Eastern Sicily holidays
Enjoy Taormina’s ancient theatre and sea-view terraces, spend a few days among Etna’s vineyards or discover Catania’s markets and Baroque streets. We help you choose the setting for the holiday you have in mind.
Combine theatre views and Isola Bella with a guided day on Etna, a wine-estate visit or time beside the pool. Stay in one place or let us connect two contrasting parts of eastern Sicily.
Eastern Sicily planning
These three bases sit close together, but they create very different holidays. The right choice depends on season, pace, transport and how much time you want to give this part of Sicily.
Taormina
Taormina is the most glamorous choice: Greek Theatre, sea views, elegant streets and a famous resort atmosphere.
Best for spring or autumn short stays, romantic openings or final nights, and car-free combinations with Siracusa or the Aeolian Islands.
Around Mount Etna
The Etna area gives you vineyards, gardens, countryside, villages and a calmer rhythm than staying in Taormina itself.
Best for summer holidays, longer stays, self-drive routes and travellers who want Taormina as a day trip rather than the main base.
Catania
Catania is the city option: food markets, baroque streets, local energy and direct links across eastern Sicily.
Best for a short city break, a practical first or final stay, or a base for reaching Taormina, Siracusa and Mount Etna.
Suggested routes
Enjoy a Taormina short break, pair its hillside setting with Siracusa’s waterfront or combine it with Palermo and an Aeolian island. These examples bring together different Sicilian places with time to enjoy each stay.
Shorter eastern Sicily holiday
Begin with Taormina’s ancient theatre, gardens and sea views. Spend three nights enjoying the town, its restaurants and the coast below before travelling south.
Continue to Siracusa for four nights of Ortigia walks, sea-facing evenings and Greek heritage. Private transfers connect the two stays, and guided outings to Etna or Noto can be arranged separately.
Longer car-free Sicily route
For travellers who want Sicily to feel varied but still well-paced, Taormina works beautifully at the end of a longer journey. Palermo brings urban energy and history, the Aeolian Islands add sea and volcanic landscapes, and Taormina closes the route with theatre, views and easy access to Catania Airport.
We arrange the private transfers and hydrofoils, leaving you free to enjoy the change from Palermo’s streets to Salina’s sea and Taormina’s terraces. The route can be adapted to include another island or extra nights.
Taormina hotels
Enjoy Taormina from a small hotel with views and a pool, leaving time to linger between outings. Villa Carlotta is close to the centre; Villa Angela sits higher on the road towards Castelmola.
Luxury boutique stay
Walk into Taormina from Villa Carlotta, then return for the pool, terraces and rooftop dining with sea views. Its quieter position close to the centre makes it a welcoming place to linger.
Sea-view hillside hotel
Villa Angela has a clean, contemporary feel and sea views from every room. It sits just outside the centre, on the road towards Castelmola, with a lovely pool area and friendly service.
Mount Etna stays
Stay among gardens, vineyards and villages around Etna, with a car for discovering the volcano’s landscapes and visiting Taormina. These hotels invite longer stays, with pool afternoons and meals close to home.
Eco resort and gardens
A refined Etna-area resort with strong garden appeal, contemporary Sicilian design and easy access to Radicepura Botanical Park.
Country boutique hotel
A beautiful Etna wine-estate stay, with terraced vineyards, private villas and a strong sense of countryside calm.
Small refined B&B
A small, welcoming B&B with just four rooms in Rina, below Savoca’s historic centre. Enjoy breakfast, the garden and pool between days exploring eastern Sicily.
Villas for families and groups
Settle into a villa for pool days, meals outdoors and time with family or friends. A car lets you explore Etna, Taormina, Catania and the coast, with quieter days at home between outings.
Large villa for up to 10
Villa Otto sleeps up to ten across the manor house, Casetta and Dependance. Enjoy the private pool, spa and outdoor meals together; we will confirm the buildings included and the sleeping layout for your group.
This type of villa works best for a self-drive holiday. Taormina can be enjoyed when you want the theatre, views and evening atmosphere, while Mount Etna, Catania, Siracusa and the coast can be shaped into the route without changing base too often.
Villa for up to 7
Enjoy Etna views, the pool and games at Villa Polifemo. Three en-suite bedrooms are on the lower ground floor, reached by stairs; the seventh sleeping place is a single sofa bed in a walk-through room.
It is especially useful when the holiday needs to balance pool time with exploring. Taormina, Mount Etna and the wider east coast can all be part of the plan, while the villa gives the journey a more settled base.
Villas are usually strongest when you are staying for longer, travelling with family or friends, and happy to use a car. For a short atmospheric stay, Taormina hotels may still be the better choice.
Catania city break
Explore Catania’s fish market, Baroque streets and café-lined squares, then enjoy its lively evenings. The city makes a rewarding short break and connects easily with other parts of eastern Sicily.
How Catania works
Catania has a raw, urban character that contrasts sharply with Taormina’s polished resort atmosphere. Its fish market, lava-stone streets, baroque architecture, cafés and evening energy give it a strong city-break identity.
It works best for travellers who actively enjoy cities, markets and local life. It can also be useful at the start or end of a Sicily holiday, or as a practical base for reaching Taormina, Siracusa, Mount Etna and the east coast without changing hotels too often.
Catania is a busy city with markets, traffic and lively streets. Choose it for urban discoveries, and add a country or coastal stay if you would also like quieter days.
Suggested Catania stay
Stay among distinctive art and interiors at Asmundo di Gisira, a palazzo in Catania’s historic centre. Walk out to markets, Baroque streets and restaurants, and return to a hotel with plenty of character.
Travel notes
These guides help you decide how to use your time here: when Taormina should be the focus, when Mount Etna deserves more space, and how to add nature, food, wine or guided local experiences without overloading the route.
Taormina
Explore Taormina’s theatre, views and streets, with practical advice for enjoying the town and coast.
Read the guide
Mount Etna
How to think about Etna as more than a day trip, with volcanic scenery, villages, wine country and strong self-drive potential.
Read the guide
Nature
A cooler, greener contrast to Taormina and Etna, useful for travellers who want river scenery and a more nature-led day.
Read the guide
Guided experiences
A more personal way to experience Sicily, with guided walking, local knowledge and the kind of context that can transform a day out.
Read the guidePlan your eastern Sicily holiday
Tell us whether you picture Taormina’s terraces, Etna’s vineyards, a private villa or Catania’s lively streets. We can shape the stays and journeys around you, with early enquiries giving more choice at the smaller hotels and villas.
Often works well with:
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