48 hours in Palermo

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

In September, the sweltering temperatures of summer abate slightly and the crowds start to disperse. So take advantage of the balmy temperatures to explore Palermo's unique mix of Arab-Norman architecture, Sicilian Baroque churches and grand palazzos. The city is suffused with a captivating, rough-around-the-edges charm and the legacies of its many residents down the centuries, including Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Swabians and Spaniards.

BEAM DOWN

Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com) is the only airline offering direct flights from the UK to Palermo. Expect to pay around £120 return from Stansted in September. Alternatively, Alitalia (08705 448 259; www.alitalia.co.uk) offers return fares via Rome or Milan from around £179 return in September. Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino airport is located 20km north of the city in Punta Raisi. Taxis cost around €40 (£28) one-way. There's a half-hourly bus service from outside the arrivals hall into the city which drops passengers at two points, the Piazza Politeama in the north, and the main train station, the Stazione Centrale , in the south. This takes around 35 minutes and costs €4.65 (£3.30) per adult one-way.

GET YOUR BEARINGS

Palermo is spectacularly positioned on the Tyrrhenian Sea, with the dramatic mass of Monte Pellegrino to the north of the city. Its historic centre is a medieval jumble of streets, which first grew up around the ancient Greek port of La Cala . The old city can be divided into four quarters: the Albergheria and the Capo to the west, and the Vucciria and La Kalsa to the east. The spiritual heart of Palermo is the octagonal Baroque Piazza Vigliena , known as the "Quattro Canti" or Four Corners, formed by the crossroads of via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele. The latter is the city's most important street, and has existed since Phoenician times. It contains several of Palermo's grandest buildings, including the Palazzo Reale and the huge cathedral . North of the via Cavour, you'll find the wide streets of the newer, 19th-century part of the city. Palermo's main tourist office is here, at Piazza Castelnuovo (00 39 091 605 8351; www.palermotourism.com) . Open Monday to Friday from 8.30am-2pm, Saturday from 8.30am-2.30pm, and Sunday from 9am-12pm. Pick up a copy of "Un Ospita a Palermo" for invaluable tourist information.

CHECK IN

Palermo's grandest hotel, the stunning art nouveau-style Grand Hotel Villa Igiea (00 39 091 547 654; www.thi.it) is located 3km north of the city, overlooking the Gulf of Palermo. Doubles start from €256 (£182) including breakfast. The Hotel Principe di Villafranca at via Turrisi Colonna 4 (00 39 091 611 8523; www.principedivillafranca.it) in the new part of the city, is a small hotel with a pleasing mix of antiques, all mod cons and a friendly welcome. Doubles cost from €180 (£125) including breakfast. The Hotel Joli , via Michele Amari (00 39 091 611 1765; www.hoteljoli.com), well placed on the edge of both the old and new parts of town, has double rooms from €98 (£70).

TAKE A HIKE

The best way to see Palermo is on foot, particularly the old city, which contains more than 500 palaces, churches, convents and monasteries. Start at the Quattro Canti and head towards the sea along Corso Vittorio Emanuele. You'll soon arrive at the elegant piazza Marina, flanked on one side by the old harbour, called La Cala , and on the other by the pleasant Giardino Garibaldi. You have now entered one of the oldest parts of the city. Known as La Kalsa, from the Arabic "khalisa", meaning "pure", it was badly damaged during bombing in the Second World War and much of it still bears the scars. From here, just follow your nose. The real fun of exploring La Kalsa is not knowing what the next corner will bring: perhaps an elaborate Baroque church, such as St Teresa alla Kalsa or snatched glances through half-open doors of crumbling Arab-inspired courtyards.

WINDOW SHOPPING

You'll find the smartest shops and boutiques around the Viale della Liberta and the via Maqueda. However, an unmissable part of Palermitan life are the city's many street markets. One of the most atmospheric is the La Vucciria food market. Likened to the souks of North Africa, La Vuccaria radiates around the tiny streets surrounding Piazza Caracciolo, along Via Cassari, and is piled high with local produce and fish of every variety every day except Sunday until about 2pm. Keep an eye out for Calabria Giuseppe and his stall at via Argenteria, 51 selling jars of his special Pesto Palermitiano - an explosive mix of spices, extra virgin olive oil, raisins, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. A stroll around the Ballaro food market is also a rewarding experience.

LUNCH ON THE RUN

Antica Focacceria San Francesco , via A Paternostro, 58 (00 39 091 320 264; www.anticafocacceriasfrancesco.it), is the place to sample the Palermitan specialities of "pani ca 'meusa" - a sesame bun containing slices of boiled spleen €2 (£1.40) - and chickpea fritters called "panelle". A favourite of Giuseppe Garibaldi, it has been dishing up at the same location since 1834. Inside are tables for diners on the run, or you can sit at one of the tables in the pretty square opposite for a more leisurely lunch. Otherwise, buy a bag of freshly deep-fried rice balls, called "arancini", or potato fritters from a street-seller for €1 (70p).

