Hotel La Riva

Giardini-Naxos


Right on the seafront, next to the tourist office, this unintentionally retro, family-run hotel offers individually decorated rooms with traditional Sicilian furnishings and marvellous inlaid-wood bedsteads. There's nothing flash about the place – the dated TV sets and showers are begging for an upgrade and the rooms could be cleaner – but the place does have character.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Giardini-Naxos attractions

1. Beach

0.55 MILES

Giardini's long beach (mainly sand and coarse grey pebbles) curves around the crescent-shaped bay between Capo Taormina and Capo Schisò, a lick of…

2. Palazzo Duca di Santo Stefano

1.35 MILES

Just behind Corso Umberto and near Porta Catania, this 13th-century palace was once home to the De Spuches, a noble family of Spanish origin. Now used as…

3. Palazzo Ciampoli

1.43 MILES

The 14th-century Palazzo Ciampoli stands adjacent to the Hotel El Jebel.

4. Torre dell’Orologio

1.48 MILES

Located just west of the main square, Piazza IX Aprile, this 12th-century clock tower marks the entrance to Borgo Medievale, Taormina's oldest quarter.

5. Chiesa di San Giuseppe

1.51 MILES

Overlooking Piazza IX Aprile, this jewel-box church was completed in the early 18th century. The central portal is made of local marble while the portals…

6. Corso Umberto I

1.56 MILES

Taormina's chief delight is wandering this pedestrian-friendly, boutique-lined thoroughfare. Start at the tourist office in Palazzo Corvaja, which dates…

7. Santuario Madonna della Rocca

1.59 MILES

Built inside a grotto on Monte Tauro, this small church was founded by the abbot Francesco Raineri in around 1640. According to legend, the Virgin Mary…

8. Villa Comunale

1.6 MILES

Created by Englishwoman Florence Trevelyan in the late 19th century, these stunningly sited public gardens offer breathtaking views of the coast and Mt…