A 14th-century convent above the Ionian
San Domenico Palace keeps its convent bones: vaulted corridors, cloisters and terraced gardens, with the Ionian Sea below and Mount Etna on the horizon. It is a short walk from Taormina's main street, which makes it the rare Sicilian hotel that is both grand and in the middle of things.
May, June and September, when the sea is warm and Taormina is calmer than in August.
A few nights in the countryside — Susafa, a farmhouse in the Madonie mountains, is our favourite contrast to Taormina's polish.