Tours in Barcelona and Messina

[ritarose]

has anyone done the Montserrat tour out of Barcelona? also the Messina tour to Tindari? We were in Messina and did Taormino (beautiful) 2 yrs ago.

thanks

Rita Myszkowski
Palatine IL (Chicago)

[localady]

Wish I could help, I just loved Taormina when we were in Messina too! Would love to return some day! Also been to Barcelona, but choose City tours of Barcelona.

[dakrewser]

Originally Posted by ritarose

has anyone done the Montserrat tour out of Barcelona? also the Messina tour to Tindari? We were in Messina and did Taormino (beautiful) 2 yrs ago.

I'd go back to Taormina at the drop of a hat. In fact, a picture of the view from the Greek theater is the wallpaper on this computer. This picture:


So I can't be any help, but you did bring back fond memories!

[ritarose]

does anyone of public transporttion from port of Messina to Taermino (sp?)

would like to roam around on our own. ship charges $65 just to drop you off and pick you up

thanks

Rita Myszkowski
Palatine IL

[localady]

A taxi may be the trick! I remember there being quite a few taxis at the port in Messina and many waiting around in Taormina. 3 or 4 people in the taxi and you can splurge on lunch at the little open air restaurant way down the left side of the main street of Taormina. It had a spectacular view of the valley below and very, very tasty Sicilian food too, all in an open dining room! Sorry my old memory doesn't recall it's name.

[dakrewser]

Originally Posted by ritarose

does anyone of public transporttion from port of Messina to Taermino (sp?)

There are frequent buses and trains for a lot less (3-6 euros each way). I would expect a taxi to be much less than the ship's bus, also. It is ~35 miles. See the info at Frommer's site for more (click here).

-dave

[goober87]

Just returned from the Start Princess (09.04).

Did take the public bus from Messina to Taoromina, but wouldn't do it again. 1.5 hours each way, and had to get on the 2:30 bus to make sure we were back in time. We felt like we could have spent more time there and shops were closed before we had a chance to drop any Euros.

There were many folks who took the train, but the first one didn't leave until 10:10AM (which is why we elected for the bus). We arrived in Taoromina about the same time as the ship's tours.

The train is easily reachable by foot from the Messina port. Although the train station is right below Taoromina, your either take a cab up ($$$$) or a bus. Bus ran every 15 minutes or so. Not sure of the frequency of train return times, but we felt that Taoromina deserved a more leisurely pace so if we were to do it all over again we would:

- Rent a car or hire a van/driver to take a group to Taormina 1st thing in the AM.
- Shop 1st as the store close after lunch.
- Take in a leisurely lunch
- See the churches/theater/park when the shops close
- Optional: Take a short lunch, see the sites, then spend the afternoon on the beach. The weather was very warm and the water looked great.
- If there is time, see the church in Messina. Beautiful.