TAKE A RIDE

A traditional if touristy way to explore the city is to rent a carrozza - an elaborate horse-drawn carriage usually costing about €30 (£21) per hour. Otherwise, take bus 389 from piazza Indipendenza to the town of Monreale, about 8km south-west of the city in the verdant Conca D'Oro valley. The cathedral, dating from 1174, is the big attraction here. The interior contains a glittering display of 13th- and14th-century Sicilian-Norman mosaics with Islamic, Byzantine and Romanesque influences, depicting passages from the Bible. The cloister of the adjacent Benedictine monastery is also richly ornamented with mosaics and Arab-Norman arches supported by 228 twin arches (open daily 9am-6pm, Sunday 9am-12.30pm).

AN APERITIF

Pull up a chair outside the Antica Caffé Spinnato on the pedestrianised Via Principe de Belmonte 107/115 (00 39 091 583 231). Here you can sip a marsala surrounded by well-heeled locals and the tinklings of an outdoor piano. Around the corner, sip a cocktail in the bar of the Grand Hotel et Des Palmes (00 39 091 60 28 111; www.thi.it), via Roma. This former home of marsala merchants dates from 1874 and is worth a peek for its spectacular reception rooms. Wagner put the finishing touches to Parsifal here and touchingly there's still a stool reserved for him at the bar.

DINNER WITH THE LOCALS

Osteria dei Vespri , Piazza di Vespri (00 39 091 617 1631) offers sophisticated (if expensive) dishes in a romantic square next to the palazzo where Visconti filmed the opulent ballroom scenes in his cinematic version of Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard. About €50 (£35). Right in the heart of La Vucciria down a tiny street, Dal Maestro Del Brodo , via Pannieri (00 39 091 329 523), is a good place to sample deep-fried baby octopus, caponata and roasted squid. About €20 (£14). Piccolo Napoli on Piazzetta Mulino al Vento (00 39 091 320 431) is a family-run gem in the heart of the chaotic Borgo Vecchio market (usually still in full swing at dinner-time). This serves fabulous fish and local dishes such as "pasta con le sarde" (sardine pasta).

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

Start with the most spectacular - the Capella Palatina , piazza Indipendenza (00 39 091 705 4879). Despite its small size, this chapel on the first floor of the Royal Palace, dating from the mid-12th century, is considered to be the finest example of its kind in the world. Its darkened Arab-Norman interior is ablaze with gold-embellished mosaics and a stunning North African Islamic-style wooden honeycomb ceiling. Get there early as queues form quickly (daily 9-11.45am and 3-4.45pm, Sundays 9-10am and noon-1pm, closed Saturdays). The mosaic-adorned 12th-century interior of the Norman La Martorana on piazza Bellini (00 39 091 616 1692), almost rivals the Capella Palatina (open 8am-1pm and 3.30-5.30pm weekdays, 8.30am-1pm weekends).

OUT TO BRUNCH

Brunch is not a common pursuit in Palermo. Instead, order a cappuccino and a Sicilian pastry at one of the city's many bars. Bar Mazzara , via Generale V Magliocco, 15 (00 39 091 321 443) was a favourite haunt of Tomasi di Lampedusa, who reputedly wrote some of The Leopard there.

A WALK IN THE PARK

Take a stroll around Palermo's shady Botanical Gardens (00 39 091 623 8111; www.ortobotanico.palermo.it), just outside the old city walls. Part of Palermo University, it contains a variety of plants and trees, including a massive Ficus Magnoliodes and a bamboo grove. Open daily 9am-6pm, and Sunday 8.30am-1.30pm, €3.30 (£2.35). Continue your walk at the Villa Giulia (00 39 091 740 4028), which was laid out in the 18th century and contains marble statues and lawns. Open daily, 8am -8pm, admission free.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

Palermo's Archaeological Museum , piazza Olivella (00 39 091 611 6805) contains a vast collection of artefacts from Sicily's history, including the Phoenician, Greek and Roman periods. It also has an extensive collection of objects unearthed from the ancient city and temples at Selinute. It opens Tuesday to Friday 8.30am-7.30pm, Saturday and Sunday 8.30am-10pm, Monday 8.30am-1.30pm. Admission €4.50 (£3.20). Film fans will recognise the steps leading up to the Teatro Massimo piazza Verdi (00 39 091 605 3111; www.teatromassimo.it), from The Godfather, Part III. Completed in 1897, this is the third largest opera house in Europe. The only way to see its opulent interior is either to buy a ticket to a performance or to join a guided tour. Tours cost €3 (£2.10); the building is open daily from 10am-4pm.

WRITE A POSTCARD

The perfect spot is sitting in the café in the piazza outside one of the city's most recognisable Sicilian Baroque churches, the yellow and white Church of San Domenico .

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

It may sound macabre (and it is), but don't miss the ghoulish display at the Catacombe dei Cappuccini , piazza Cappuccini, Convento dei Padri Cappuccini (00 39 091 212 117). More than 6,000 mummified former residents of the city, some dating from the 1600s, line its subterranean labyrinth of corridors. Each body, fully clothed in finery, hangs or lies in rows in order of their worldly social standing. The display includes an almost perfectly preserved two-year-old girl who looks like she might wake up at any moment (open daily 9am-noon, 3-5pm).

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