The Look Buffet in Sicily
(Almost) two weeks in my favourite place on planet earth, serving you looks and all the recommendations for a stay in Taormina.
Before we dive in... I’m lucky to receive gifts and collaborate with amazing brands, which I'll always mention. Products marked with * are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission if you buy through them—at no extra cost to you. Think of it as a thank you for the inspo!
Sunday
On the menu:
To start:
Black linen shorts (similar*)
Raffia basket bag* (gifted)
Red beaded necklace (similar*)
Red & ecru striped beach towel* (gifted)
To follow:
Tasting notes:
It’s that glorious time of the year again where we head to our favourite warm weather destination - Sicily, and specifically Taormina. We’ve spent 4 summers here and it just ticks all the boxes for us - Italy (we are Urbanos after all), amazing food, consistently wonderful weather, amazing sea and landscape. We arrived pretty late Saturday, so headed to our AirBnB and got an early start on Sunday for a day of nothing! We snoozed on the beach and then headed up the hill from Taormina to Al Saraceno - a great traditional restaurant with an unreal view of Mount Etna. We ate really well, with the highlight being the hot ricotta filled zucchini flower with almonds and chocolate crumble for dessert!
Monday
On the menu:
To start:
Black linen short sleeved shirt (similar*)
Black linen shorts (similar*)
Raffia basket bag* (gifted)
Beige jelly shoes (similar*)
To follow:
Tasting notes:
I love a linen set on holiday. Since we went handluggage only for 2 whole weeks, I had to back smart. I knew the top and bottom of this set would work hard with other items in my suitcase. For day 2 on the beach, the set was the perfect ‘chuck on over the bikini’ outfit. Before heading to the beach, we had a quick breakfast granita and brioche at the world famous Bambar. This place is worth the queue, always. Take 2 flavours in one cup - almond and coffee - for the best breakfast (repeat every day until you leave!). We freshened up late afternoon and headed to Osteria da Rita - another spot worth the often 2 hour long queue. Get there at 1715 (it opens at 1800), and start the queue. There’s a very conveniently placed spritzeria next door, so grab one for your wait! We always take mussels to start with, and share a plate of pasta and a mixed green salad. The portions are insane, as is the tiramisu!
Tuesday
On the menu:
To start:
Black cotton vest (similar*)
Brown & white print sarong (similar*)
Raffia basket bag* (gifted)
To follow:
Tasting notes:
I haven’t worn a sarong in years! But after my girly trip to Ibiza I picked up this one from H&M (sadly no longer online to link). Giulia my friend has it and I just loved the idea of adding some fun yet neutral print into my suitcase. A great addition! Case in point re. the spritz for the queue to Rita - mine is usually a Campari (living 2 years in Milan will do that to you). Yes, we headed back there for dinner wearing a very casual fit - the sellout H&M drawstring top with a very chilled pair of black linen shorts and flip flops. My Merit Signature make up bag added a little texture, colour and interest to the outfit. Finishing touch - wet hair that takes approx. 15 mins to dry in Sicily.
Wednesday
On the menu:
Tasting notes:
For the only rainy day on our trip, we booked a traditional Sicilian cooking class which was so fun! We chose the class hosted by the team at Ristorante Porta Messina. It was so worth the money! The staff were so friendly and knowledgable, plus you get to eat all your creations with the rest of the group, washed down with amazing local wines at the end! My very light coloured outfit was covered by an apron and thnak goodness as we were dealing with a lot of tomatoes. Highly recommend a cooking or craft class when you are away if you have a rainy day!
Thursday
On the menu:
To start:
To follow:
Black high neck vest top (similar*)
Tasting notes:
After an amazing thunderstorm on Wednesday night, the temperature was much more pleasant on Thursday. We walked (tbh hiked!) up to a tiny village on the top of the mountain and had some food, wine and checked out the amazing views (we spent some time in the clouds actually!). When we came back down, we went to our favourite fine dining spot in Taormina (it’s a small town but boasts 3 Michelin star restaurants). We visit Vineria Modi every time we come to Sicily, and this is the first year we went since they got their oh so deserved star. The 6 course tasting menu is worth every penny (and the price is really reasonable considering their star status, and in comparison to 1 star places in the UK and US). I wore my pyjamas to dinner. Just kidding, but the shorts are technically exactly that! I love the brown silk with the green suede of the sandals. Amazing combo if I do say so myself!
Friday
On the menu:
Raffia basket bag* (gifted)
Tasting notes:
Back to the beach after a few days off! In my excitement to spend the day horizontal with my book, I threw on the first things I found - a tee and shorts. I did go for my only new in piece for the holiday - this Arket striped bikini and wowwww I love it.
Side note: When it comes to visiting the beach in Italy, if you want to have a lounger and umbrella, you’ll need to pay. It’s not cheap, but for our yearly summer beach holiday we need the comfort to fully relax. So each year Leo calls up Lido La Pigna at the start of the season to reserve our spots - highly recommend both this lido, and making a reservation. The amount of people we see get disappointed when they show up to find no beds available is more than you’d think. So plan ahead!
Saturday
On the menu:
Tasting notes:
After another day on the beach working my way through a Sudoku book, your girl was feeling really lazy so took the outfit from day to night! This green shirt has been in my wardrobe for a couple of years but I struggled to style it until this holiday. I really love it with the beige shorts and the white linen pants. In the evening I added silver accessories to keep it fresh, and I really liked the final look! We had a quick cocktail at the Metropole Hotel (would have recommended this 2 years ago, but now it’s just outrageously expensive for a mediocre cocktail) and then headed up to our favourite pizza spot, Villa Zuccaro. You can’t reserve, but it’s a huge place with a gorgeous outside space so you can usually find a spot. There are loads of options, including gluten free dough!
