Taormina La Dolce Vita, Messina

Taormina, city of art and a seaside resort, a place that fascinates and enraptures you, that seduces you and ties you to it, is still an elitist tourist resort today, for those people who love to sit at the tables of some elegant open-air coffee shop or on the terrace of some local restaurant every summer. At the end of the eighteenth century, Johann Wolfang Goethe came to this place during his “Journeys through Italy” and was amazed and charmed by its beauty. After him came Guy de Maupassant, and then many other intellectuals and artists, from Henry Faulkner to Paul Klee, from Truman Capote to Tennessee Williams, some of whom lived in Taormina for long periods, increasing the city’s prestige and filling it with legend.

Hollywood was also enchanted by this “little piece of paradise”: Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich (who carried on ignoring each other here too, due to their legendary rivalry), Audrey Hepburn and Liz Taylor, who spent a stormy honeymoon here with Richard Burton. Internationally famous stars spent their vacations here, most of whom stayed in the wonderful, old San Domenico Palace Hotel, often during the prestigious Taormina Film Festival and helping to make Taormina one of the legendary locations of the Dolce Vita.

At the end of Corso Umberto I you will find Piazza IX Aprile, that is home to the Church of Sant’Agostino, the Church of San Giuseppe and the Porta di Mezzo (Middle Gate) that includes the wonderful Clock Tower. This square, that provides a wonderful view over the Gulf of Messina, is surrounded by elegant open-air coffee shops, meeting places for the famous and not so famous tourists on summer evenings.

After an aperitif in the square, the evening often continues in the nearby lounge bar La Giara, or in other clubs such as the Septimo, on the Salita San Pancrazio. Another very popular club, especially in the summer is the Panasia beach, and elegant and original seaside establishment where there are sofa beds (yes, it’s true!) available on the beach where you can relax and sip a cocktail.