Taormina is on the northern half of the eastern coast of Sicily.

Taormina sits atop a cliff above the coastal A18 autostrada (parallel to the SS114 highway) between Catania and Messina, 34 miles northeast of Mt. Etna.

Look for flights to Catania. There you can rent a car to get to Taormina. As an alternative, to avoid any inconvenience on arrival you can book a private transfer.

The train station, Taormina-Giardini (tel. 0942-51-026 or 0942-51-511), is in a suburb on the SS114 coastal road.

From the station, a local bus, Interbus (www.interbus.it), runs a service daily from 9am to midnight and makes the 15-minute trip up to Taormina itself three times an hour up the switchbacked Via Pirandello road to a stop near Porta Messina, the north gate into town. A ticket cost about €1.30, which you can buy from the driver. Buses stop in Taormina.

You can also take a taxi for about €15; book ahead by calling tel. 335-5398799; www.naxosonline.it/taxi-taormina.

Taxi ranks are found at Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and at Piazza San Pancrazio. These are used primarily if you`re leaving the heart of Taormina and venturing into its hinterlands.

Everything is within walking distance in Taormina, though you might encounter a steep climb now and then being that this is a hilltop town.

The more distant parts of Taormina are linked by minibus, which leaves from the terminal at Via Luigi Pirandello in town and costs about €1 for a one-way ticket. Most visitors use the minibus that goes from the terminal to Madonna della Rocca, since it passes most of the major hotels.

There`s a bus ticket booth at the bus station just outside the Port Messina town gate on Piazza Luigi Pirandello along Via Pirandello (tel. +39-0942-625-301).

If you`re venturing off on day excursions, a network of buses goes to such places as Giardini-Naxos and Mount Etna. The tourist office has a complete list of brochures and timetables.

If coming in by car, you may enter the town center only to go to a hotel or a rented house: local police may require to see proof of booking. An alternative is to park the car at one of the 2 large public parking lots (Parcheggio Lumbi or Parcheggio Porta Catania) that you encounter on the outskirts of the city coming in. From there, either walk to the city center (just 2 min from Parcheggio Porta Catania and around 10 min but uphill from Parcheggio Lumbi) or catch the shuttle buses running continuously to the center.

Taormina is a ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone). Traffic cameras take pictures of your license plate if you enter the ZTL (in this case, the historic center). If you are not a resident who has paid for a registered pass, you will be hit with a huge fine.

Note that if you are driving here on the A18 Autostrada you have to get off at an exit before or after town and onto the coastal SS 114 as the A18 highway itself actually tunnels beneath Taormina.

Parking garages at the edges of town:

-Parcheggio Lumbi garage (northeast end of town) costs about €2 for 1 hr. 15 min. (increases to about €4 in August), or around €12.50 for 24 hours (increases to about €14.50 in Aug). There`s a free shuttle from the lot to Porta Messina.

-Parcheggio Mazzarò has both a garage and a cheap open lot (on Via Luigi Pirandello at the northeast entrance to town). The garage costs around €5 for 2 hr. 30 min. (increases to about €7 in Aug), or around €12.50 for 24 hours (increases to about €14.50 in Aug). The lot costs around €3.50 for 3 hr. (increases to around €4 in July and Aug) or around €6 per day (increases to about €9 in July and Aug). Nov to Mar the lot charges around €2.50 no matter how long you park.

-Parcheggio Porta Catania garage (southwest end of town) is around €1 per hour (increases to around €3 in Aug), or around €14 for 24 hours (increases to around €16 in Aug).

Taormina is picturesquely set up upon a steep hillside overlooking the northeast Sicilian coastline, a long thin town shaped a bit like a hatchet with a backward-curved handle.

The main entrance into town is the Porta Messina at the north end of the historic center, outside of which runs Via Pirandello, the twisting main road down to the coast used by most cars and buses arriving in Taormina. (A short way along Via Pirandello to the right is the upper station of the Funivia cable car down to the coastal village of Mazzarò and the northerly beaches of Taormina.)

Downtown Taormina consists primarily of one major east-west pedestrian street, Corso Umberto, which stretches from Porta Messina in the northeast to Porta Catania in the southwest, and off of which run narrow alleys that are often so steep they become stairs.

Running roughly parallel to this main street on either side are two roads open to cars: Via Roma/Via Bagnoli Croce, which snakes around the edges of the lower, coastal side of town; and Via Circonvallazione, which runs along the upper, mountain-facing side.

Below Taormina on the coast is its modern sister city of Giardini (sometimes called Giardini-Naxos), a 20th century beach resort of ten-story hotels running almost uninterrupted along a long stretch of sand.

Taormina is a very safe place to visit. Nevertheless, you should always take precautions when traveling, ie., keep your passport in your hotel safe if you can, don`t carry a great deal of cash, be vigilant about your own safety and beware of pickpockets. It is always recommended to avoid walking alone at night and in remote areas.