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Yesterday I wrote about how my partner and I were in Taormina during our last visit to Sicily. Of course, we also managed to visit Giardini Naxos, which is right next door. It is also beautiful, and my partner especially wanted to show me the local beach there, because he knows that I love beaches. (And of course, his😁).
I noticed a few interesting facts, so I will write them down for you so that you can get a real picture of how this raw sister of Taormina actually lives.
Arrival logistics - Parking Giardini Naxos
Right from the start, in terms of parking, the town of Giardini Naxos is much friendlier. While Taormina is a made-up princess for tourists and photo lovers, its shadowy sister, Giardini Naxos, is raw and real. Unlike Taormina, you have the chance to park your car and comfortably walk along the beach. But what awaits you, and what is the reality?
Giardini Naxos, the grey sister of Taormina
When we arrived in this less touristy town, I could already feel a completely different spirit and rhythm from the parking lot. Although these towns are very close and many tourists perceive them as two sisters, they have completely different souls. Taormina is beautiful and built for tourists. It seems noble and well-groomed, like a bride prepared for a rich groom. Giardini Naxos is like Cinderella. It has a beautiful soul. There is no rush there, and you will experience authentic Italy. Authentic food in a small, ordinary restaurant run by people who live in the same house one floor above and bake pizza during the day. You will experience a bit of Italian chaos, and the beaches are not so busy, yet they invite you to take photos.
One of the main advantages of this city is the fact that it is not built on a rock. It is along the coast, so you can comfortably walk along the sea. During the day, the city observes a classic siesta. Shops are open from morning until 14:00. Then they close and reopen in the evening from 18:00. But this is fine for most people, because during the day it is so hot in Sicily that no one would think of going to the shops and looking for souvenirs anyway. People live a real Italian life here. Of course, you can find a few open souvenir shops along the coast, but the classic shops are closed. However, a restaurant is open where you can have local pizza. If you leave your car in the parking lot(see info above), it will take you about 10-15 minutes to walk to the beach.
My partner and I were in Giardini Naxos in May, before the peak of the season, and it was clear that beach preparation and cleaning were in full swing. There is one main sandy beach in Giardini Naxos. The sand is fine, and you can comfortably dive into the water. But this is not the case everywhere. On other parts of the beach, there are sharp stones, and I recommend wearing shoes in the water. You can, of course, do it without them, but count on the fact that you will have this day deeply written in your memory when you push your own limits. 😄
Things to do in Giardini Naxos
Bars and Clubs on the beach
There are bars and clubs on the main sandy beach. When we arrived there, they were just starting to open, and others that were just before the start of the season. You can have a great coffee there. We didn't pay anything to enter the beach. We just came and sat by the water. It was wonderful, because the sea gently rustled in my ears, the warm wind blew in my hair, and the sun warmed my back. I quickly forgot that I don't have clean windows at home. 🤣🙈🤣
What I really liked about relaxing on the beach was the fact that cruise ships were moored on the horizon. It was cute to watch how small boats shuttle tourists from the cruise ship to the shore, probably to see Taormina. These ships looked incredibly majestic on the horizon. It was calming for me to just sit there and watch. The noise of little tourists with cameras taking selfies and panoramic views of Taormina. Back to the beach... as for the water, it is beautifully clean. crystal clear. There are no jellyfish in it, and at most, you or your little children will see small fish there. But nothing dramatic. Thanks to the rocky surface, you can see an incredibly beautiful bottom as soon as you dive below the surface. But what about when you move a little further from the sandy beach?
There are bars and restaurants around the main sandy beach everywhere. There are some still located on the beach. So if you are hungry or want something small to eat, you just have to walk a few steps. Food here is about 30-40% cheaper than in Taormina, so you can find something to eat and refresh yourself. There are restaurants and cafes along the entire beach coast. So if you don't want to eat right on the beach, I recommend going to a restaurant nearby. For example, my partner and I were on the beach, and after resting for a while, we went for a walk along the coast. On the way, we had an interesting pizza in a small taverna typical for this area, on the lower floor of a small house by the waterfront. It was a cute restaurant, with caps from all over the world all over the walls. We had a pizza. It looked different from what I have seen in Italy so far. It was a little more leavened, but it tasted great. The bill was okay, we ate one pizza in the heat, and the lady willingly cut it in half for us. It was clear to her that we were really hot. 😅 And we mainly wanted to rest a little in the shade and eat something. And after a while, we could happily continue. To the next Giardini Naxos beaches.
Giardini Naxos Real Raw Italy
In the heat, we didn't just want to visit the sights, we mainly wanted to relax. That's why we went for a walk to other beaches, which are already occupied by locals. You can always quickly and safely recognize a local. They are clearly dressed warmer than a classic tourist with a hat on their head. To my surprise, some were wearing warm autumn zip-up vests. In short, you can't usually miss a local. What struck me as very different from my own homeland was the health of the local seniors. Many of them were in really good shape, slim and cheerful people who walked briskly. They were often men. I don't know where the women were, but there were more men outside. That struck me as really wonderful about Italy outside the tourist areas. You wake up in the morning, go for a great coffee for 1 Euro, and meet a community of old men there, having fun and chatting. Everyone is fine, they just wear warm clothes to their taste. You wear light clothes, and they slowly put on a winter jacket.
Clean or dirty beaches?
Apart from the main sandy beach, the other beaches are rocky. There is also quite a lot of concrete on them. You can even find large concrete blocks on some parts of the coast, which are stacked on top of each other to break up strong sea waves if they happen to come. So outside the main beach, you will quite commonly encounter concrete, between a pebble beach occupied by local people, and here and there some garbage.
In general, it seemed to me that there are few public trash cans and dustbins in Italy (for everyone). Houses usually have their own collection days, and the bins are hidden. Italians sort their waste, but personally, it seemed to me that there could be more bins outside the main beach.
During the peak of the season's preparation, the beaches were not yet in full condition, and there were bags of mess on them that needed to be removed. I assume that when I get there again. They will be clean. So what I can say is that Italians clean their beaches. Sometimes there are just too many tourists with nowhere to dispose of their trash, so it remains "inconspicuously" on the beach, which the city cleans up from time to time. So if you are going to relax on the beach, please try to take the trash you have with you, whether it's a PET bottle or a cookie wrapper, and throw it in a trash can.
To sum it up, we had a wonderful time in Giardini Naxos. At times, the sounds of passing scooters and other tourists honking their horns pierced the roar of the sea. Despite this, Giardini Naxos is quieter and more authentic than the polished Taormina, which has its own beauty. I would like to visit it again... If you are planning a trip, share your experiences. And I like to find places worth seeing that I didn't manage to see on my first visit.
