NORTH EAST SICILY

The area between Catania, Taormina and Etna is well known for its beautiful vineyards, beaches and many traditional Sicilian villages with buildings made of lava stone. The snowy top of Mt. Etna Volcano is dominating the views.
This part of Sicily is the most visited and from a tourist point of view the most developed.

The north east region stretches from the second town (after Palermo) of Sicily, Catania, in the south east to Messina in the north eastern point of Sicily, and the hinterland in the back.

From Messina you can see the mainland Italy (province of Calabria) and have dramatic views over the Straits of Messina.

Catania has the main airport of Sicily, Aeroporto Internazionale di Vincenzo Bellini (formerly named Fontanarossa; it changed name when it turned from a small local airport into a modern one).

The baroque center and the authentic fish market are not to be missed.

Giardini Naxos is famous for it's easy going beach atmosphere, and the hinterland of the Valley of the Alcantara offers fantastic outings in very interesting and beautiful surroundings.

Taormina is one of Sicily’s major tourist destinations; a pretty little hill-top town with lots of bars, restaurants, hotels and splendid views of the sea and Etna. The beaches around Taormina are very popular and its Greek theatre is famous all over the world.

Lettojanni is a very pleasurable beach town a stones throw to the north from Taormina and offers long stretches of beach along the 'lungomare' which is lined with tratorias and small sea food restaurants, some right on the beach.

One can easily spend one or two weeks in this area and still not seeing everything there is to see. This area is the most developed area for tourists and therefore maybe more easily accessible than other parts of Sicily. If you prefer to stay away from the busy tourist destinations, choose one of the many hotels or b&b's in the countryside. Beach, Etna and Taormina are never further than a 30-40 minutes drive.