accommodate the tourist trade.

Taormina is literally a blaze of colour from every angle and walking through the cobblestone streets is like a movie set come to life. It actually looks better in real life than it does on tv. Make sure to look up the alley stairs - there's an Instagram worthy pic at every turn. Some places were closed; Wednesday does seem to be the day that some businesses were closed in the week but stalwarts like Bam Bar that sells what some people say is Sicily's best granita is open (FYI: it closes Mondays).

This heat prompts us to make a beeline for Bam Bar where we take a seat outside and order some granita. It's a peach and strawberry granita for me and a lemon and raspberry for Mr NQN, both with a cloud of whipped cream on top. It's wonderful, I love all of the flavours but especially the strawberries and cream. We sit back and relax and enjoy people watching.

The best thing to do is just wander the streets - we ended up in the Villa Comunale di Taormina or Parco Duca Di Cesarò public gardens that are stunning and worth a visit. There is a lush range of vegetation from cacti, magnolias, bougainvilleas and hibiscus - we even see an Australian gum tree.

We head back to the hotel for a couple of hours. It's a swim for Mr NQN and some work for me. The sun drops behind Mount Etna and before I know it it's time to head out for dinner.

Dinner this evening is at Adduma right next to the Duomo but as we are early we go down for a wander to see the San Domenico Palace. There are groups of fellow tourists mingling around taking photos from the outside of the hotel edging closer. The staff don't seem to mind if you go into the courtyard - after all you can do anything with confidence and people will believe you. Also the hotel is also open for lunch and dinner bookings.

We head back to Adduma up the stairs where we take a seat at our table for 2. The outdoor section is where most people are seated and is the prime spot but there is a huge indoor section as well. Adduma is primarily said to be a steak restaurant but there is both seafood and meat available. They also place a specials menu on the table with tomahawk steaks from Ireland and Sashi Choco steaks from Finland. Service is very friendly here.

The antipasti has an Asian influence and this menu reminds us of a Modern Australian one but we bypass these for the pastas and share a steak. I am obsessed with sweet datterino tomatoes so I go straight for the Tuffoli pasta with datterino tomatoes, ragusano cheese fondue and crispy guanciale. Tuffoli is like a ridged, large tube pasta and this is absolutely delicious and I scarpetta every drop of sauce with the bread.

Mr NQN has the hand made tagliolini with red prawn bisque, ricotta cheese, red prawn tartare, lime and toasted almonds. This just needs a bit of seasoning with salt and pepper and it really sings. If you're lucky you'll get a bit of red prawns but there aren't many in the dish so you get them in every second or third spoonful. The caponata here is also really good.

Alas neither of us really went for the picnaha steak with roasted potatoes and cime de rapa. The steak was quite tough to cut and while the chimichurri was nice I would have just stuck with the pastas which were really good.

Afterwards it's gelato and a great night's sleep before the next morning we make our way to breakfast at Villa Angela. Here you can help yourself to coffees (including cappuccinos). The selection has a range of hot dishes as well as Italian breakfast cakes and tarts, fruit and cereals. I really enjoy the scacce filled with cheese and marinated vegetables which I stuff with some sun dried tomatoes and olives.

I'm not usually much of a sweets eater for breakfast but the croissants are very good and filled with sweet cherry jam. The torta della nonna filled with lemon filling and topped with pine nuts is also excellent. Mr NQN eats whole pieces of fruit enjoying sweet peaches. After this we are on our way to Palermo, our last stop on our road trip of Sicily!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever been to Taormina? Do you try and time your holidays for off season?

All food and accommodation in this post was independently paid for. NQN and Mr NQN travelled to Europe as guests of Vietnam Airlines.

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