Jump to content

Messina or trip to Taormina?


Esskayeff
 Share

Recommended Posts

Docking in Messina. We don't know whether to wander around Messina or take a trip to Taormina. Any recommendations please?:D

 

 

 

Definitely go to Taormina. There is a train from Messina (fewer trains on Sunday). Beautiful city!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely go to Taormina. There is a train from Messina (fewer trains on Sunday). Beautiful city!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

There is a train - but the reality is that the timings/frequency (or lack of it) often make it difficult for cruisers to get there and back. It's around 1 hour 40 minutes by train and then you need to get a bus from the train station to the town. I avidly avoid doing cruise tours but we found the only way to get to to Taormina within our timescale was via a ship's tour or very expensive taxi.

 

Having visited I would say it's very picturesque and worth a visit if you google it and find its a place you want to see. However, check out how many ships are in port and, dependent on the time of year, you may find it very very crowded. We said it's a place we'd like to visit without the thousands of others who were there at the time.

 

Messina isn't nearly as pretty but we did a very nice self-guided walking tour (I googled it) and the bell tower in the square at midday is a must.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Docking in Messina. We don't know whether to wander around Messina or take a trip to Taormina. Any recommendations please?:D

 

I agree with everyone else! Taormina is the place to go. It is a beautiful city and the ancient Greek theater is not to be missed. Messina has a cathedral wonderful clock tower that chimes at noon each day with all sorts of statues and the Virgin Mary that is wonderful to watch, but that is about the only thing of interest in Messina. See my video of Taormina posted elsewhere on the Italy board for more information.

 

Ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celebrity has $59.75 Taormina own your own excursion that lasts 5 hours.

 

Is there a better/cheaper way to get to Taormina on your own?

 

I am also considering Celebrity's Mt Etna/Taormina tour. I am interested in geology and visiting Mt Etna would be a great interest to me. But I am concerned that there is too much travel time involved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We took a “Godfather” small villages tour that included Taormina. I loved Taormina, but wouldn’t have wanted to miss he others. Savoca was stunning!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

DSCF5280.thumb.jpg.b60017a7955ce6332ccf26636dcc99aa.jpg

DSCF5272.thumb.jpg.c51a166da8a102f2a5f36b5fba8ebd0e.jpg

Edited by Cindy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celebrity has $59.75 Taormina own your own excursion that lasts 5 hours.

 

Is there a better/cheaper way to get to Taormina on your own?

 

I am also considering Celebrity's Mt Etna/Taormina tour. I am interested in geology and visiting Mt Etna would be a great interest to me. But I am concerned that there is too much travel time involved.

 

Don't worry about the travel time. There are spectacular views on this trip. Part of the time is the road up Mt Etna. If you are interested in geology, this is the perfect combo tour.

 

There are cheaper ways to get to Taormina, but it would be too time consuming and dependent on public transit schedules. This is one place where it makes sense taking a ship's excursion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't worry about the travel time. There are spectacular views on this trip. Part of the time is the road up Mt Etna. If you are interested in geology, this is the perfect combo tour.

 

There are cheaper ways to get to Taormina, but it would be too time consuming and dependent on public transit schedules. This is one place where it makes sense taking a ship's excursion.

 

Good to hear since we've got a Mt. Etna/Taormina excursion planned soon and I was worried about the travel time!

 

OP. you could also see if anyone on your Roll Call is interested in sharing an independent excursion (with Rome In Limo, Joe Banana, or Sicily-specific tour providers). I know some people on our Roll Call were looking for people to share.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to hear since we've got a Mt. Etna/Taormina excursion planned soon and I was worried about the travel time!

 

OP. you could also see if anyone on your Roll Call is interested in sharing an independent excursion (with Rome In Limo, Joe Banana, or Sicily-specific tour providers). I know some people on our Roll Call were looking for people to share.

 

Yes, a private tour would be the best option to manage your time .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
There is a train - but the reality is that the timings/frequency (or lack of it) often make it difficult for cruisers to get there and back. It's around 1 hour 40 minutes by train and then you need to get a bus from the train station to the town. I avidly avoid doing cruise tours but we found the only way to get to to Taormina within our timescale was via a ship's tour or very expensive taxi.

We have come to the same conclusion.

 

 

Having visited I would say it's very picturesque and worth a visit if you google it and find its a place you want to see. However, check out how many ships are in port and, dependent on the time of year, you may find it very very crowded. We said it's a place we'd like to visit without the thousands of others who were there at the time.

Fingers crossed we don't find it too busy then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Messina has a cathedral wonderful clock tower that chimes at noon each day with all sorts of statues and the Virgin Mary that is wonderful to watch, but that is about the only thing of interest in Messina.
For us, the deciding factor was that Messina was the second of six straight port days, and we had long excursions booked in all the other ports. In addition, it's an easy walk from the ship to the main piazza in front of the cathedral. We decided to walk over to the cathedral (it was a Sunday, and we had a bonus with a baptism taking place), went to a nearby trattoria for bruschetta and beverages, and enjoyed the clock tower's noon performance. We then went back to the ship for lunch, spent the afternoon by the pool, and enjoyed the harbor views.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We are really undecided on this one whilst Taormina is lovely we have spent a holiday there so have seen all the town and beach has to offer, we too have several busy days planned of places that we have not visited before so we are thinking of staying in Messina. Does anyone have any information on the little train?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have visited Messina twice by cruise ships. The first time we did the clock and petite train as well as wander around the area for cannoli. The second visit we rented a car from Avis down the street and drove to Taormina with friends. Just google public parking and chart a course with Google Maps. It’s an easy drive on a highway with little chance of getting lost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We took a “Godfather” small villages tour that included Taormina. I loved Taormina, but wouldn’t have wanted to miss he others. Savoca was stunning!

