“Taormina is a Greek theatre on a terrace 200 metres up, with Etna filling the view behind the stage: the most theatrical arrival in Sicily, and the island’s one true culture day.”
In short. Taormina sits on Sicily’s east coast, about 21 nautical miles from Portorosa and 41 from Lipari. It has no harbour of its own: yachts anchor off Giardini Naxos or Mazzaro and go ashore by tender, with Marina di Riposto 12 miles south as the settled-weather fallback. A crewed week in Italy starts near €80,000.
It is the one stop in Sicily that guests who are not especially interested in boats will still talk about afterwards. The Teatro Antico, Greek and rebuilt by the Romans, is cut into the hillside so that the stage is framed by Etna and the sea behind it, and it still holds concerts and film screenings through the summer.
For a charter it works as a culture day inside an otherwise island-hopping week. A Sicily week that takes in the Aeolians and Taormina covers both halves of what the region does well: volcanic wilderness and Greco-Roman history, in the same seven days.
Must-dos in Taormina
- The Teatro Antico, with Etna framed behind the stage
- An evening performance there, worth reorganising a week around if the dates line up
- Isola Bella, the nature-reserve islet joined to the beach by a shingle spit
- Etna, a full day by car to the cable car station, or the north-slope wineries as a half day
- Corso Umberto at dusk, when the day-trippers have gone and the town is its own
On this page: the theatre · the town · Isola Bella and the bays · Etna and the wineries · where yachts tie up · what it costs · distances · when to go
The Teatro Antico
The Teatro Antico is the reason to come. The Greeks cut it into the hillside in the third century BC and the Romans rebuilt it for their own purposes, and whoever chose the site chose it for the view: the stage opens onto Etna to the south and the Ionian Sea below, so the backdrop is the landscape rather than scenery.
It still works as a venue. Concerts and film screenings run through the summer, and an evening performance there is worth reorganising a week around. Check the programme when the dates are set rather than hoping on the day.
The rest of the ancient town is a short walk: the Odeon, the Naumachia wall, and the Villa Comunale gardens on the terrace below with the view out over the bay.
The town on the terrace
Taormina is a single long street, Corso Umberto, running between two gates along the top of the terrace, with lanes and stairways dropping off it on both sides. It is 200 metres above the sea and the position is the whole point: Etna to the south, the coast curving away north, and the water a long way down.
The town is busy by day with coach parties and cruise passengers off ships at Messina and Catania, and it empties in the evening. That is the shape of the day to plan for: come ashore late afternoon, let the crowd leave, eat in the town and go back down after dark.
Piazza IX Aprile, halfway along the Corso, is the terrace everyone photographs, and the cable car from Mazzaro saves the climb.
Isola Bella, Mazzaro and Giardini Naxos
Isola Bella is the small nature-reserve island directly below the town, joined to the beach by a shingle spit you can walk at low water. It is the obvious tender stop and the water round it is clear and shallow, which makes it the swim before going up.
The bay at Giardini Naxos, just south, is where most yachts actually lie. It is a long sandy bay with a town behind it, far less dramatic than Mazzaro but better shelter and an easier tender run. Mazzaro, directly below the cable car, is the other option and the shorter route up to the town.
Both are open to the east. They are comfortable in the prevailing summer conditions and untenable in an easterly swell, which is the single thing to know about anchoring on this coast.
Etna and the wineries on the north slope
Etna is the standard shore excursion and it is a full day, not a morning: roughly an hour and a half each way by car to the cable car station at 1,900 metres, then the ascent above that. It is noticeably colder at altitude than anyone packs for, so the crew will send jackets.
The better half-day is the wineries on the volcano’s northern slopes. The vineyards sit between 600 and 1,000 metres on black volcanic soil, the wines have their own character from the volcanic soil, and the drive up through the lava fields is itself worth the time.
Either way it is a car day. From the anchorage at Giardini Naxos the transfers are straightforward and the crew arranges them.
