Sicily – Part 1
Most Sicilians consider themselves, and their island, a separate entity. Coming from the Italian mainland, it’s very noticeable that Sicily (Sicilia) has a different feel, that socially and culturally you are all but out of Europe. The largest island in the Mediterranean, and with a strategically vital position, Sicily has a history and outlook derived not from its modern parent but from its erstwhile foreign rulers – from the Greeks who first settled the east coast in the eighth century BC, through a dazzling array of Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, French and Spanish, to the Bourbons seen off by Garibaldi in 1860.
Substantial relics of these ages remain, with temples, theatres and churches scattered about the whole island. But there are other, more immediate hints of Sicily’s unique past. Sicilian dialect, for example, is still widely spoken in both cities and countryside, varying from place to place; and the food is noticeably different from elsewhere in Italy, spicier and with more emphasis on fish and vegetables; even the flora echoes the change of temperament – oranges, lemons (introduced by the Arabs), prickly pears and palms are ubiquitous.
A visit here still induces a real sense of arrival. The standard approach for those heading south from the mainland is to cross the Straits of Messina, from Villa San Giovanni or Reggio di Calabria: this way, the train-ferry pilots a course between Scylla and Charybdis, the twin hazards of rock and whirlpool that were a legendary threat to sailors. Coming in by plane, too, there are spectacular approaches to the coastal airports at Palermo, Trápani and Catania.
Once you’re on land, deciding where to go is largely a matter of time. Inevitably, most points of interest are on the coast: the interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely populated and relatively inaccessible, though in parts extremely beautiful. The capital, Palermo, is a filthy, bustling, noisy city with an unrivalled display of Norman art and architecture and Baroque churches, combined with a warren of medieval streets and markets. Heading east, there’s no better place in Sicily for a traditional family sea, sun and sand holiday than Cefalù, with a magnificent golden sandy beach and a mellow medieval core overlooked by a beetling castle-topped crag. An hour or so further east is the workaday port of Milazzo, departure point for the Aeolian Islands, an archipelago of seven islands. Here you can climb two active volcanoes, laze on lava beaches, snorkel over bubbling underwater fumaroles, and wallow in warm, reeking, sulphurous mud baths.
The islands are also linked by hydrofoil with the major port of Messina, separated from mainlaind Italy by the Straits of Messina. If you are travelling to Sicily overland from Italy, Messina will unavoidably be your point of arrival. Devasted by an earthquake and tidal wave in 1908, it is a modern city of little charm and unlikely to hold your interest for long. The most obvious target from here is the almost too charming hill-town of Taormina, spectacularly located on a rocky bluff between the Ionian Sea and the soaring peak of Mount Etna. For a gutsier taste of Sicily, head to Catania, the island’s second city, intellectual and cultured, with a compact Baroque core of black lava and white limestone, and two exuberant markets. From Taormina or Catania, a skirt around the foothills, and even better, up to the craters of Mount Etna, is a must.
In the south of the island is Siracusa, once the most important city of the Greek world, and beyond it, the Val di Noto, with an alluring group of Baroque towns centring on Ragusa. The south coast’s greatest draw are the Greek temples at Agrigento, while inland, Enna is typical of the mountain towns that provided defence for a succession of the island’s rulers. Close by is Piazza Armerina and its Roman mosaics, while to the west, most of Sicily’s fishing industry – and much of the continuing Mafia activity – focuses on the area around Trápani. To see all these places, you’ll need at least a couple of weeks – more like a month if you want to travel extensively inland, a slower and more traditional experience altogether.
