Isola Bella
Isola Bella features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Taormina. Give it roughly ~120 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type nature
- Suggested visit ~120 min
- Taormina Taormina guide
About Isola Bella
A tiny private island connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of sand, creating a perfect turquoise lagoon below Taormina's cliffs, now a nature reserve accessible by boat or cable car.
Isola Bella is the small jewel-like island that appears in almost every photograph of Taormina, a thickly wooded rocky islet connected to the shore by a narrow strip of sand, in a setting of extraordinary natural beauty. It sits directly below the cliffs of Taormina at the town of Mazzarò (accessible from Taormina by cable car or road), surrounded by some of the clearest and most spectacularly coloured water on the Sicilian coast. The island, which measures only 90 by 60 metres, was a private property for much of the 20th century, owned by Florence Trevelyan and then by the Bosurgi family, who built a small villa on it. It is now a nature reserve administered by the Sicilian region. The beaches on either side of the connecting sandy isthmus are among the most beautiful in Sicily.
Did you know? Isola Bella was privately owned for much of the 20th century, first by Florence Trevelyan (who created the Villa Comunale gardens), then by the Bosurgi family, before the Sicilian region acquired it as a nature reserve.
How long is a visit to Isola Bella?
Set aside roughly ~120 min for Isola Bella. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Isola Bella worth your time?
Isola Bella is among the 15 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Taormina, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Taormina
Hear the story of Isola Bella
Preview the Taormina tour free in the Gingerguide app.