Palermo City Break from the UK — Weekend Guide & Itinerary

Overview

Why Palermo for a city break?

Palermo is one of the most historically layered cities in the Mediterranean — a Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, Swabian, Spanish and Italian city all compressed into one dense, magnificent, slightly chaotic whole. The Arab-Norman architecture — a style unique to Sicily that fuses Islamic geometric decoration with Norman Romanesque structure — produced some of the most extraordinary buildings in medieval Europe: the Palatine Chapel inside the Norman Palace, with its golden Byzantine mosaics and wooden Arab muqarnas ceiling, is the single most beautiful room in Italy. The street food culture (fritto misto, stigghiola, arancini, pani ca meusa) is more North African than Italian and more authentic than anything else on the island.

From London and several UK airports it's three hours — Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air fly from Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and regional airports. Palermo Falcone-Borsellino Airport is 35km from the centre (Trinacria Express train, 50 minutes, €6.90 or bus, 45 minutes, €6.30). Go from April to June or September to November: the heat is manageable, the street markets are at their finest and the Norman-Arab architecture is best seen in temperate weather. The Festino di Santa Rosalia (July 15) is the most spectacular religious festival in Sicily.

Where to stay & explore

Palermo's best neighbourhoods

Palermo Centrale & the Quattro Canti

The baroque heart — the famous Quattro Canti crossroads, the Piazza Pretoria, the Arab-Norman Cathedral and the densest concentration of historic architecture.

Ballarò & the Markets

The most ancient neighbourhood and the finest street food market in Sicily — the Ballarò market runs daily through a labyrinth of alleys in the Arabic quarter.

Vucciria & Kalsa

The historic Jewish and Spanish quarters — the Vucciria market (atmospheric, especially at night), the Galleria Regionale in the Kalsa and the most creative restaurant scene in the city.

Things to do

What to see in Palermo

Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina)

The single most beautiful room in Italy — the private chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily, built between 1132 and 1143, combining Byzantine gold mosaic (the finest outside Istanbul and Ravenna), Islamic geometric wooden muqarnas ceiling and Norman stone architecture into a synthesis that exists nowhere else on earth. The 6,340 square metres of gold mosaic covering every surface represent the entire Byzantine iconographic programme: Christ Pantocrator in the dome, the life of Christ, the lives of Peter and Paul. Allow 90 minutes; photograph nothing (tripods and flash forbidden but phones allowed). Book online — timed entry is mandatory.

Ballarò Market and the Arab-Norman streets

The Ballarò market — running daily through the Albergheria neighbourhood from 7am to 2pm — is the most authentic street market in Sicily and feels more Moroccan than Italian: vendors sell fresh produce, spices, street food and household goods under awnings in streets that follow the medieval Arab grid. Eat here: fried aubergine, panelle (chickpea fritters), arancine (the Palermo term — plural feminine), stigghiola (grilled intestines with onion and parsley, the most challenging and most rewarding Palermo street food).

San Giovanni degli Eremiti

The finest Arab-Norman church in Palermo — five distinctive red domes above a simple Norman nave, in a courtyard garden of citrus trees and palms that is the most tranquil space in the city. Built in 1132 on the site of a mosque, the domes are Islamic in form and material while the interior is austerely Norman. The adjacent cloister garden is extraordinary. A ten-minute walk from the Norman Palace.

Palazzo Abatellis (Galleria Regionale)

The finest art museum in Sicily — housed in a 15th-century palace in the Kalsa neighbourhood, with the most important collection of medieval and Renaissance Sicilian painting and sculpture. The centrepiece is Antonello da Messina's Annunciation — one of the most haunting paintings in Italian art, the Virgin caught at the moment of Gabriel's message. The Triumph of Death fresco (anonymous, 15th century) in the entrance atrium is equally extraordinary. Free on the first Sunday of each month.

Food & drink

Where to eat in Palermo

Osteria dei Vespri

Modern Sicilian / Piazza Croce dei Vespri

The finest modern Sicilian restaurant in Palermo — in a 18th-century palazzo in the Kalsa, with a tasting menu that celebrates Sicilian ingredients (tuna, red prawns from Mazara, Sicilian almonds and pistachios) with classical technique. The courtyard is one of the most beautiful dining settings on the island. Book ahead.

Trattoria Piccolo Napoli

Traditional Sicilian / Borgo Vecchio

The most beloved traditional seafood trattoria in Palermo — in the Borgo Vecchio neighbourhood near the Ucciardone prison, serving the freshest fish bought from the Ballarò market each morning. The spaghetti ai ricci di mare (sea urchin pasta), the grilled dentice and the Sicilian wine selection are all exemplary. Book ahead.

Ke palle (Arancina shop)

Street food / historic centre

The finest arancine in Palermo — the golden fried rice balls (filled with meat ragù, or butter and mozzarella, or spinach and cheese) that are one of the defining foods of Sicilian culture. The debate over the correct shape (conical in Palermo, spherical in Catania) is a matter of civic honour. Ke palle's version is definitive. Under €2 for the finest street snack in the city.

Itinerary

3 days in Palermo — a suggested itinerary

Day 1

Palatine Chapel, Ballarò market, Quattro Canti

Train from the airport to Palermo Centrale (50 minutes). Walk to the Norman Palace immediately — the Palatine Chapel timed entry must be booked online. Allow 90 minutes for the chapel. Walk down to the Ballarò market for street food: panelle, arancine, fried aubergine. The Quattro Canti crossroads (the baroque theatrical backdrop at the heart of the city). The Fontana Pretoria (the magnificent 16th-century fountain, also known as the Fountain of Shame for its nude figures). The Cathedral of Palermo in the afternoon (eclectic exterior, royal tombs of the Norman kings inside). Osteria dei Vespri for dinner.

Day 2

San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Galleria Regionale, Vucciria at night

San Giovanni degli Eremiti in the morning — the Arab-Norman domes, the cloister garden, the peace. The Palazzo Abatellis and the Galleria Regionale for Antonello da Messina's Annunciation. Lunch at Trattoria Piccolo Napoli (booked). The Capuchin Catacombs (Via Cappuccini) in the afternoon — 8,000 mummified bodies displayed in corridors, one of the most macabre and most visited sites in Sicily. The Vucciria market neighbourhood in the evening: the market closes in the afternoon but the bars and street food stalls open at night, and the atmosphere is extraordinary.

Day 3

Monreale Cathedral or Cefalù day trip

Monreale — 8km uphill from Palermo, bus 389 from Piazza Indipendenza (30 minutes) — has the finest Norman cathedral in Sicily and one of the finest mosaics in the world: the interior of the Duomo of Monreale covers 6,000 square metres with 12th-century Byzantine gold mosaic, second only to the Hagia Sophia in scale. The view from the cathedral terrace over the Conca d'Oro (the orange-grove plain surrounding Palermo) is extraordinary. Return to Palermo for lunch. Alternatively: Cefalù (70 minutes by train) — the finest Norman cathedral exterior in Sicily above a medieval fishing village with excellent beaches. Return to Palermo for the evening flight.

Why Palermo for a city break?

Palermo's best neighbourhoods

What to see in Palermo

Where to eat in Palermo

3 days in Palermo — a suggested itinerary

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