I like Sicily extremely – a good on-the-brink feeling – one hop and you’re out of Europe…
D.H. Lawrence in a letter to Lady Cynthia Asquith, 1920
Regional food and wine
Sicily’s food has been influenced by the island’s endless list of invaders, including Greeks, Arabs, Normans and Spanish, even the English, each of them leaving behind them traces of their gastronomy. Dishes such as orange salads and unguent sweet-sour abergine and, of course, couscous evoke North Africa, while Sicily’s most distinctive pasta dish spaghetti con le sarde – with sardines, pine nuts, wild fennel and raisins – is thought to date back to the first foray into Sicily, at Mazara, by an Arab force in 827. The story goes that the army cooks were ordered to forage around for food, and found sardines at the port, wild fennel growing in the fields, and raisins drying in the vineyards. Religious festivals too, are often associated with foods: for example at San Giuseppe, on March 19, altars are made of bread, and at Easter you will find pasticcerias full of sacrifical lambs made of marzipan, and Gardens of Adonis (trays of sprouting lentils, chickpeas and other pulses) placed before church altars to symbolize the rebirth of Christ. The last has its roots in fertility rites that pre-date even the arrival of the Greeks to the island.
Sicily is famous for its sweets too, like rich cassata, ponge cake filled with sweet ricotta cream and covered with pistachio marzipan, and cannoli – crunchy tubes of deep-fried pastry stuffed with sweet ricotta. Street food is ubiquitous in cities such as Palermo, dating back to the eighteenth century when wood was rationed, and few people were able to cook at home: deep-fried rice balls, potato croquettes and chickpea-flour fritters compete with dinky-sized pizzas. Naturally, fish such as anchovies, sardines, tuna and swordfish are abundant – indeed, it was in Sicily that the technique of canning tuna was invented. Cheeses are pecorino, provolone, caciocavallo and, of course, the sheep’s-milk ricotta which goes into so many of the sweet dishes.
Traditionally wine-making in Sicily was associated mainly with sweet wines such as Malvasia and the fortified Marsala – in the nineteenth century many a fortune was made providing Malvasia to the Napoleonic army – but the island has also made a name for itself as a producer of quality everyday wines found in supermarkets throughout Italy, such as Corvo, Regaleali, Nicosia, Settesoli and Tria. There are superb wines too – notably Andrea Franchetti’s prize-winning Passopisciaro, from the north slopes of Etna – as well as wines across a wide price range from producers such as Tasca d’Almerita, Baglio Hopps, Planeta, Morgante and Murgo.
Highlights
Monreale The magnificently mosaiced cathedral is a testament to Sicily’s eclectic Arab, Norman and Byzantine heritage.
The Aeolian Islands An archipelago of seven islands with active volanoes, lava beaches, fractured coastlines and whitewashed villages.
Mount Etna It’s an eerie climb up the blackened lunar landscape of this smoking volcano, dominating the landscape of eastern Sicily.
Siracusa Classical dramas are staged every summer in the city’s spectacular ancient Greek theatre, while the Baroque and medieval tangle of Ortigia, surrounded by sea, has year-round appeal.
Coastal nature reserves Nature reserves such as Zingaro and Vendicari provide respite from the overdevelopment of much of the island’s coast. See also Northeast of Trápani.
Val di Noto This valley, stretching from Noto to Ragusa, is full of splendid Baroque towns, built after an earthquake, and now enjoying a renaissance, spurred on by UNESCO. See also Módica.
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento A spectacular sight, especially at night when the towering Doric columns are artfully floodlit.
Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina The vitality, colour and diversity of the mosaics at this Roman villa are not to be missed.
Getting around
Getting around Sicily can be a protracted business. Trains along the northern and eastern coasts (Messina–Palermo and Messina–Siracusa) are extensions of – or connect with – trains from Rome and Naples, and delays of over an hour are frequent. Buses are generally quicker. There’s no single bus company – Interbus, SAIS and AST are the main three, and each has a website. Expect little (if any) service anywhere on a Sunday.
