The English 20thC novlist D.H. Lawrence, who perpetually moaned about Italy but spent most of his time there, found it a ‘parterre of English weeds, all cultivating their egos hard against one another.’ But you come here to feast your eyes on the panorama of the sea, on Etna looming overhead, on two rivieras and a far-off ring of mountains. See all this from the little acropolis (214 m) where a gaunt old Roman theatre, brick and marble, carries you straight back to the old world. In summer this small town surrenders completely to tourism. There is a popular whole-day tour by bus, Taormina-Etna-Taormina (144 km).

Villa holidays: the Taormina area plus all Sicily offer many holiday rental properties.

Winter sun: Taormina and Eastern Sicily – in fact the whole of Sicily – have some winter sunshine.