Giardini Naxos

Giardini Naxos is a popular town and resort situated just south of Taormina on the north-eastern coast of Sicily. It is a popular area for tourists seeking both culture and beaches.

The popular attractions of Giardini Naxos are centred around the beach, seaside and nightlife and also the museum and excavations of ancient Naxos.

For lovers of the sea and beach, the Bay of Naxos is very pretty with its sandy beaches and a backdrop of hills around much of the bay. Giardini Naxos is a resort particular popular with young people as it has a lively nightlife. The beach is long and sandy and next to the beach is a wide selection of bars, cafes and hotels.

Giardini Naxos is a fairly typical resort town with the focus very much on the area around the beach but the town is pleasant and quite pretty with its attractively painted buildings and abundance of flowers and palm trees along the main street. It has a good selection of cafes and restaurants and accommodation.

The resort is more low-key than nearby Taormina but also less expensive. If you want to be close to Taormina but want something cheaper this is a good proposition and is just a short bus or car ride from Taormina itself. Also if you want a beach holiday Taormina centre is not actually on the beach and you have to go up and down in a cable car to get to the nearest beach and so this may suit you better.
For the gourmets amongst you, the local cuisine offers dishes based on fish: seafood salad (octopus and shrimp), tuna and smoked salmon, 'bruschetta', oysters, a fried mixture of squid, mullets and stuffed sardines, sea-food risotto or swordfish rolls, perhaps accompanied by the famous Sicilian wines, including the so-called 'wine of Etna' (red, white and rosé). For those who like fish, between the second week of June and early July, in Giardini Naxos, there is the traditional Seafood Festival.