Corso Umberto I
Walk Corso Umberto I from one gate to the other and you cover roughly 800 metres of cobblestone that has served as Taormina's main artery since the Romans called the city Tauromenium. The street runs between Porta Messina and Porta Catania, and along the way it passes a twelfth-century clock tower, a theatre accidentally unearthed in 1892, and a baroque fountain bearing a two-legged centaur — all of it framed by pastel facades where climbing plants share wall space with Dior and Louis Vuitton storefronts.
The Corso is pedestrian-only, which gives it an unhurried rhythm even when it's crowded. Piazza IX Aprile opens mid-route like a pause in a sentence, with a belvedere that frames Etna and the Bay of Taormina in the same glance.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who return tend to time the walk for early morning, before the tour groups arrive from the cable car. The light hits the Torre dell'Orologio differently at that hour, and the bar nearest Porta Catania is already open for coffee. Evenings work too — the Corso stays lively well after dark, and the crowds thin to something manageable around nine.
The story behind Corso Umberto I
The road beneath the Corso follows the line of the ancient Via Valeria, which connected Messina to Catania in Roman times. When Taormina became a Roman military colony in 21 BC under Caesar Augustus Octavian, a small covered theatre — the Odeon, seating fewer than 200 — was built nearby; it lay forgotten until a chance discovery on 5 June 1892. The Torre dell'Orologio, the clock tower that now divides the street at its midpoint, dates to the twelfth century and stands on Greco-Roman foundations, though French troops under Louis XIV destroyed parts of it in 1676.
The street took its current name from Umberto I of Savoy, king of Italy from 1878 to 1900, during the period when Taormina was remaking itself as a destination for northern European travellers. The renovation and widening of the Corso belong to that same nineteenth-century moment.
Good to know
Reach the Corso via the Taormina-Giardini train station and an Interbus connection, or take the cable car from Mazzarò (€3 one way) up to town. Parking at Porta Catania or Porta Pasquale puts you about 200 metres from either end. July and August are genuinely packed; April through June and September are noticeably easier.
April through October keeps temperatures comfortable and rainfall low — July brings as few as two rainy days and eleven hours of daily sun, though the heat in July and August reaches around 28°C. Winter is mild but noticeably wetter, with October through December seeing the heaviest rainfall; the Corso remains walkable year-round, just quieter and occasionally damp.
Where is Corso Umberto I?
Location
- In Taormina
- 37.8519, 15.2889
- Open in Google Maps
More tickets & tours for Corso Umberto I
Book directly at the provider
More of Taormina
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Taormina →More attractions in Taormina
All of Taormina →
Background adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · ratings & place photos via Google · other photos with per-image credit. Ticket links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.