Van/Taxi Messina to Taormina

We are 8 friends arriving in Messina but would like to go to Taormina for about 4 hours, have a wander around and grab a nice lunch. Don't really want to cram too many sights in on 1 day. Does anyone know of a company/driver that may pick 8 of us up from the port, take us straight to Taormina and then take us back to the ship when we are ready, or should we just grab 2 taxis ?

Thanking you in advance.

We used Sicily Life for a private tour (Mt.Etna and Taormina) from Cantania. We were a party of seven and had a great time. I would recommend them and I know there are also other companies reviewed here and on TA.

If you are only interested in Taormina - our ship offered a bus that would basically drive you to Taormina and back and you could explore on your own there for a few hours. You may want to check with your cruise ship to see if they provide this tour/service and the cost.

We used Sicily with Mario.

Excellent tour, well priced. Driver was wonderful. They have many options or you can design your own.

We originally only had 4 people but then got people from our roll call to join us. The van we had held 8 passengers. Better than 2 taxis as the driver doesnt justy drive you to a spot. We stopped at the most amazing lookout just outside of Tourmina.

I would highly recommend them.

http://www.sicilywithmario.com/

There were only 4 of us but you will need a larger vehicle. I can't remember if any of the available taxis were vans so hopefully someone will post about that.

When we got off the ship there were plenty of drivers waiting and we arranged a pickup time for later. It worked fine and you will enjoy Taormina :D

I arranged a company Sicilytravel.net to take my group of 9 to Taormina. After waiting 45 minutes, and not showing up, we took a taxi. They dropped us off and we arranged a time to meet back. His name was Salvatore, but I'm sorry I don't remember the taxi name. It was definitely cheaper than I had arranged with the tour company.