Not Rome and its nauseatingly long Colosseum lines, Venice with the bottlenecked canals overflowing with tourists, nor Positano and its exclusive beach bars where a half-sized glass of Aperol will set you back $15.
The Italian destination that has everyone talking Stateside is a sun-drenched island just off the toe of the Italian boot, known for its balmy fall weather, with October highs hovering in the low 70s, fascinating historic monuments, and food that actually won’t burn a hole through your wallet.
Sicily has never been trendier than it is right now—or rather, a small hilltop town overlooking the island’s thunderous eastern volcano—and the figures don’t lie:
Italy’s Largest Island On The Radar Of Americans This Year
This June alone, a record-breaking 1.27 million passengers passed through Catania Airport, the main hub serving both the Sicilian city of Catania and the entire eastern half of the island.
Americans had their own shortcut: Delta’s nonstop flight from New York-JFK, which still operates throughout fall, and flight convenience and competitive fares aside, they’re primarily drawn to five things:
- Volcanic landscapes
- Baroque towns
- Ancient Greek ruins
- Turquoise beaches
- Taormina
The fifth item is not a word you’re yet to learn in Italian, nor a long-lost ancient spell: that’s the name of a small settlement perched atop a coastal hill, lying roughly 34 miles from Catania, that’s converted itself into the most desired, glamorous Sicilian destination among Americans.
If you’ve ever watched The White Lotus, most specifically season two of that show, you know what we’re banging on about.
Taormina Is The Most Sought-After Destination By Americans Going To Sicily
According to the latest PayTourist figures, Taormina passed one million overnight stays by September 4, and the U.S. is now its single biggest overseas market, accounting for 23.76% of foreign stays.
We’re sure the hit HBO series had its fair share of blame, but the glamorous hilltop town has been a go-to sunny escape for decades now. It’s only taken Americans a minute, and a little Jennifer Coolidge nudge, to catch up with their European counterparts.
Dubbed the Pearl of the Ionian, Taormina sits on a sun-baked hill overlooking the eastern Sicilian coast, and it’s a perfectly preserved medieval gem cut through with a single pedestrianised main street, lined with pasticcerie selling pistachio-stuffed cannoli and romantic terrace restaurants.
At one end of the thoroughfare, you’ll find Taormina Cathedral, a battlement-topped medieval church that looks more like a fortress than a place of worship.
Towards the other end, a short detour up Via Teatro Greco leads to the Ancient Theatre.
This is no regular ancient theatre, either: its crumbling scaenae frons and Corinthian columns frame views of snow-capped Etna in the distance, Sicily’s still-active, occasionally disruptive volcano.
A Cable Car Takes You From Taormina Straight To A Lush Mediterranean Island In Only 3 Minutes
The coolest part? The town has a scenic cable car linking it in only 3 minutes to the coastal district of Mazzarò, a compact beach enclave best known for its quieter coves and the jaw-dropping Isola Bella:
A lush Mediterranean garden topped with a pocket-sized villa, in island form, it is accessible from the mainland via a narrow sandy causeway.
All you need to do is walk to the far end of Isola Bella Beach and cross the strip of sand at low tide.
The beach itself is an absolute dream for an idle, do-nothing beach day, and though we can’t guarantee the beach bar will be open between mid and late October, one thing you can be sure of is the hordes of July tourists are nowhere to be seen, while daytime temperatures remain at a pleasant 72°F or thereabouts.
Even in October, Taormina averages over 7 hours of sunshine a day, so your tan is covered.
Sicily Doesn’t Need To Burn A Hole Through Your Wallet
Taormina may have built its fame as a White Lotus-adjacent, jet-setting enclave, but surprisingly enough, you don’t need to splurge on a four-figure stay at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace to soak up all its ancient allure.
There are plenty of low-key boutique options in town, some starting from roughly $75 a night, depending on your dates, like Al Vicoletto B&B, a 5-minute walk from the theatre itself.
Dining out in downtown Taormina is also surprisingly affordable, though perhaps not by Sicily standards, but we’ll get to that.
Aside from high-end restaurants like Otto Geleng and Principe Cerami, there are several more low-key, local-frequented osterie serving the same dishes, minus the white-tablecloth theatre, for about a quarter of the price.
Having been to Taormina myself, one local secret I wish more visitors knew about is Il Barcaiolo, a family-run seafood trattoria tucked into Mazzarò Bay, at the foot of the hill.
It’s a bit out of the way, sure, but nowhere else will you find spaghetti this fresh.
Average Prices In Taormina, Sicily
- Arancino or cannolo: $4–7
- Pizza in a casual restaurant: $15–25
- Pasta dish: $18–34
- Fresh seafood main course: $28–45
- 3-course meal in a mid-range restaurant: $55–90 per person, excluding drinks
- Cappuccino: $3.50–5
- Cable-car round trip: around $17
- B&B or simple guesthouse: $75–150 per night for two
- 3-star hotel: $120–230 per night
- Two sunbeds and an umbrella: $45–80
The Safety Levels In Italy Right Now
Wondering how safe Italy is to visit this fall?
The country stays at Level 2 according to the U.S. Department of State, with Americans advised to exercise increased caution when travelling due to terrorism.
In practice, this means maintaining a heightened sense of awareness in busy settings like train stations, airports, and tourist attractions, and keeping a close eye on your personal belongings, as petty theft is every bit as rampant as social media would have you believe.
In general, however, violent crime is rare. Even in Sicily, an island historically plagued by Mafia wars and organised crime, visitors aren’t ordinarily the target.
