Itineraries Sicily

Surroundings of Taormina

A holiday in Taormina is the ideal place for exploring all the eastern coast of Sicily. The Sicilian town most well-known in world tourism, is in a central position on the Ionian coast between Messina and Catania. Hotel Villa Kristina has the pleasure of hosting you in its hotel with every comfort and can advise you on excursions and itineraries in the surrounding areas.

After having visited all the natural beauties of Taormina, such as the Greek Theatre, the Cathedral, the Churches, Corso Umberto, the Antiquarium, the Roman Odeon, Badia Vecchia, Palazzo Duca of Santo Stefano, Palazzo Corvaja, the Naumachia Gymnasium, the Madonna Della Rocca Sanctuary, the Saracen Castle, the various panoramic terraces suspended between the azure of the sea and the white of Etna, the characteristic corners of the town, there are the surrounding areas to visit.

In less than an hour by car from Albergo Villa Kristina you can visit the Cyclops Riviera, Acitrezza with its Faraglioni rocks, Aci Castello, and all the coast covered with lava right up to Catania. From Catania onwards, the coast becomes wide sandy beaches. In a few minutes from the hotel you can reach the panorama that can be seen from the hotel rooms, the Bay of Naxos with its long fine-sand beaches. Etna, which is visible from all the bedrooms, is less tan an hour away from the hotel, passing at the same time from sea level to a height of 2,000 metres in such a short time.

A short distance from Taormina and a few kilometres inland from Giardini Naxos, is the spectacle of the Alcantara Gorges ("Gole dell'Alcantara") inside the Fluvial Park of the same name, where fresh and clear water, coming from the Nebrodi mountains, flows in the gorge 'split' between the basalt rock. A few minutes from Villa Kristina there is a convenient funicular cable railway which takes you directly to the most famous beaches in Taormina and Sicily; Mazzarò Bay, Sirene Bay, Isola Bella beach, Spisone Bay. Staying in Taormina therefore gives you many scenarios which you can admire in a short time, in this corner of paradise in Sicily amongst the land, sky, sea and the volcano. Good holiday

Etna

Guy De Maupassant (1885) – Travels in Sicily «The beast is calm. It is sleeping down there. Right down there. Only dense smoke is coming out of the large crater, 3,312 metres high. Around us, the scenario is even stranger. All of Sicily is hidden by mist that stops near the coast and completely veils the ground, in a way that we seem to be right up in the sky, among the seas, above the clouds, so high, so high in the sky that even the Mediterranean, which reaches everywhere as far as the eye can see, seems to be the blue sky.

The azure that envelops everything. We are walking on a surprising mountain, coming out of the clouds and drowned in the sky that stretches over our heads, under our feet, everywhere.>> Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe seen through the magnificent photos of Fulvio Lo Giudice. Born in Linguaglossa, Fulvio, (a “trekking” lover and fond of “mountain biking”) with his inseparable camera, manages to capture with professionalism the magic and mysterious scenario of Etna.

Hanging on the wall of his small studio, in Via Dionisio at Taormina, are photographs of Etna observed by visitors with awe and respect, the same awe and respect that the ancient inhabitants of Sicily had regarding the “mountain of mountains”.

STUDIO FULVIO - e-mail : fulviotaormina@libero.it