Elizabeth Taylor’s Summer Destinations
Image: David Cairns
For Elizabeth Taylor, summer was a special season, full of enjoying leisurely days and exploring new places. As Richard Burton once said of her, “Elizabeth blooms in hot climates.” Some of the most iconic images of her were taken in summer — on the deck of a yacht off the Sardinian coast, wandering the harbor at Portofino, or looking out over the Pacific from the hills above Puerto Vallarta. The destinations she returned to in summer, year after year, became an important part of her life, and we’re diving into some of them here.
The French Riviera
Few places suited Elizabeth in summer quite like the Côte d'Azur. She first arrived at Cannes in 1957 as a new bride alongside Mike Todd, and returned throughout the 1960s — spending long summer days on the terrace of the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes and sailing the coastline. In later years, this beloved area took new meaning, as Cannes became one of the most powerful stages she had for raising awareness and funds for AIDS research.
Puerto Vallarta
When Elizabeth and Richard Burton first visited Puerto Vallarta in 1963, it was not the resort destination we know today, but rather a sleepy fishing town. Burton was filming The Night of the Iguana, and Elizabeth accompanied him, resulting in the kind of tabloid spectacle that only the two of them could generate — director John Huston later recalled that there were more reporters on the set than iguanas. In the process, they put a quiet Pacific port on the map permanently. The couple eventually owned two houses in the hills above town, connected by a Venetian-style bridge crossing over the street — a detail that has since become part of local legend. Elizabeth's home, Casa Kimberly, still stands today as a boutique hotel, its Elizabeth Taylor Suite still preserving the original pink marble heart-shaped tub she installed.
Portofino
In May 1967, Elizabeth and Burton chartered a yacht to sail around Portofino, the tiny, pastel-colored fishing village on the Ligurian coast that had been drawing artists, writers, and glamorous visitors for decades. After purchasing that very yacht (more on this below) Portofino became a recurring summer destination for the couple. In fact, it was there that in 1964, Richard proposed to Elizabeth on the wisteria-covered balcony of the Hotel Splendido's Suite 471. The town has been associated with Elizabeth ever since — even appearing in the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s song “Elizabeth Taylor.”
The Kalizma
The yacht itself deserves its own mention as a summer destination — because for Elizabeth, it was exactly that. After falling in love with Portofino on their first trip around its coast, Burton purchased the yacht they sailed upon outright and renamed it the Kalizma — an acronym drawn from the names of their three daughters, Kate, Liza, and Maria. Elizabeth hired designer Arthur Barbosa to redo the interiors to her liking, and the Kalizma became an art-filled retreat that they sailed through the Mediterranean from season to season. Burton once wrote of it: "I have dreams of living with Elizabeth on the Kalizma and never living on land again."
Ischia
Elizabeth and Burton sailed over to the volcanic Italian island of Ischia in 1962 to film the barge scenes for Cleopatra, when their budding relationship was still considered a salacious scandal that the world could not stop watching. While photos of them sunning on a yacht and swimming in the clear blue waters were splashed across endless front pages, the island provided the perfect backdrop for the beginning of one of the great love stories of the twentieth century. They stayed at the Albergo della Regina Isabella, the grand hotel at the heart of Ischia's social life, which counts them among its most celebrated original guests.