Things to do in Sicily with a 4 year old and 7 year old.

[mummabubs]

Hi all,

We're off to Sicily in a few weeks time with our two children (4 and 7), staying near Taormina for one week. DH and I are trying to decide whether it's worth hiring a car so that we aren't tied to the hotel the whole time but we're not sure where would be good to explore. We've heard you can do tours of Mount Etna that are child friendly. I found Etnaland on my Google search but this looked like it was more appropriate for older kids/teens?

So can we please have experiences/ recommendations (or things to avoid!) with children roughly our age? Thanks :)

Etnaland is definitely not too old for your dc. There’s loads they can do there and because Sicily doesn’t have a whole load of other child friendly attractions, it’s definitely worth doing.

Thanks for this - is it mostly theme park rides? My daughter would be too small for them and my son isn't a fan of anything other than mild/slow fairground style stuff 😂

There are lovely public gardens with a playground in Taormina. It's a very hilly place, though, apart from the Main Street which runs between two ancient gates. The cable car takes you down to the beach or up to the town depending on which direction you want to go. Lots of lovely ice cream shops!

There are loads of rides for small children (have a look on their website) and my dc enjoyed the new Smurf village https://etnaland.eu/en/Themepark/AD/Exploring/77/Smurfs-Village.html There’s a waterpark too, with splash pad, and if you can stay until it gets dark, the laser show is a must!

Hiya, so sorry to hijack but was looking at Etnaland (waterpark) with my 13 and 11 year old. I understand there's no public transport so it wld be a taxi from Catania and back. What do people do about personal belongings?! FAQs say lockers unguarded. I'd need to bring my phone for navigation/taxi and cash but want to get on rides and in water with kids. Am I overthinking it?!

I highly recommend the Alcantara Gorge - kids can paddle and explore. Also check out traditional puppet shows, they really are a feature of the island. The Bioparco di Sicilia is a lovely day out but near Palermo so may be too far for young kids even with a car. Taormina itself has beautiful public gardens and of course the greek theatre to explore as well as a cable car down to Isola Bella beach.