We are traveling in mid-June. We are staying on Ortigia and would like to spend the day in Taormina. We've been told it is hard to park. If we did attempt the drive, how early would we have to get there in order to find parking?
Is there a better way to get there? We thought to hire a driver, but it is 250 Euros each way.
There is plenty of parking at pay lots just outside the pedestrianized area of the old city. The Lumbi lot has a free shuttle to the entrance of the ZTL. You walk directly in from the shuttle drop off spot. It is all very easy.
https://www.traveltaormina.com/en/how-to-reach-us/parking.html
Thanks for your reply! The train will take over two hours each way, plus time to get from Ortigia to the Syracusa station, and time to get from the Taormina station to town. The drive will take about an hour and a half, or less, and if we can get parking, we'll already be in town. I'm just nervous about the parking situation. I don't want to drive all the way there and not find parking.
It looks like there are almost a thousand spots in the one parking lot! I'm thinking we might be ok if we get there by 10:00 am.
Where did you get that price of 250e each way to Taormina?
I did not pay that much coming from Milazzo all the way to Siracusa..
I got it from a taxi driver who is supposed to do our tour to Agrigento and Villa Romano del Casale. He said he could take us to Taormina for 250 Euros each way. I've asked our hotel if they know of someone else who could take us and they didn't have anyone. Also, in Rick Steves Sicily book, he mentions a driver that does tours from Syracusa for 250. It does not specify one way or not.
I've always parked at Porta Catania parking structure. Save the address below in your GoogleMaps.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7iAm479sUS89PsEz7
The image below shows what it looks like. It's huge and I've never had problems finding parking even in June:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/w51YGmDG14FJkvdU6
Once you park, you go to the proper floor with the elevator and you are at the town center level, just a short walk away.
There is another parking structure at Porta Pasquale, address below:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRe2acGg1uGnqYP77
There is no reason to pay 500 euro to a taxi driver when you can drive on your own for 40 euro of gasoline round trip (plus parking fees of maybe a couple of euro per hour).
Thank you, everyone! This makes me feel a LOT better about driving.
We just left Taormina this morning. We had parking with our hotel, but were told that either parking structure drops you along Corso Umberto (the main walking district) though most people use the Catania lot. Based on our experience, I would say the drive will probably be closer to 2 hours. It is an hour from Taormina to Catania and an hour from Catania to Ortigia. I also found that all of the driving estimates were a bit off and generally took a bit longer. There are a lot of “work zones” on the A19 and A20 where speeds are reduced or lanes are closed. Did not see much work, but one of our guides told us that is not unusual.
Safe travels!
Thanks for the additional info! Good to know what the conditions are on the ground.
