​

Part 1 – Taormina

We did not come to Sicily to stay in one place. We came to move.To drive. To explore historic stories across the island and taste the food.

Our first base was the extraordinary Hotel Monte Tauro — a bold 1970s architectural statement clinging dramatically to the cliffside above the Ionian Sea.

​

The Hotel That Hangs Over the Sea

The Monte Tauro Hotel is not discreet. It does not blend in. It cascades.

Concrete terraces stack down the rock face, each with wide wooden balconies overlooking the coast toward Giardini Naxos and Mount Etna. From our room, the sea stretched endlessly below us — fishing boats leaving silver trails in the morning light.

The external glass lift was the heartbeat of the building.

Up and down it glided, exposed to sky and stone, carrying guests between the cliff levels. Each ascent felt slightly theatrical — suspended between land and sea.

Breakfast on our balcony became ritual:

• Fresh bread still warm

• Sicilian oranges

• Dark espresso

• The scent of salt and rock

• ​

Mid-Autumn in Taormina is the season of softness. The summer cruise crowds have thinned. The heat no longer overwhelms. Evenings are warm enough for open-air dining without the urgency of high season.

​

Walking Through Layers of Civilization

Taormina is older than it looks. Begin at the Teatro Antico di Taormina, built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC and later reshaped by the Romans. It is one of the most spectacular ancient theatres in the world — not only for its architecture, but for its framing of Mount Etna behind the stage.

​

Sit quietly on those stone tiers and Sicily’s history reveals itself:

• Greek colonists

• Roman governors

• Arab scholars

• Norman rulers

• Spanish viceroys

​

The island has always been a cultural crossroads — and you can hear it in the music later that evening. From the theatre, wander down to Corso Umberto I, the elegant spine of Taormina. Balconies overflow with bougainvillea. Stone archways open into hidden courtyards. Ceramic tiles shimmer in cobalt and lemon. Pause at Piazza IX Aprile for one of the finest views in Italy — sea and sky blending into one luminous horizon.

​

The Singing on the Steps

That evening, undecided about dinner, we followed sound rather than guidebooks.

A man stood playing guitar outside a restaurant where tables climbed up narrow stone steps. His voice was warm, resonant, unmistakably Sicilian — yet threaded with something older. There was an Arabic lilt in the phrasing, a reminder that between the 9th and 11th centuries Sicily was under Arab rule — influencing its language, architecture, citrus cultivation, and music. We sat. We ate Spaghetti alle vongole with a bottle of Nero d’Avola. Warm stone beneath our feet. Midway through the evening, one of the waiters joined him in harmony. The entire restaurant fell quiet. It was not performance — it was inheritance.

At the end of the night, we bought the musician’s CD. It would become the soundtrack to our drives across Sicily.

​

A Nightcap & A Foreshadowing

Before returning to Monte Tauro, we stopped at the legendary Wunderbar in Piazza IX Aprile.

In the 1950s and 60s this was a favourite haunt of film stars — part of Taormina’s golden cinematic era. And then, as if on cue, the musician began playing the theme from The Godfather. It was perfectly timed. Tomorrow, we would drive to Savoca.

Cinema and reality were beginning to blur.

​

WATCH OUR VIDEO DIARY FROM TAORMINA AND SAVOCCA 

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Suggested Walking Route Map Outline for Taormina

(Older-Walker Friendly – Gentle Pace)

Total walking distance: Approx. 2.5–3 km
Terrain: Cobbled streets, moderate inclines
Footwear: Supportive walking shoes essential

Start: Hotel Monte Tauro

⬇ Walk uphill toward town (10 minutes)

Stop 1: Teatro Antico di Taormina

Allow 60–90 minutes
Benches available inside

⬇

Stop 2: Villa Comunale Gardens

Shaded benches, excellent rest stop

⬇

Stop 3: Corso Umberto I

Gentle strolling, café stops

⬇

Stop 4: Piazza IX Aprile

Photography point + rest opportunity

⬇

Stop 5: Dinner on the Steps (local trattoria area near Vicolo Stretto)

⬇

Final Stop: Wunderbar for Nightcap

​

​

Where to Stay in Taormina 

Classic Architectural Statement

• Hotel Monte Tauro

​

Elegant Historic Charm

• Grand Hotel Timeo

​​

Boutique & Romantic

• Hotel Villa Carlotta

​

Where to Eat in Taormina

• Wunderbar – aperitivo & atmosphere

• Ristorante La Griglia – classic Sicilian seafood

• Trattoria da Nino – traditional, family-run​

​

​

Part 2 – Savoca

​We left Taormina after breakfast at Hotel Monte Tauro, the glass lift carrying us one final time down the cliff face before we drove north along the coast and then inland into the hills.

