Palermo travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Palermo, planned over three days
Best time to visit Palermo
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Warm at 20 to 28C, everything open, swimmable from late May.
September is the favourite month with the warmest sea, October stays warm and crowds thin.
Hot and humid at 30 to 36C, sightsee early or late, coastal crowds peak and some centre restaurants close mid August.
Mild and quiet, Easter processions building and evenings cool.
Mild and rainy at times, museums and food carry the trip, beach does not.
Mild at 12 to 17C, quiet and cheapest, with empty sights and easy bookings but no swimming.
What's on
- Festino di Santa Rosalia 9-15 July, main procession evening of 14 July
The patronal festival chariot travels from the Cathedral to the Foro Italico with fireworks over the harbour.
- Acchianata night of 3-4 September
Thousands climb Monte Pellegrino by torchlight to Santa Rosalia's sanctuary for her feast day.
- Le Vie dei Tesori weekends, roughly October to early November
A local festival opening normally closed palazzi, churches and sites across Palermo for small fees.
- Carnevale in Acireale February
Sicily's biggest carnival, in nearby Acireale as a separate east coast trip.
- Teatro di Verdura open-air season July to August
Opera and concerts move partly outdoors in the Teatro Massimo summer season.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Palermo
Cappella Palatina
Roger II's chapel layers Byzantine gold mosaics, an Arabic carved ceiling and Norman architecture in one room.
Palazzo dei Normanni
The Norman Palace holding the Palatine Chapel, with royal apartments that close when parliament sits.
Mercato Ballarò
Palermo's oldest and loudest market, with produce, offal grills and panelle frying in real time.
Mercato del Capo
The market behind Teatro Massimo, best for fish and everyday food shopping.
Mercato della Vucciria
The smallest historic market, a food market by day and a nightlife piazza by night.
Streaty Original Street Food Tour
A small group street food tour through Capo and Vucciria with vendors the guides know by name.
Teatro Massimo
Italy's largest opera house, worth the guided tour by day and a performance by night.
Cattedrale di Palermo
Pay for the rooftop walk above the nave for the best central panorama in the city.
Where to stay in Palermo
Politeama-Libertà
first trip, all-round base
Elegant wide streets north west of the old town, safest feeling at night and a short walk into the centre.
Monte di Pietà / Castellammare
first-timers who want to walk to everything
Teatro Massimo, Capo market and the Cathedral are all close, with the densest restaurants and bars.
La Kalsa
character, nightlife-adjacent calm and value
The old Arab quarter with good B&B value, aperitivo streets and a quieter residential feel at night.
Albergheria (Ballarò)
cheapest and most vivid base, with eyes open
Ballarò market and the Norman Palace on your doorstep, but choose a specific well reviewed street.
Mondello
beach stay May to September only
Liberty era beach suburb for a beach first trip, with a 30 to 40 minute bus ride into the centre.
Acquasanta (Villa Igiea)
resort-in-the-city splurge
One villa resort in gardens above its own marina, deliberately separate from the city's chaos.
Think twice about
- Outer estates such as ZEN, Brancaccio, Falsomiele and Borgo Nuovo
Peripheral and poorly connected, with nothing to walk to and long rides to the centre. A cheap listing here is no saving.
Best restaurants in Palermo
Mercato Ballarò
Eat panelle, crocchè, arancine, sfincione and pani ca meusa standing up, stall to stall.
Mercato del Capo
The second half of the essential market street food circuit, morning to early afternoon only.
Nino 'u Ballerino
The showman institution for pani ca meusa, made as a performance for decades.
Franco 'u Vastiddaru
The old school panelle and crocchè benchmark, and an easier first pani ca meusa stop.
Ke Palle
Modern arancine with a rotating cast of fillings, the best counter in the centre to taste side by side.
Bar Touring
The traditionalist arancina on Via Lincoln, crisp and generous.
I Segreti del Chiostro
Cannoli and cassata made to cloistered nuns' recipes in the Santa Caterina cloister.