Palermo and around
Palermo is fast, brash, filthy and exciting. Exotic Arabic cupolas float above exuberant Baroque facades, high-fashion shops compete with raffish street markets, and walls of graffitied municipal cement abut the crumbling shells of collapsing palazzi sprouting clusters of prickly pear. Add to this a constant soundtrack of sputtering, swirling traffic, and some of the most anarchic driving in Europe, and you’ll quickly see that this is not a city for the faint-hearted. 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. The best thing to do here is just to wander as the fancy takes you, sifting through the city’s jumbled layers of crumbling architecture, along deserted back alleys, then suddenly emerging in the midst of an ebullient street market. If you only have a day, select an area (La Kalsa, with its two museums, for example, or the sprawling markets of Ballarò or Capo), and explore: have a couple of target sights in mind by all means, but don’t neglect to wander up any particular alley or street that takes your interest. 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 avoid it or 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 (when it reopens in 2012).
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.
The Mafia
Whatever else the Mafia is, it isn’t an organization that impinges upon the lives of tourists. For most Sicilians, mafia with a small m is so much a way of life and habit of mind that they don‘t even think about it. If a Sicilian lends a neighbour a bag of sugar, for example, both will immediately be aware of a favour owed, and the debtor uncomfortable until the favour has been returned, and balance restored. As for allegience to friends, it would be very rare indeed for a Sicilian, asked to recommend a hotel or restaurant, to suggest that you go to one that does not belong to a friend, relative, or someone who forms part of his personal network of favours.
The Mafia, with a capital M, began life as an early medieval conspiracy, created to protect the family from oppressive intrusions of the state. Existing to this day, Sicily continues to endure this system of allegiance, preferment and patronage of massive self-perpetuating proportions, from which few local people profit. In many parts of the region, owners of shops and businesses are expected to give pizzo (protection money) to the local Mafia. Though efforts to resist the Mafia continue, with local businesses in Palermo and Siracusa, for example, banding together to refuse to pay pizzo, it is not uncommon for the Mafia to have the power to close down the enterprises of refuseniks. And despite headline-hitting arrests, such as that of Mafia Don Bernardo Provenzano in 2006, local newspapers are daily filled with evidence of Mafia activity – such as the bizarre discovery in early 2010 by agents studying Google Earth maps, of a clandestine race-track near Pachino.
Some history
Occupying a superb position in a wide bay beneath the limestone bulk of Monte Pellegrino, Palermo was originally a Phoenician, then a Carthaginian colony. Its mercantile and strategic attractions were obvious, and under Saracen and Norman rule in the ninth to twelfth centuries it became the greatest city in Europe, famed both for the wealth of its court, and as an intellectual and cultural melting pot that brought together the best of Western and Arabic thought. There are plenty of relics from this era, but it’s the rebuilding of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that really shaped the city centre. In the nineteenth century, wealthy Palermitani began to shun the centre for the elegant suburbs of new “European” boulevards and avenues to the north of Piazza Politeama, that still retain some fine Art Nouveau buildings.
During World War II Allied bombs destroyed much of the port area and the medieval centre (including seventy churches), and for decades much of central Palermo remained a ramshackle bombsite. It is only recently that funds from Rome and the EU have united with political willpower to kickstart the regeneration of the historic centre, though as hundreds of abandoned buildings still testify, there is still a way to go.
Arrival, information and transport
Palermo’s Falcone Borsellino airport (800.541.880, www.gesap.it) is at Punta Raisi, 31km west of the city. Buses (Prestia & Comandè 091.580.457, www.prestiaecomande.it) run into the city every thirty minutes from 5am until midnight, taking forty-five minutes, and stop outside Politeama theatre, Stazione Maríttima, and at Stazione Centrale; tickets (€5.80) on board. For the return, departures are at 4am, 5am and then every thirty minutes until 11pm. Trains (€5.50) run from the airport to Stazione Centrale at 5.54am, 7.20am, and then on the hour and at 20 past the hour until 9.20pm, with the final departure at 10.05pm. From Stazione Centrale they leave at 4.45am, 5.09am, 6.07am and then every 30 minutes between 7.09am and 8.09pm. The airport ticket office number is 091.704.4007. Note that if later-arriving flight schedules are added in the future, timetabling may change.