On the Travel Off Path Traveler Safety Index, Italy scores an impressive 93 out of 100, based on reports from recent visitors, indicating higher-than-average safety levels for Europe.
Sicily Beyond The Instagrammable Streets Of Taormina
If you think Taormina’s the best Sicily’s got to offer, think again.
Gorgeous and still relatively affordable as it may be, it is the American-friendly, polished, pricier end of the island.
We know this doesn’t mean it’s unaffordable to you, who’s bringing a stackload of U.S. dollars for a week-long vacation, but if you want to experience the true soul of Sicily, with arancini that cost a couple of bucks, cosy guesthouses run by someone’s nonna, and gloriously-chaotic streets, you’ll want to leave Taormina’s picture-ready pastel façades and panoramic terraces behind.
After 3 visits to the largest island in the Mediterranean, here are my top 5 all-time favourite Sicilian getaways for your consideration:
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Top 5 Destinations In Sicily You Can’t Miss In 2026
Syracuse
A historic Greek-founded town that prides itself on being the birthplace of Archimedes, Syracuse is split between a more modern, lived-in mainland and the ancient, sea-wrapped Ortigia Island, connected to it by two footbridges.
Ortigia is every Mediterranean fantasy come true:
Cobbled pavements, soaring Baroque churches at every corner, balconies looming over lanes so narrow you’ll have to crane your neck to catch a glimpse of the top cross, and that glittery, turquoise sea at the end of ochre-coloured streets.
Check out A Putia delle Cose Buone for some of the best homemade pasta alla Norma you’ll try on the island.
Noto
This one’s a short 25-mile drive from the previous spot, and to my White Lotus crew, it, too, made a cameo on the series.
You might recognise it from the girls’ day-trip episode, except you won’t be signing up for half the drama.
Think a beautiful, UNESCO-listed Baroque town built almost entirely out of honey-coloured limestone, with buildings glowing a bright yellow to the naked eye, and cosy little trattorie with shaded terraces spilling onto the stone streets.
They call this the Sicilian capital of Baroque for a reason, and between the monumental Cathedral of San Nicolò and Palazzo Nicolaci, famous for its wildly sculpted balconies and frescoed interiors, it’s not hard to see why.
Agrigento
One of the rougher-edged corners of Sicily, yet not one bit less fascinating, Agrigento is the closest Europe gets to the sort of chaotic, vertical cityscape I know from Brazil.
Having been born in and spent a good chunk of my life there, I could hardly separate Agrigento from the hillier corners of Rio:
I’m talking stunning yet crumbling buildings that somehow haven’t lost an ounce of their yesteryear grandeur, weathered convents wedged into a chaotic tangle of uphill lanes, and a local culture that’s staunchly family-first, appearances second.
And the cherry on top? It’s the main gateway for reaching the Valley of the Temples, a sprawling archaeological park of Greek-built temples that are probably the best-preserved you’ll visit across the pond.
Favignana
The largest of the Egadi Islands, lying off the mainland city of Trapani—another Sicilian gem we’ve covered in depth—Favignana stood in as the backdrop for yet another Hollywood blockbuster you might have watched recently:
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
If you’ve ever wondered where the hilltop castle standing in for Odysseus and Penelope’s Ithacan palace is located, look no further: it’s a short ferry crossing from Sicily itself.
Other than its newfound Hollywood fame, Favignana has some of the bluest, clearest waters I’ve seen anywhere in Italy, a laid-back main town dominated by a Baroque mother church, and maybe the best watermelon granita I’ve had in all of Sicily.
Palermo
You haven’t truly been to Sicily until you’ve experienced the loud, chaotic mess that is its coastal capital city.
Palermo is Arab-Norman palaces, time-blackened churches, and horn-blaring scooters squeezing through bustling street markets they have no business trying to fit into.
Good luck dodging them between mouthfuls of spleen sandwiches and sfincione.
Yes, the sensory overload can feel overwhelming after a couple of nights here, and central Palermo might feel more like a Latin American free-for-all open market than Europe proper, but you can’t deny the city has an intoxicating rhythm, and a defiant soul.
Ready for the real bargain?
Taormina may sound reasonable at first, but once you compare it with prices elsewhere in Sicily, you’ll soon realize you’ve been paying the Taormina rate:
Average Prices Across Sicily
- Arancina, panelle, cannolo, or other street snack in Palermo: $2–5
- Granita with brioche in Palermo: $4–7
- Pizza in a casual restaurant in Syracuse: $9–15
- Pasta alla Norma or another local pasta dish in Syracuse: $14–16
- Fresh seafood main course in Agrigento: $17–30
- 3-course meal in a mid-range restaurant in Favignana: $30–50 per person, excluding drinks
- Private room in a B&B or guesthouse in Agrigento: $55–110 per night for two
- 3-star hotel in Noto: $75–150 per night
Fly Nonstop To Sicily This Fall
This fall, Americans can still fly nonstop to Sicily from New York-JFK and Newark, into Catania (CTA) and Palermo (PMO), respectively.
Delta’s Catania service continues into winter, while United’s Palermo flights run until December 17.
If you’re heading to Europe this season, make sure you check the entry requirements and travel rules that apply to you as a U.S. passport holder.
From mandatory fingerprinting to reinforced border checks, there’s a lot you need to catch up with if you haven’t been across the pond in a while.
Head over to the Entry Requirement Checker, type in your destination’s name, and pull up the complete checklist of documents and border formalities.
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