 

 

I agree with Cindy. The Godfather tour was great. We enjoyed Taormina but also loved Savoca and Forza D'agro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DO BOTH! Start your day in Messina and then go to Taormina.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/messinaclockworx.jpg

 

The highlight in Messina is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Messina "which contains the biggest and most complex mechanical and astronomical clock in the world. Designed by the firm Ungerer of Strasbourg it was inaugurated in 1933 and is the city’s main attraction even today. At noon a complex system of counterweights, leverages and gears, determines the movement of the gilded bronze statues located in the facade. The mechanism moves every day at 12.00am and lasts twelve minutes."

 

Prior to the show at the Bell Tower, we wandered around town for about 90 minutes and climbed up to the Santuario della Madonna di Montalto church that offers 180-degree views of the immediate area down to the port.

 

Other than that, the recommendation is to travel to the nearby town of Taormina. "The climate is a dream, its position, perfect panoramas, monuments and luxurious flora and fauna render Taormina a location admired by all who visit it. The city lies on a terrace, with a view of the ancient Greco-Roman theater against a backdrop of citrus groves with Mount Etna engulfed in the glory of the Ionian Sea beyond."

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/taorminatheatre.jpg

 

So we arranged in advance with TourShuttle.com for roundtrip transportation for 8 to Taormina at a cost of €31,50 per person. The driver was waiting on us when the Cathedral of Messina tower completed its multiple level show. Travel time is about 49 minutes each way which conservatively gave us about 4 hours to enjoy Taormina before returning to the ship. That was the plan anyway.

 

Unfortunately, the A/C in our van quit almost immediately and the engine totally quit while on the highway. Our driver pulled over onto the shoulder where we were safe and immediately called for a rescue. No worries. Within 30 minutes we had a new taxi with cold A/C pick us up and take us to Taormina, leaving our original driver awaiting assistance. For us, this minor setback was not a problem. We only needed about 2.5 hours to fully explore the town and the Greek Amphitheater (€10 per person), see the beautiful views, and enjoy a fresh cannoli. We returned a little early in the same taxi that rescued us, and we paid him in full.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/taorminahouses.jpg

 

I highly recommend watching the show at the bell tower and then heading over to visit Taormina. That's a good and inexpensive plan for the day. Kudos to our original driver for his skillful handling of a bad situation. However, since I received no response from TourShuttle.com when I informed them of our transportation problems, I cannot recommend them, and suggest you book transportation with someone else.

 

Complete, very detailed review of entire cruise and precruise preparation:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/easte...terranean.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope we will find enough in Messina to pass a day, as we have holidayed in Taormina three times for a week each time previously. Love the place in all fairness, but probably not worth us making the trek in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have been twice, the first time in a huge cruise ship tour group of 50, where you shuffled along. Also, my husband was pickpocketed in the huge elevators down to the tour buses.

The second time a private Godfather tour in a van of about 8 was far far superior.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
I hope we will find enough in Messina to pass a day, as we have holidayed in Taormina three times for a week each time previously. Love the place in all fairness, but probably not worth us making the trek in.

 

Besides walking around Messina as others have suggested, art enthusiasts would enjoy the regional art Museum in Messina, which has two huge and wonderful paintings by Caravaggio in a room by themselves, and we had that room to ourselves when we went there. Large crowds generally cluster around Caravaggios in other museums because there aren't many of his paintings that have survived. We went to the Messina museum by catching a tram on the street that ran by the dock. A taxi ride between the dock and the museum wouldn't cost much.

~Maya

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celebrity has $59.75 Taormina own your own excursion that lasts 5 hours.

 

Is there a better/cheaper way to get to Taormina on your own?

 

I am also considering Celebrity's Mt Etna/Taormina tour. I am interested in geology and visiting Mt Etna would be a great interest to me. But I am concerned that there is too much travel time involved.

 

 

Have a look at Romeinlimo tour Mount Etna and Taormina, (http://www.romeinlimo.com/messina/mount-etnea-taormia.htm) we did this on our Honeymoon in 2015, booked through the Ril group page and found 6 others from our cruise roll call to join us.60 Euro each for a fantastic day. you don't go up to the top of Etna but get the choice to climb up one of the lower craters, but even the trip to the bottom of the craters is fun. Taormina is amazing. We are on Jewel in September this year and have booked the Taormina on your own tour as it is so lovely we want to visit again.

If you are interested this is the video of our cruise, obviously you don't need to watch the whole thing but Sicily starts at 8.47 and lots of footage of Etna, us climbing the crater and Taormina.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We loved our day in Messina. The clock tower noon event was just neat, and when the big crowd cheered at the end, I got a lump in my throat.

The other thing we discovered was even quirkier. From the ship we had seen what looked like the roof of a galleria. When we found it, it appeared to be all boarded up. But on another side we found a door, and went inside. A magnificent three-story building, mostly empty except for three tiny coffee bars. It felt like being in a Fellini movie, or Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo and Juliet".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...