Savoca does not reveal itself quickly. The road narrows. The landscape dries. Olive trees cling to slopes. The Ionian Sea slips from view. And then — perched on a ridge — the stone village appears. This was “Corleone”. Not the real Corleone, but the Corleone of "The Godfather" films.

​

Why Savoca Became “Corleone”

In 1971, when Francis Ford Coppola began filming The Godfather, the real town of Corleone in western Sicily had been modernised. Telephone wires. New buildings. Asphalt roads. It no longer looked like the timeless, rural Sicilian village described in Mario Puzo’s novel.

Coppola needed a place that felt untouched by the 20th century.

Savoca — remote, stone-built, quiet — was perfect.

No modern signage.
No visible development.
Narrow stepped streets.
Ancient churches and medieval façades.

It doubled as Corleone in several key scenes.

​

The Wedding Church

We climbed to the Chiesa di San Nicolò — the church where Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino) marries Apollonia Vitelli.

The wedding scene is one of the most visually poetic in the film. Michael, in exile after killing Sollozzo and McCluskey, hides in Sicily under the protection of Don Tommasino. There, walking through the countryside, he sees Apollonia — “Thunderbolt”.

The procession scene — villagers following, music playing, the bride in traditional dress — was filmed on the steps you walked.

Standing there yourself, the silence is striking.

No film crew.
No orchestra.
Just wind and cicadas.

​

Walking the Procession Route

We traced the same route the wedding party takes, down through the village streets toward Bar Vitelli.

In the film, this is where Michael first asks Apollonia’s father for permission to court her. The bar interior — wooden tables, faded walls — remains astonishingly similar.

Inside, the walls are lined with production stills and photographs from filming. Black-and-white images of Coppola directing. Frames of Pacino, young and intense. Memorabilia preserved carefully.

You had your photograph taken beside the silver silhouette statue of Coppola holding a camera — a nod to the director who turned this quiet hill village into cinematic legend.

​

The Folk Museum & Rural Memory

You wandered into the small local museum — rooms preserved with traditional iron bedsteads, crucifixes, hand tools, rifles laid on wooden tables beside chestnuts and produce.

These were not props.

This was real Sicilian rural life — the kind Coppola wanted authenticity for.

Savoca worked because it still was the Sicily of the 1940s in atmosphere and architecture. It required minimal alteration. The real Corleone, by contrast, had changed too much to convincingly represent the period.

Savoca offered:

• Visual continuity

• Dramatic hilltop positioning

• Medieval stone structures

• Isolation ideal for filming logistics

It was easier to control access, lighting, and crowd scenes in a smaller, quieter village.

​

Cinematic vs Reality

It is important — especially in a Walks With Grandma guide — to gently separate myth from history.

Savoca was not a Mafia stronghold.

It was a backdrop.

The romanticised Sicilian exile scenes contrast sharply with the darker realities of organised crime in other parts of Sicily. Coppola’s Sicily is nostalgic, sun-drenched, almost pastoral.

Yet standing in Savoca, you feel how powerful cinema can be in shaping global perception of a place.

​

Panoramic Silence

From the hilltop, the view stretches endlessly over terraced valleys and dry ridgelines. The castle ruins watch from above. The church bells echo faintly.

It is peaceful.

And that peace is what makes the film scenes so haunting in retrospect.

​

Returning to Taormina

By late afternoon, golden light softened the stone walls. We drove back toward Taormina, descending from the hills to the coast.

That evening we ate at Ristorante La Griglia — and how lovely that you remembered it.

Fresh fish.
Wood-fired pizza.
Simple, generous Sicilian cooking.

After a day steeped in cinematic history and mountain air, it felt grounding. Real. Delicious.

We slept well that night at Monte Tauro.

Because the following morning we would turn south — toward Ragusa and the Baroque heart of Sicily.

​

Suggested Walking Route Map Outline – Savoca

(Older-Walker Friendly – Moderate Inclines)

Total walking distance: Approx. 1.5–2 km
Terrain: Steep stone steps & inclines
Time needed: 2–3 hours

​

Start: Car Park Below Village

⬆ Walk uphill into Savoca

Stop 1: Bar Vitelli

Coffee stop + memorabilia viewing

⬆

Stop 2: Procession Route Walk

Slow climb — take rests

⬆

Stop 3: Chiesa di San Nicolò

Allow time inside

⬆

Stop 4: Castle Ruins Viewpoint

Panoramic valley views

⬇

Return via same route

TIPS: Supportive footwear essential & Carry water in warmer months.

​

​

​

​