Taormina · Backpacking

Hostels and cheap B&Bs sit below the town in Giardini Naxos, ten minutes by bus, and along the coast at Letojanni. Taormina itself starts expensive.

A dorm or budget room runs €25–45, an arancino lunch and a pizza dinner €15–22, bus fares a couple of euros. Around €50–90, roughly $55–100.

Interbus runs Giardini Naxos to Taormina every half hour and on to Catania airport; the cable car from Mazzarò costs a few euros and saves the climb.

The Villa Comunale gardens and their view of Etna, the Corso Umberto passeggiata, and the pebble beaches at Mazzarò and the Isola Bella causeway.

The terrace square where everyone gathers at sunset; the bars off Corso Umberto follow, and hostels down the hill post Etna trips each evening.