Hailed as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages, the tiny hamlet of Sávoca has a spectacular mountain setting just four kilometers inland from Sicily’s eastern coast. Among the legions of people it’s charmed is Francis Ford Coppola, who filmed the Sicilian scenes of The Godfather here.

We took a detour into Sávoca while returning home to Palermo from Taormina. Up in the mountains, the weather had taken a turn for the worse — we got soaked with freezing sleet, but it made for more dramatic views over the surrounding landscape. Totally worth it.

Most people who live in Savoca work in nearby Taormina, so it felt like a ghost town during our visit. We had wanted to stop in for a drink at Bar Vitelli, which is where the wedding party of Michael Corleone and Appollonia was held. Apparently, the bar has become a sort of shrine to all things related to The Godfather. But it was closed.

We stayed just long enough to get a few pictures of this gorgeous town. It’s easy enough to reach, and definitely worth the effort to see one of the island’s most picturesque towns.

Location on our Sicily Map
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