Where yachts actually tie up at Taormina
- Taormina has no harbour of its own. Yachts anchor in the bay off Giardini Naxos or off Mazzaro directly below the town, and guests go ashore by tender, then up by cable car or car.
- Both anchorages are open to the east. Comfortable in the prevailing summer conditions, untenable in an easterly swell.
- Marina di Riposto, about 12 miles south, is the nearest real berthing. It takes larger yachts and is the fallback when the weather turns; for a settled night with guests aboard most captains prefer Riposto and a car transfer up to Taormina.
Catania is further again and is a commercial port rather than a destination. Our guide to marina and anchor nights in Italy covers the wider trade-off.
What a week around Taormina costs
A crewed week in Italy starts around €80,000 for a motor yacht, with most weeks between €150,000 and €300,000 and the top of the market at €300,000 to €500,000 and above. On top come an advance provisioning allowance of roughly 25 to 35 per cent, Italian VAT at 22 per cent and a gratuity of usually 5 to 15 per cent. See our Italy charter cost guide, APA and VAT.
Sicily is better value than Sardinia at the same calibre of yacht. On this coast the costs that matter are the Riposto berth when the weather turns and the car days for Etna, neither of which moves the week much.
Fitting Taormina into the week
Taormina is a first or last stop for a week on Sicily’s east coast, and it pairs with a charter starting or finishing at Catania, 45 minutes away with good European connections.
| From | Distance | At 12 knots |
| Marina di Riposto | 12 nm | 1 h |
| Portorosa | 21 nm | 1 h 45 |
| Milazzo | 24 nm | 2 h |
| Vulcano | 38 nm | 3 h 10 |
| Lipari | 41 nm | 3 h 25 |
| Palermo | 93 nm | 7 h 45 |
Combining the east coast with the Aeolian Islands means rounding Sicily’s north-east corner past Messina, which is a real passage rather than a hop and needs a settled day. It is very doable in a week on a motor yacht and tight on a sailing yacht. See where to start an Italy charter and how long the week should be.
When to go
- September and early October are the best weeks on this coast: warm sea, the summer programme at the theatre still running and the coach traffic thinning.
- June and July are settled and hot, with the town busiest in the middle of the day.
- August is full, and the anchorages fill with Italian boats at weekends.
- April, May and late October suit Taormina better than most Italian stops, because the theatre, the town and Etna do not need high summer.
Our month-by-month view is in the best time for an Italy charter.
People also ask about Taormina
Where do yachts anchor at Taormina?
In the bay off Giardini Naxos, which is where most yachts lie, or off Mazzaro directly below the town for the shorter run up by cable car. Taormina has no harbour of its own. Both anchorages are open to the east and untenable in an easterly swell.
Is there a marina near Taormina?
Marina di Riposto, about 12 nautical miles south, is the nearest real berthing and takes larger yachts. It is the fallback when the weather turns, and many captains prefer it for a settled night with a car transfer up to the town. Catania is a commercial port rather than a destination.
Is Taormina worth visiting on a yacht charter?
Yes, as the culture day of a Sicily week. The Teatro Antico with Etna behind the stage is the most theatrical thing on the island, and it is the stop guests who are not especially interested in boats remember.
Can you visit Etna from Taormina by yacht?
Yes, as a car day: roughly an hour and a half each way to the cable car station at 1,900 metres, and it should be treated as a full day. The wineries on the northern slopes are the better half-day option, between 600 and 1,000 metres on volcanic soil.
How far is Taormina from the Aeolian Islands?
About 38 nautical miles to Vulcano and 41 to Lipari, which means rounding the north-east corner of Sicily past Messina. That is a real passage rather than a hop and it needs a settled day: comfortable on a motor yacht, tight under sail.
What is Isola Bella?
The small nature-reserve islet below the town, joined to the beach by a shingle spit that can be walked at low water. The water round it is clear and shallow and it is the obvious tender stop before going up to Taormina.
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