Italy Guide
Sicily
Palermo
With Sicily's greatest concentration of sights, and the biggest historic centre in Italy bar Rome, Palermo is a complex, multilayered city that can easily feel overwhelming if you try to do or see too much. If you only have a day, select an area (La Kalsa, with its two museums, for example, of the sprawling markets of Ballaro or Capo), and explore. If, on the other hand, you want to see all the major sights and leave time to explore the labyrinthine historical centre at random, allow at least four days in cool weather. In summer, Palermo is far too hot to be comfortable between noon and around 5pm, so schedule in a leisurely lunch and siesta.
The essential sights are pretty central and easy to cover on foot. Paramount are the hybrid Cattedrale and nearby Palazzo dei Normanni (Royal Palace); the glorious Norman churches of La Martorana and San Giovanni degli Eremiti; the Baroque San Giuseppe dei Teatini and Santa Caterina; and first-class museums of art and archeology. If the urban grit and grime become overwhelming, head to the fine beach at Mondello, to the famous medieval cathedral of Monreale, or take a ferry or hydrofoil to the tiny volcanic island of Ústica, 60km northwest.
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