Things to do in Messina
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Messina
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, warm sea from June, full ferries and lidos, and no August crush.
Good sightseeing in April and late October, with a cooler sea and thinner tour schedules.
Hot and busy with peak prices, and the Vara festival fortnight in mid August.
Mild but wet winter, low prices, thin Aeolian sailings and closed lidos.
What's on
- La Vara 15 August
Messina's defining Assumption procession, a towering machine hauled by hundreds of devotees.
- Passeggiata dei Giganti 13-14 August
The parade of Mata and Grifone, the giant mythical founders, preceding La Vara.
- Processione delle Barette Good Friday (March or April)
The solemn Holy Week procession of hooded confraternities carrying the varetta statues.
- Festa della Madonna della Lettera 3 June
The patronal feast of Messina's Madonna of the Letter, around the Duomo and harbour.
- Taormina Arte and Taormina Film Festival June into summer
Concerts and screenings in Taormina's Greek theatre, 45 minutes from Messina.
Best things to do in Messina
Cathedral of Messina
Messina's rebuilt Norman cathedral, free to enter, with a treasury of goldwork made for the Madonna della Lettera.
Campanile del Duomo di Messina
The bell tower holding a vast astronomical clock whose full mechanical show runs at noon in Piazza Duomo.
Museo Regionale Interdisciplinare
Messina's regional museum, home to two Sicilian Caravaggios and Antonello's Saint Gregory Polyptych.
Chiesa Santissima Annunziata dei Catalani
A tiny 12th century Arab Norman church that survived the 1908 earthquake when almost nothing else did.
Fontana di Orione
Montorsoli's Renaissance fountain in Piazza Duomo, topped by Orion, the mythical founder of Messina.
Fontana di Nettuno
Montorsoli's Neptune fountain between Scylla and Charybdis, with the Strait and Calabria behind it.
Sacrario di Cristo Re
A votive temple above the harbour whose terrace gives the definitive panorama of the Strait.
Santuario della Madonna di Montalto
The hilltop sanctuary locals favour at sunset, looking down over the Duomo and the harbour curve.
Where to stay in Messina
Centro Storico
first trip, sights on foot
Walk to the Duomo, the noon clock, both fountains and the passeggiata, with the station and tram minutes away.
Central residential grid
value and early trains
The university and courthouse quarter, a few streets from the Duomo, with the city's better value mid range hotels.
Torre Faro and Capo Peloro
beach first stays
Swimming at the door, lakes walks and Strait sunsets, with a bus or drive into the centre for sights.
Ganzirri
quiet village and lake life
A working mussel farming village on Lago Grande, with lake view seafood and the Peloro beaches a short walk north.
Think twice about
- Zona Falcata and the port industrial strip
A working port and naval zone of warehouses and truck routes, dark and empty at night, with nothing to walk to.
- Immediate Messina Centrale station forecourt
The city's scruffiest half block, with transit crowds and touts. Stay two or three streets away for the same convenience.
- Southern SS114 suburbs, Contesse to Tremestieri
A traffic choked coastal strip of malls and car lots, a bus ride from everything and chosen by nobody on purpose.
Best restaurants in Messina
Marina del Nettuno Yachting Club
Messina's celebration seafood restaurant inside the yachting club, with the Strait as its dining room.
I Ruggeri
A small family run dining room cooking modern Sicilian plates well beyond the usual seafood script.
Casa & Putia Ristorante
A Slow Food house and shop near the Duomo, with a monthly menu reinterpreting Sicilian tradition.
Osteria del Campanile
A small osteria in the Duomo's shadow, the natural lunch after the noon clock show.
Ristorante Bellavista
The Torre Faro seafood dinner after a Peloro swim, built on Ganzirri mussels and Strait swordfish.
La Tasteria Gourmet Sicily
The budget star of the centre, a small gourmet Sicilian kitchen at fast casual prices.
Bar Noviziato
A granita bar above the harbour, loved for fresh strawberry granita, warm brioche and a port view.
Pasticceria Irrera
Messina's historic pastry house and a canonical address for coffee granita with cream and pignolata.
Outdoor things to do in Messina
Capo Peloro
Sicily's northeastern tip at Torre Faro, where the Ionian and Tyrrhenian meet in front of Calabria.
Lago di Ganzirri
A flat lagoon circuit past mussel poles and fishing boats, ending with a seafood dinner in Ganzirri village.
Lido Horcynus Orca
The serviced lido at Torre Faro, with sunbeds and lifeguards for a supervised swim in Strait water.
Gole dell'Alcantara
A basalt gorge of prismatic lava columns and icy river water, with wading and canyoning in season.
Isola Bella
A tiny wooded reserve you can wade to at Taormina, with clear bays for swimming and snorkelling.
Mount Etna
A guided volcano day from Messina, with cable car, summit zone guides and the Silvestri craters on foot.
Lipari
The Aeolian town island reached via Milazzo ferries, paired with Vulcano for a classic first island day.
Stromboli
A long boat day via Milazzo ending off the Sciara del Fuoco after dark to watch eruptions glow.
Best hotels in Messina
Royal Palace Hotel
Messina's flagship full service city hotel near the station and port, the city's conventional top tier.
B&B del Duomo
A small budget B and B in the Duomo orbit, putting the clock and the granita bars on your doorstep.
Hotel Messenion
A central mid range hotel by the courthouse and university, walkable to almost every sight.
Hotel - Residence La Residenza
Residence style rooms with kitchenettes near dining, shopping and the ferry piers, good for longer stays.
Capo Peloro Resort
The cape's full service beach resort inside the reserve, with pool, private beach service and restaurant.
Aparthotel Ganzirri Messina
Self catering apartments in the Ganzirri fishing village, with space and a kitchen at village prices.
Is Messina expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €55 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €110 a person |
| Splurge | €240 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Discover Messina Sicily: a few days ahead
- Lido Horcynus Orca: a few days ahead
- Gole dell'Alcantara: a few days ahead
- Isola Bella: a few days ahead
- Mount Etna: a few days ahead
- Lipari: a few days ahead
- Stromboli: weeks ahead
- Il Picciolo Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Be in Piazza Duomo by 11:45 for the noon astronomical clock show.
- Book Milazzo hydrofoils days ahead in summer and the Stromboli night boats weeks ahead in peak season.
- Book Etna tours, Taormina theatre slots and Isola Bella boats ahead in season.
- Reserve I Ruggeri, Casa and Putia and Marina del Nettuno for dinner in season.
Is Messina safe?
- Watch bags in station and tram crowds and at beach lidos. Emergency number 112.
- Respect the Strait currents at Capo Peloro, swim where locals swim and heed flags and lifeguards.
Messina travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Cruise port two hour Messina misses the museum, the lakes and a granita breakfast.
- Restaurants facing the cruise terminal and station charge captive prices, so walk into the grid.
- The Pilone at Torre Faro is fenced and not a climb, whatever older content suggests.
- Aeolian day trips leave from Milazzo, not Messina, so add the transfer both ways.
Getting around Messina: public transport and more
- Walk the flat central grid for the Duomo, Catalani, the fountains and Piazza Cairoli.
- Take the tram along Viale della Liberta for the regional museum and the northern districts.
- Trains run about an hour to Taormina Giardini, 40 minutes to Milazzo for Aeolian ferries, and 1 hour 20 to Catania.
- Mainland ferries to Villa San Giovanni run constantly for foot passengers and cars.
Who Messina suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Messina your trip
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