Cappadonia Gelati
Properly Sicilian gelato and granita, with a brioche col tuppo for breakfast.
Outdoor things to do in Palermo
Mondello and Capo Gallo Boat Tour
Small boats into the Capo Gallo reserve for swim stops, snorkelling, caves and an aperitivo on board.
Monte Pellegrino
Climb the Scala Vecchia pilgrim staircase up Palermo's limestone mountain for city and sea views.
Santuario di Santa Rosalia
The cave sanctuary of Palermo's patron saint at the top of the Monte Pellegrino climb.
Riserva Naturale di Capo Gallo
Coastal trails to Piano Stinco and the old semaphore, with rocky swimming coves below.
Duomo di Monreale
Monreale's cathedral and cloister above the Conca d'Oro, paired with an afternoon swim at Mondello.
Spiaggia di Mondello
Palermo's pale sand beach under Monte Pellegrino, best on a weekday outside August.
Cefalù
The best full day trip east by train, mixing a rock climb, a town beach swim and a Norman cathedral.
La Rocca di Cefalù
Climb the great rock above Cefalù to the Temple of Diana for views both ways along the coast.
Best hotels in Palermo
Grand Hotel et Des Palmes
A Belle Epoque grande dame opened in 1874, where Wagner wrote Parsifal.
Palazzo Natoli Boutique Hotel
A small design led boutique hotel in the Politeama Libertà grid.
Hotel Politeama
The renovated workhorse hotel directly on Piazza Ruggero Settimo.
Hotel Plaza Opéra
A mid range Politeama hotel on the elegant north west side of the centre.
B&B Hotel Palermo Quattro Canti
The budget chain pick just south of Politeama by Quattro Canti.
Bastione Spasimo Boutique Hotel
A small luxury boutique hotel by the Spasimo ruins in the Kalsa, quiet and polished.
Palazzo Liberty Unique Hotel
A small luxury Liberty style hotel near Teatro Massimo.
Quintocanto Hotel & Spa
A mid range hotel and spa on Via Maqueda in the historic centre.
Is Palermo expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €135 a person |
| Splurge | €380 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Cappella Palatina: a few days ahead
- Palazzo dei Normanni: a few days ahead
- Streaty Original Street Food Tour: a few days ahead
- Teatro Massimo: weeks ahead
- No Mafia Walking Tour: a few days ahead
- Sicilian Cooking Class in Palermo: a few days ahead
- Teatro dei Pupi Mimmo Cuticchio: a few days ahead
- Palazzo Conte Federico: a few days ahead
- Book Gagini and Bye Bye Blues days to weeks ahead.
- Book Teatro Massimo performances weeks ahead and tours days ahead in summer.
- Book Cappella Palatina, the No Mafia Tour, Streaty and Opera dei Pupi ahead as they sell out.
- Book Festino week and Easter week hotels months ahead.
Is Palermo safe?
- Pickpocketing in markets, on crowded buses and in Festino crowds is the realistic risk, use a cross body bag.
- Keep phones off cafe tables at the street edge and be firm with touting drivers.
- Stay on lit main streets at night and taxi back from deep Albergheria lanes if unsure.
Palermo travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Tourist menu restaurants with touts near Quattro Canti on Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
- Mondello beach in August and on summer Sundays, when the free beach is a sliver and lidos charge peak prices.
- The hop on hop off bus for the centre, and horse carriages or tuk tuks without a full price agreed in writing.
- Catania or Etna as a day trip from Palermo, both deserve their own stay.
Getting around Palermo: public transport and more
- Walk the historic centre, it is 20 to 25 minutes end to end.
- Use bus 806 for Mondello and the Prestia e Comandè airport bus to Politeama, about 50 minutes.
- Agree taxi fares or insist on the meter, and do not rent a car for Palermo itself due to the ZTL and traffic.
Who Palermo suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Palermo your trip
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