What to Do in Taormina, Sicily

While in Sicily, we visited with family who, since we hadn’t visited Sicily until now, we’d never met. The longer we chatted, the more we realized how much family we had (a lot!). Ironically, my father’s cousins own a restaurant and gelatteria. Proof: the love of food is in my blood.

After a day of exploring Cefalu, we decided to dine at our family’s restaurant, Lilie’s Club. Thankfully we were hungry, because the meal to come was plentiful! Lilie’s is good for dinner, or even a late night meal if you are out around town. While it contains foods true to Sicilian culture, the restaurant caters to tourists as well, with an extensive menu including all of the food you can imagine.

We started with a mix of bruschette.

Plus red wine all around. After indulging in a little too much bruschette, I opted to order the swordfish, thinking it was a good, light option. Of course, “you’ve got to try this” was spoken all around the table once everyone dug in. Avoiding a full stomach just wasn’t going to happen during this vacation, and I was happy to accept that.

Tutto era delizioso!

The following day we decided to explore Mount Etna and the town of Taormina. Taormina is a beautiful town in the Province of Messina on the east coast of Sicily. It was my absolute favorite sight of Sicily.

Like I said, we first visited Mount Etna. Unrelated to food, if you travel to Sicily, this is a must. There is actually a couple restaurants at the top, but the best part is the stand that sells their delicious honey.

After seeing Etna, we ventured to Taormina. It took us a while, but we finally found the parking garage. Without it, I doubt we would’ve been able to park anywhere. Due to the time it took to find parking, we were starved. We stopped at the first restaurant we found, Trattoria Siciliana, which turned out to be a good decision.

I ordered the baked eggplant (photo beneath the penne) and an orange Fanta, which turned out to be completely different than the Fanta we are used to in the United States. It tasted more like carbonated orange juice. Bellies full, we walked around the town looking at shops and beautiful scenery. Our final destination was an ancient Greek theatre, Teatro Antico di Taormina. The walk was relatively long (for how tired we already were) and we were very displeased when (after paying to enter) we saw that a giant stage and screen were set up in the theatre, blocking what is usually an amazing view of the city. Despite this setback, we were able to climb higher and find beautiful, picture perfect views.