We had a fantastic stay with Carlo & Federica in Castelmola, located in a beautiful and quiet part of Castelmola, surrounded by mountains. We had everything we needed, and were greeted with a lovely homemade aperitif and carafe of wine. The recommendations for places to visit were excellent, and we spent an evening walking up to Castelmola (30mins, 100m up) and had the best food we ate in Sicily at Bistrot A' Ficaredda, and then enjoyed the novel Bar Turrisi - both worth a visit! On our last night, we took up the offer from Carlo of a cooking glass, learning to make Pasta alla Norma to their family recipe for a very reasonable price.
It’s perfectly located for a trip to Etna, and the surrounding wineries. Taormina is also a short drive, which is tricky to navigate through the first few times with the windy roads, but with the directions we were given by Federica we had no problem finding Casa Ziretto. Having a car here is essential.
I’d highly recommend staying with Carlo & Federica, they were very hospitable and were incredibly kind with assisting us throughout our stay!