Taormina - How much walking?

[bjm1068]

I read somewhere that the distance between the point of dropoff to the point of pickup is about 1 mile. Can someone verify this? Is this doable for someone who cannot walk long distances? Also, are there any shortcuts that would limit the amount of walking, even if some of the sights would be missed? We will have a private driver.

 

Thanks for any help!

[indiaksue]

We were just there last week. We did choose a "Taormina on your own tour" through Carnival so the place we were dropped off might be different. It was a 6 story parking garage on the West side of town. We took the elevator up to street level and walked the whole main street and then turned on to the Via Teatro to go to the theater. In total was about a mile walk. When we turned onto the Teatro street it did start to go uphill but not really steep until you entered the Theater site. We then went and ate lunch and sat down for awhile and then walked back through town and the bus picked us up at the same place.

[Hlitner]

We are not aware of anyway to see Taormina without doing a lot of walking (actually more then a mile). There are only 2 entrances to the city and in order to see the city (and its sites) you need to walk two streets from one-end to the other...and then you have to double back retracing most of your steps to get back to the starting point and to your transportation. This walk is very close to a full mile (a little longer if you walk over to the Greco-Roman Amphitheater. No tour vehicle is allowed inside the town so there are no alternatives to a long walk. If you wanted to limit your visit to only seeing the Amphitheater it would be possible for your tour car to drop you at that end of town...in which case your walking distance might be only 1/3 of a mile....but you would miss most of the city.

 

It would be possible to be dropped at one end, walk to the other end on the Corso Umbero (a little over 1/2 mile) and have your car/driver pick you up. But its actually not that easy for a driver to get from one end to the other (the drive is several miles since they cannot just drive through town).

 

If walking is a big problem you might want to consider some other alternative to even visiting Taormina. It

 

Hank

[Keith1010]

I agree with Hank. It is a walking town.

 

If you don't like to walk you could be dropped off as close to the area as possible and rather than walking the entire time you could just walk a small portion of the town.

 

Other option is to get a private vehicle and visit other nearby areas.

 

Keith

[Hlitner]

I should have added a caveat. If you see Taormina on your own (not as part of a group) the walking can be quite nice. There are plenty of cafes/restaurants scattered around the town (plus a decent ice cream shop and some of the best cannoli's on earth) so its possible to take frequent rest breaks. No reason to rush anywhere.

 

Hank

[crazygirl!]

. some of the best cannoli's on earth

 

Hank

 

OP - I apologize for butting into your thread, but maybe the answer will be helpful to you too :)

 

Hank, is there a specific place you recommend for the best cannolis in Taormina? They're my favorite and I can't wait to have one there!

[texancruzer]

OK...... we did exactly what Hank said is not easy to do.

 

Our driver dropped us off at one end (after coming down from Castelmola) and then gave us a time and place to be picked up at the other end.

 

We took our time, strolled down the main street. Went up to the amphitheater (but did not go in) had lunch and then met our driver at the other end (thru the gate) and he took us back to our ship in Messina.

 

There were many places to sit down and rest and we took our time for lots of window shopping and pictures. We also went in to the large church. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant with a "to die for view" called Granduca. We also stopped at a small bakery and picked up some of the best cannolis I have ever eaten (I took 2 back to the ship for our late night snack)

 

So while it is a bit of a walk from one end to the other, you can do it leisurely with stops to rest and get picked up at the other end (no need to backtrack)

 

We had a wonderful driver but unless you ask for a recommendation, I am not allowed to post it (Cruisecritic rules) Hope this helps

[samavarcruiser]

I must agree with Hank, we were almost dead at the end of the day :)

[Hlitner]

OP - I apologize for butting into your thread, but maybe the answer will be helpful to you too :)

 

Hank, is there a specific place you recommend for the best cannolis in Taormina? They're my favorite and I can't wait to have one there!

 

Now that is one "can of ricotta" that I am not going to open :). Some folks would say that you cannot get a bad cannoli in Taormina. But seriously, when you walk along the main street (Corso Umberto) you are going to see a lot restaurants and cafes and all of them will have cannoli's. There are also some places along that street where they sell them to go. If you want to have some fun, when you are browsing in the various shops ask the workers/owners for their recommendation. You will get many different opinions. If you still are unsure you could always go to

Etna Pasticceria (112 Corso Umberto) but you would get plenty of other opinions.

 

Hank

[crazygirl!]

Now that is one "can of ricotta" that I am not going to open :). Some folks would say that you cannot get a bad cannoli in Taormina. But seriously, when you walk along the main street (Corso Umberto) you are going to see a lot restaurants and cafes and all of them will have cannoli's. There are also some places along that street where they sell them to go. If you want to have some fun, when you are browsing in the various shops ask the workers/owners for their recommendation. You will get many different opinions. If you still are unsure you could always go to

Etna Pasticceria (112 Corso Umberto) but you would get plenty of other opinions.

 

Hank

 

Haha! I guess I will just have to get more than one cannoli then :D