Sunday
On the menu:
To start:
To follow:
White linen mini dress (similar*)
Tasting notes:
For our morning breakfast run and then trip down to the beach, I sported a simple tank and shorts adding interest with the jelly shoes and the small Dragon Diffusion. The simplicity of this look is so chic to me. I loved wearing this. It’s a million degrees in London as I write this, so I will be continuing to wear this even in the city in these crazy temps. In the evening, we headed to the Four Seasons, San Domenico Palace (where they filmed The White Lotus Season 2!) for our 1st wedding anniversary (well the Italian wedding, not the legal ceremony) celebrations. We chose loads of tapas which was really tasty, sat in the courtyard which was truly beautiful, and enjoyed a few too many cocktails. The spicy marg was unreal! If you’re feeling fancy and want a treat in Taormina, book an aperitivo here. It’s so worth it.
Monday
On the menu:
To start:
To follow:
Tasting notes:
Ok by this point you can see the day time formula - vest and shorts! A different colour combo today, but equally loved. Simplicity is key for this sweaty girl. Cotton and linen only! We stayed longer than usual at the beach this day as we were pretty tired after our night out. In the evening, we headed to a small restaurant down one of the many little alleys in Taormina, called Tischi Toschi. They serve a traditional Sicilian menu, mostly fish based, and changing every few days based on what produce is available - I jut love small places like this. We both ate a great plate of pasta - mine with achovies, Leo’s with a traditional tuna based pesto from the Trapani area of Sicily. It was our first time at this spot, but we’ll certainly be back.
Tuesday
On the menu:
To start:
Brown & white print sarong (similar*)
Raffia basket bag* (gifted)
To follow:
White cotton drawstring top (similar*)
Tasting notes:
We grabbed some goggled and headed out on a pedalo when we got down to the beach, and went exploring. It was amazing to see all the beautiful fish in the sea - so pretty! I think Tuesday’s evening look was my favourite of the whole trip. The tan was tanning, and what better way to mark the occasion than wearing all white! I love the texture and silhouette of this look. The pop of green with the suede sandals is a small but beautiful touch. After dinner, we headed for a sweet treat. Cannoli Siciliani are some of my favourite desserts, so I love being here for those. We always get ours from Roberto because the case is so crisp, the ricotta filling is almost savoury (so the whole thing doesn’t get too sweet), and the caramelised almonds are the perfect finishing touch. We love these so much we brought 4 back on the plane when we left! We enjoyed our cannoli with a glorious view of Mount Etna at sunset.
Wednesday
On the menu:
To start:
Black linen short sleeved shirt (similar*)
Black linen shorts (similar*)
Beige jelly shoes (similar*)
Raffia basket bag* (gifted)
Straw bucket hat (similar*)
To follow:
Tasting notes:
Back in the same outfit as day 2 and not mad about it - we love to repeat an outfit round here! Easy breezy linen accompanied us to the beach that day. This Sezane raffia bag has also been an absolute dream - fitting all our supplies and still looking really lovely and chic. Bonus points if you match your hat to it! In the evening we tried a new (to us!) place - Le Naumachie. Let me de-influence you here. The place had a lot of potential with really interesting sounding dishes. But the execution and the speed of the service really did not live up to the price we paid. Aside from the night at the Four Seasons, this was the most expensive meal out of the trip and really was not worth it at all. We left hungry and disappointed. I hope they push through these teething problems and live up to the potential, but until then, don’t bother.
Thursday
On the menu:
To start:
To follow:
Leather cord necklace with silver pebble (similar*)
Tasting notes:
The colour palette of the day was pretty monochrome! The beach look was pretty much the usual linen based look, and then in the evening I slipped into this little black linen dress. My DMs blew up when I posted this on IG! It’s a lovely dress. I kind of wish I had sized up for a slightly looser fit, but it’s so chic nonetheless. I kept the look minimal with the black flip flops, but added the necklace and weaved bag for some points of interest (can I find another phrase for this lol).
Friday
On the menu:
Leather cord necklace with silver pebble (similar*)
Tasting notes:
Before our flight we had just enough time to grab a few last minute treats, including some cute little fruit and veg shaped marzipan from Pasticceria Minotauro! How adorable! The almonds in Sicily are unreal, and so a lot of the sweets are based on them. These were outrageously good. For our travel day I wore the same outfit I came home from Ibiza in, tee and linen pants. Comfy yet still felt chic. The view of Etna as we took off!!! I just cannot with this place. I am in love. We will live here one day, but until then we’ll keep spending our summers here!
Wow that was a long one! Congrats if you made it this far! I hope you enjoyed this round up of my outfits and Taormina recommendations. I love getting dressed on holiday, but also a firm believer in not having a ‘holiday wardrobe’ beyond the obvious bits (bikinis, sarongs, etc.). I loved getting wear out of my every day essentials but adding small touches of colour and texture through accessories. We’re back to work here and it’s so hot in London, so stick around if you want to see how I deal with that hot weather in the city conundrum!
Hello from Santa Cruz, CA. Heading to Sicily in October, can you share a site for logistics? Many thanks! What a lovely holiday
I'm going to Sicily for the first time this summer, this has made me even more excited!