The closest airport to Taormina is Catania (CTA, about 65 km).

Please note: a few booking services may include, by default, the Comiso Airport as a possible destination when you ask for Catania; the distance between Comiso Airport (CIY) and Taormina is more that 140 km).

Catania Airport

Catania Airport (CTA) is located 65 kilometers from Taormina (see map below).

Once you arrive at Catania Airport, there are multiple options to reach Taormina.

Rent a car.

Major car rental companies operate in Catania. The car rental parking is located in front of the airport terminal. As mentioned above, acces to Taormina by car is restricted, but you can leave the care in a large parking lot less than 200 meter form the conference venue (see map below: parking “Parcheggio Porta Catania”). A car allows you to fully enjoy the conference and Taormina, while giving you the option to find possibly less expensive accomodation just ouside downtown Taormina. 

Take a train directly from the airport

Catania Airport train station is 600 meters from the airport terminal and is connected by a shuttle service every 10 minutes. From the “Catania Airport” train station, you can reach the “Taormina-Giardini” train station (that is actually located in the Giarnini Naxos town) and, if you have purchased a ticket with destination “Taormina Centro”, you will find a shuttle bus that will bring you to destination in a matter of minutes.

Please consult the Trenitalia website for the timetable and for ticket reservation/purchase.

Start the seach for connections and fill in the “Departure from” and “Arrival at ” fields exacly as in the figure below and the other fields according to your preferences. 

The result of the search will be the combination of: 1)the time at which a shuttle leaves the airport directed to the railway station (the station is very close, about 600 m: you can walk there if you do not want to wait for the shuttle); 2) the time at which the train departs from Catania Airport and reaches “Taormina-Giardini”; 3) the time at which a shuttle departs from the railway station of “Taormina-Giardini” and leaves you in downtown Taormina (“Taormina Centro”). Taormnina is very small. Unless you have heavy luggages, you can easily walk from one end to the other in less than 30 minutes or so.

Of course, if you selected the “return date” you will get the information for reaching the airport form Taormina when you leave.

Take a bus to Taormina or to Giardini Naxos at the airport exit.

There are shuttle buses that connect Catania Airport to Taormina or to Giardini Naxos at regular intervals (interval between departures is typically less than one hour).

You can search for the bus timetable at the Bus company page:  www.etnatrasporti.it

It seems that the site is in Italian only. Therefore, for your convenience, here are a couple of links  to “useful searches” from which you can start for refining yours. In any case you can contact us for specific requests. 

Please note: you have to use “AEROPORTO –  Catania” and “Taormina – Via Pirandello – Terminal Bus” as starting point and destination. There are many other “Catania” and a few more “Taormina”: DO NOT selec them unless you are sure that you know what you are doing!

Link 1: From Airport to Taormina on Jun 16

Link 2: From Taormina to Airport on Jun 20

Taxi/private taxi services

Since Taormina is a popular and fashionable destination, besides regular TAXIs, there is a number of private shuttle services that can be used. Needless to say, Taxi or private taxi solutions are much more expensive than train or bus. In any case, at present rates,  a one way private shuttle from Catania Airport to Taormina can cost less than 150 EUR for up to 3 persons and less than 200 EUR for up to 5 persons. These solutions may be convenient when  travelling in small groups.