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Isola Bella

Taormina's tidal island, once an English botanist's garden, now a ten-hectare nature reserve.

  • Taormina
  • Nature
Plan your visitSee tours
Where
Taormina
Best for
Pebble tombolo causeway
Allow
2 hours
Tickets
From €6
Checked September 2026

A pebble causeway, a tombolo, links Taormina's beach to this small wooded island, but only when the tide allows; wait long enough and the sea reclaims it. In 1890 the English botanist Florence Trevelyan bought the island, built a small house, and filled the grounds with exotic plants that still grow, now wild, among the pines.

The Sicilian region protected the roughly ten hectares as a nature reserve in 1998, home to peregrine falcons, Audouin's gulls and a lizard subspecies found nowhere else. The water around the rocks stays some of the clearest on this stretch of coast, which is why visitors keep coming even now that the formal garden has given way to something closer to wilderness.

Sources and citations (3)
  1. Regione SicilianaRiserva Naturale Isola BellaReserve identity, municipality and componentsRead source
  2. Ministero della CulturaMuseo naturalistico regionale di Isolabella e Villa CaroniaMuseum identityRead source
  3. Regione SicilianaIsola Bella di Taormina, Perla del MediterraneoPark and museum contextRead source

Four things worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. The pebble tomboloNatural sand and pebble strip

    A narrow strip of pebbles that connects the island to the shore when the sea allows, and vanishes when it does not.Between the beach and the island

  2. Florence Trevelyan’s house and gardenFlorence Trevelyan, from 1890

    The English botanist built a small house and planted exotic species that still grow among the pines.On the island

  3. The birds and the endemic lizardNature reserve, since 1998

    Peregrine falcons, Audouin’s gulls and a lizard subspecies found nowhere else live in the reserve.Rocks and cliffs of the island

  4. The clear-water coveProtected sea

    Among the clearest water on this stretch of coast, good for a swim or snorkel.Around the island

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Tickets
From €6
Booking
No booking needed
Time needed
2 hours
Best time
Early morning, before the boat tours and day-trippers from Taormina arrive
Getting there
Take the cable car from Via Pirandello down to Mazzarò, then walk about 200 meters; or follow Via Pirandello on foot to the Isola Bella viewpoint and take the path down. There's no direct parking at the island; the nearest lots are in Mazzarò.
Accessibility
Not wheelchair accessible: reaching the cove involves roughly 134 steps down from the road, on top of the uneven pebble causeway itself.

Reduced ticket is €3; the beach below stays free, only the wooded reserve itself is ticketed. Visits run in small groups of up to 15 with staggered start times in peak season. Last updated September 2026. Prices change, so check the official site before you go.

Bring water shoes: the causeway and the cove floor are pebbles, not sand, and they're harder underfoot than they look from above.

See toursOfficial website
Get directionsGoogle MapsApple Maps

Tours worth booking

A few we would book ourselves, to get more from your visit.

Booking through these links may earn Italia Magnifica a commission, at no cost to you.

  1. Taormina The Sicilian Colors and Flavors of the White Lotus

    • Viator
    • 5h
    • 5.0★ · 10 reviews
    from €750Book this tour

  2. Taormina and Etna Full Day Tour from Giardini Naxos cruise port

    • Viator
    • 8h
    • 5.0★ · 3 reviews
    from €507Book this tour

  3. Taormina Tour with Greek Theater Ticket from Giardini Naxos port

    • Viator
    • 4h
    • 5.0★ · 2 reviews
    from €325Book this tour

  4. Mt. Etna & Taormina: Private Day Trip from Catania

    • Viator
    • 5h
    • 5.0★ · 2 reviews
    from €196Book this tour

  5. Etna and Taormina Private Tour from Giardini Naxos

    • Viator
    • 7h
    • 5.0★ · 1 reviews
    from €190Book this tour

  6. Cruise in the Taormina Bay - 4 hours - with Skipper

    • Viator
    • 4h
    • 5.0★ · 1 reviews
    from €250Book this tour

Good to know

How long should you spend at Isola Bella?

Allow about two hours with time to swim. The island itself can be seen quickly; the pleasure is in the water and the cove.

How do you get to Isola Bella?

Take the cable car from Via Pirandello down to Mazzarò, then walk a short distance, or follow the path down from the viewpoint. There is no parking at the island, so lots are in Mazzarò.

Can you walk to Isola Bella?

Only when the sea lets the pebble strip surface, and not always. Access to the island itself is regulated as a nature reserve, so check the rules before you go, and go early to avoid the boat tours.

More to see nearby

Same city first, then the nearest across the region.

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