Where to stay in Taormina is a question most Etna wine trips eventually ask, because the town on the cliff above the Ionian Sea has the grandest hotels in eastern Sicily and the volcano fills the view from half their terraces. The cellars of the north slope are about an hour away by road. These seven hotels, from a Four Seasons convent to a family-run villa, make that trade worth it.
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How we chose where to stay in Taormina
Three rules cut the field. Every hotel is on Expedia, so you can book it through the links below and see the same rates we did. Every one is in Taormina itself or on the bay just below it, close enough to the old town to walk to dinner after a day in the vineyards. And every one had enough guest reviews, or a verifiable outside source, for us to say something specific about it.
Taormina is not wine country: there are no vineyards to wake up in here. If you want to sleep among the vines, start with our guide to staying on Etna’s north slope. This list is for travelers who would rather have the sea, the restaurants and the evening walk along Corso Umberto, and drive to the cellars by day. Prices below are “from” rates: the lowest nightly rate Expedia showed us for each property, which will move with your dates.
The old town, between the Greek Theatre and Corso Umberto
The historic center sits on a terrace high above the sea, with the ancient Greek Theatre at one end and the main street, Corso Umberto, running through it. Staying up here means no driving in the evening, and from the right room, a view of Etna that the wine country itself rarely gives you: the whole mountain, from the sea to the summit.
1. San Domenico Palace, A Four Seasons Hotel — Taormina
If you are going to splurge once on an Etna trip, this is the place. You sleep inside a former Dominican convent, among cloisters and terraced gardens, and the pool terrace looks straight across the bay at the volcano: Etna becomes part of the stay, not only the drive. It was one of the first hotels in Sicily, according to Italy’s official tourism site, and Four Seasons runs it today.
It suits travelers who want the full grand-hotel evening after a day in the vineyards, with the Greek Theatre a short walk away. The catch is demand: for the spring dates we checked, Expedia had nothing left, so book as early as your plans allow.
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2. Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel — Taormina
Timeo is the hotel for travelers who plan the day around dinner. It stands right beside the Greek Theatre and has been receiving guests since 1873; the Michelin Guide counts Oscar Wilde and D. H. Lawrence among them, and the old-world feel has survived the modern renovation.
Its restaurant is the best table on this list for a long evening with Etna bottles after a day of tastings, and the gardens under the wisteria are the quietest corner of the old town. All of that shows in the rate, the highest we found in Taormina.
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3. Hotel Villa Paradiso — Taormina
Villa Paradiso is the way into the old town without a grand-hotel bill. It is a family house turned hotel, run by the Martorana family and filled with antiques, a minute from Corso Umberto, so the evening walk starts at the front door.
The best moment of the day is breakfast, in a top-floor room with windows on the whole coast. The limit is the evidence: it has far fewer guest reviews than the other hotels here, so it is a choice made on location and character more than on track record.
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4. Hotel Villa Ducale — Taormina
Villa Ducale is the hotel for travelers who came for the volcano as much as the wine. It sits high on the hill above the center, and from its terraces the view runs over the rooftops of Taormina to the bay and, on a clear day, to Etna.
It still feels like the family house it was: the Quartucci family turned their home into a hotel in the 1990s and still runs it, and a free shuttle takes care of the climb down to the center. Expedia had no rooms for the dates we checked, so check current rates for yours.
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Book it
The best rooms go first
Two of the hotels above had no rooms at all for the spring dates we checked. Taormina fills early from Easter on, so if your dates are fixed, it is worth seeing everything available in town on one screen before you choose.
Below the old town, toward the sea
South of the center the town drops toward the cable car and the bay of Mazzarò, with Isola Bella just beyond. Hotels here trade a few minutes of walking, or a cable-car ride, for gardens, pools and, at the bottom, the beach itself.
5. Hotel Villa Carlotta — Taormina
Villa Carlotta is the calmer half of the Quartucci family’s pair, a few minutes below the old town on Via Pirandello, and the hotel guests here rate most consistently: it has more reviews than any other on this list and one of the highest scores. The Michelin Guide lists it among its selected hotels.
Rooms are furnished with antiques, and many have balconies over the sea. It suits travelers who want a villa garden to come back to after the tastings, and a slow breakfast on the roof terrace before the drive to the cellars.
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6. Grand Hotel San Pietro — Taormina
Grand Hotel San Pietro feels more like a resort than the villas above it. It stands in its own terraced gardens among cypresses, below the old town and close to the cable car down to Isola Bella.
It is the compromise for couples who split the trip: afternoons by the pool for one, an easy start toward the vineyards for the other, and dinner in town for both. The walk up to Corso Umberto is short, but steep.
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7. Mazzarò Sea Palace — Mazzarò, Taormina
Mazzarò Sea Palace is the one hotel on this list that sits on the water. It is built into the small bay of Mazzarò at the foot of the cliff, with Isola Bella around the headland and the cable car up to the old town a few minutes away.
It is the pick if the trip is half wine, half sea: a morning swim before driving up to the cellars, and back in time for the sunset. The trade-off is the climb, since every evening in the old town starts with the cable car or a taxi.
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When to book a Taormina hotel for an Etna wine trip
Spring and autumn are the seasons for a wine trip. In spring the vineyards turn green and the cellars are open without the summer crowds; in autumn the harvest of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante usually runs from late September into October. The Etna DOC consortium lists the producers you can visit on every slope.
Taormina is busiest from Easter to October, and July and August are hot and crowded. For spring or harvest dates, book two to three months ahead; for the most famous names, earlier.
Getting there
Catania airport is about 50 minutes south by car, and the A18 motorway runs along the coast below the town. The drive to the north-slope wineries around Castiglione di Sicilia takes about an hour, which is why most travelers either hire a car or book a driver. Our guide to renting a car for a wine trip in Europe covers insurance, drink-driving limits and what to ask at the counter; the Etna wine country guide explains how the four slopes differ before you choose where to taste.
Compare car rental in Catania on DiscoverCars →
Inside Taormina a car is more trouble than help, since the old town is best seen on foot: ask your hotel about parking before you arrive.
Choosing between them
For a once-in-a-lifetime stay, San Domenico Palace or Timeo, and Timeo if dinner matters most. For views of the volcano at a calmer pace, Villa Ducale. For the sea at the door, Mazzarò Sea Palace. For the old town on a smaller budget, Villa Paradiso. If you would rather wake up among the vines than above the sea, look at the Etna wine resorts or the hotels on the Etna east and south slopes, closer to the cellars of Milo and Viagrande.
Where to stay in Taormina, in the end, is a choice between the evening and the morning: Taormina gives you the best evenings in eastern Sicily, and the wine country gives you the mornings in the vineyards. With an hour between them, you can have both.
Prices are “from” rates, indicative and set by our booking partners: they change with dates and availability, so check the current rate on Expedia.
