Day 19 – Sicily: Roadtrip to Taormina
We checked out of our Cefalu airbnb by 10am and walked to Karma cafe. After all of the Italian carbs we were both craving eggs for breakfast. By 11:30am we were on the road and started our roadtrip to Taormina. It was a 3 hour drive from Cefalu to Taormina but we couldn’t check into our airbnb until 3pm, so we decided to stop in 2 different Sicilian towns along the way. The first was Stefano di Camastra, a seaside town known for their ceramic and pottery making. It was a cute town, mostly locals were walking around, and we rarely saw other tourists. I wanted to go to a cafe with a sea view so we walked all the way down the stairs at the edge of the town just to find out it was closed. Oh well, at least we got a morning stair workout in! Time to make the climb back up. Slightly defeated, and because we wanted to get back on the road sooner than later, we ended up just grabbing a seat at the cafe near where we parked the car and had a gelato.
We continued our drive and went through what seemed like 15+ tunnels to get to Taormina. Apparently the A20 road that we took has more tunnel than roadway and holds the world record for most tunnels per meter. The project started in 1972 and wasn’t complete until 2005.
Travel Tip: make sure you have Euros on you if you’re driving around Sicily because the tolls are cash only
A little more than halfway through the drive we stopped at a gas station to fill up and I needed to use the restroom but they were locked! I Googled a pizza place about 10 minutes down the road but when we got there everything looked closed. The man out front spoke very little English and told us they were closed and I asked if I could please use the bathroom, he said no problem. We were back on the road and at this point we just wanted to get to our destination. We finally arrived at our Airbnb by 4pm.
Our Airbnb was a gorgeous villa on the cliffs of Taormina overlooking the water, plus it had a pool. We met our host in the public parking lot address he provided and then he met us on his scooter to show us the way down to the Airbnb. We slowly drove down a VERY steep and narrow one way street – there were even stairs in the middle at one point and Stelios had to navigate the car so that the tires lined up with the ramp on either side – it was extremely sketchy but we made it! Our host had a private garage for us to park our car in and then showed us to our villa. The property was gorgeous and the backyard view was immaculate. I think we’re going to love it here.
After settling in we walked up the steep road that we just drove down to get into town and the walk up was no joke. My calf muscles were on fire after. At least we’ll get a leg workout in every morning while we’re here! We grabbed a table at Relè, the cocktail bar at the top of the hill with incredible views of Mount Etna, Taormina, and the Ionian Sea below. We ordered 2 glasses of wine and the antipasto starter to share as we watched the sunset behind Mount Etna.
We had about 2 hours until our dinner reservation so we started wandering around the town of Taormina to get familiar with our surroundings. Immediately you can tell Taormina is a very polished and clean town compared to Cefalu, and has a lot of history. While there are tourists here there are also a lot of local Italians walking around dressed up the to the nines. White Lotus aside, I think Taormina is the Beverly Hills of Sicily.
By 8:30pm we walked to Vineria Modi, our final tasting menu dinner of the trip and it was by far the best. First of all, the wine list was HUGE – bigger than a college textbook! The service was incredible and each dish was full of flavor and impressed us both. Our favorite was the mini raviolis which was a burst of cheesy goodness when you popped them into your mouth. During dinner a group of local Italian singers came around to the tables for a mini performance. They sang Perfect by Ed Sheeran in Italian and then the classic song of Italy, Ti Amo. It was very entertaining and they were quite good.
After dinner we continued walking through the town and found the street with all of the designer stores on it but they were closed. I will definitely be doing some shopping here before we leave. We passed some cocktail bars that were mostly cafe culture, none with a dancing vibe. There was one bar at the end of the street that looked like it had high schoolers as their DJ on the roof. It was comical to watch them blasting house music but everyone seated below looked like they were trying to just enjoy a late night dinner and drink. Tired after a long day we walked back to our Airbnb (the walk down was much easier than the walk up, but I still had to be careful in sandals not to tumble down the hill since it was so steep). Overall an excellent first day in Taormina.
