|
Taormina's beaches - and Naxos
|
|
|
The
coastline
below town is unquestionably appealing - a mixture of grottoes and rocky coves - but too many of its beaches are either private lidos (which you have to pay to use) or simply too packed in summer to be much fun.
Closest beach to town is at MazzarA? with its much-photographed islet. There's a cable car service (L3000/a?¬1.55) that runs every fifteen minutes from Via Pirandello and a steep path that starts just below the cable car station. If you're still searching for a bed there are a dozen small hotels here, though get the tourist office to phone first. The beach-bars and restaurants at Spisone , north again, are also reachable by path from Taormina, this time from below the cemetery in town. From Spisone, the coast opens out and the beach gets wider. With more time you might explore Letojanni , a little resort in its own right with rather more ordinary bars and shops, a few fishing boats on a sand beach, two campsites and regular buses and trains back to Taormina. Roomier and better for swimming are the sands south of Taormina at GIARDINI-NAXOS , and to a lesser extent at the holiday village of Recanati, beyond. Be prepared to pay to use the beach, a few hundred lire for access, a couple of thousand for a sunbed. The wide curving bay of Giardini - easily seen from Taormina's terraces - was the launching-point of Garibaldi's attack on the Bourbon troops in Calabria (1860) and, as significantly, the site of the first Greek colony in Sicily. An obvious stop for ships running between Greece and southern Italy, it was the site of a settlement in 734 BC, named Naxos after the Naxian colonists. It was never very important, and the extensive excavations (daily: Easter-Sept 9am-7pm; Oct-Easter 9am-4.30pm; L4000/a?¬2.07) are very low-key - a long section of ancient, lava-built city wall, two covered kilns and a sketchy temple. But it's a pleasant walk there through the lemon groves (bus from Taormina to Naxos/Recanati and follow the "Scavi" signs), and you can see some of the finds in a Museo Archeologico by the entrance to the site (same ticket).
Giardini itself, the long town backing the good beach, is an excellent alternative source of accommodation and food. Prices tend to be a good bit cheaper than in Taormina and in high season, if you arrive by train, it's probably worth trying here first. Recommended
places to stay
are
La Sirena
, Via SchisA? 36 (tel 0942.51.853; L60,000-90,000/a?¬30.99-46.48), by the pier with views over the bay, and the central
Villa Pamar
, Via Naxos 23 (tel 0942.52.448; L90,000-120,000/a?¬46.48-61.98), behind the tourist office, both offering good value for their central locations. For
eating
, the best and the cheapest is the restaurant-pizzeria attached to the seafront
Lido Europa
(opposite the Chiesa Immacolata); good pizzas and fresh pasta are also to be had at
Fratelli Marano
, Via Naxos 181. For terrace seating and views of the bay, visit
Da Angelina
beyond the port on Via C. Eubea (Nov-Feb closed Wed) - it does fine fish soup.
Buses
run half-hourly to Giardini from Taormina, the last one at midnight in summer and 10.30pm at other times; the last one back is at 11.40pm in summer, otherwise 7.35pm, from the stop on the seafront opposite the Chiesa Immacolata. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Italy,
|