All trains arrive at the Stazione Centrale at the southern end of Via Roma, and the majority of the country- and island-wide buses operate out of Via Paolo Balsamo alongside. Bus #101 runs from the station along Via Roma to Via della Libertà. It has its own priority lane, so is much faster than most of the city’s other services. Even the linea gialla and linea rossa, little buses that run through the centro storico, passing by the station, get terribly snarled up in the traffic.
All ferry and hydrofoil services dock at the Stazione Maríttima, just off Via Francesco Crispi. A free navetta bus meets arrivals and will take you to the port entrance, from where it’s a ten-minute walk up Via E. Amari to Piazza Castelnuovo. Bus #139 connects the port with Stazione Centrale, though it is rather infrequent, so it is better to walk up Via E. Amari to Piazza Politeama from where buses #101 or #102, and the linea rossa, run regularly to the train station.
Driving in the city is best avoided. Overtaking on both sides is the norm, and indicating virtually unheard of. Blackmarket parking attendants will guide you to a space and charge you a small amount (50 cents or so per hr), while meters are installed in some parts of the centre. Renting a bike is an alternative for the steely nerved.
Information
Palermo’s provincial tourist office, Piazza Castelnuovo 34 (Mon–Fri 8.30am–2pm & 2.30–6pm; 091 605.8531, www.palermotourism.com), has free maps of the city and province, free booklets containing current events and transport information, as well as lists of accommodation. There is also a branch at the airport (Mon–Fri 8.30am–7.30pm, Sat 8.30am–2pm; 091.591.698). More handy, though, and often very well informed, are several little information points run by the comune, scattered through the city centre in small kiosks, at Politeama, Via Cavour opposite Feltrinelli, the port, Piazza Indipendenza, Piazza Bellini, and at the Stazione Centrale, with branches too in Mondello and Sferracavallo. (All are open Sat–Wed 9am–1pm & 3–7pm, Thurs & Fri 9am–1pm & 3–6pm.) For more complete city listings pick up a copy of the local paper, Il Giornale di Sicilia, or look out for the more youth-oriented Lapis (free).
City transport
City buses (AMAT; 091.350.111, www.amat.pa.it) cover every corner of Palermo as well as Monreale and Mondello. There’s a flat fare of €1.30 valid for 90min, or you can buy an all-day ticket for €3.50, while tickets for the linea gialla, linea rossa and linea verde, and the circolare (which all weave in and out and over the centro storico) minibus services, cost just €0.52 for a day’s use – buy them from AMAT booths outside Stazione Centrale, at the southern end of Viale della Libertà, in tabacchi and anywhere else you see the AMAT sign. Validate tickets in the machine at the back of the bus as you board. The main city bus rank is outside Stazione Centrale and buses run until midnight (11.30pm on Sun). There are taxi ranks outside the train station and in other main piazzas, or call 091.513.311, 255.455 or 339.408.5713). The minimum fare is €4.50; if the driver doesn’t want to switch the meter on, agree a fare you are prepared to pay first – not a bad strategy if there is more than one taxi driver about, as they’ll probably bid for custom! For a good reliable official taxi driver who charges less than most call Pino 328.374.5341, who will do the airport run for €40, and Stazione Centrale to the port for €10.
Taking a horse-drawn carriage, a carrozza, is a suitably kitsch way to see the city. They tout for business alongside Piazza Pretoria or by the cathedral: there is no fixed rate, so agree a price first.
If you’re adept on two wheels, biking is not a bad option: as long as you realize the rules of the road – he who hesitates is lost, and go for the gap – weaving your way in and out of the traffic can be an exhilarating way to save time and legwork. For the more adventurous, scooter rental is also available. Details of scooter and bike rental outlets are given in “Listings”.
Accommodation
If you arrive late and need a place on spec, most of Palermo’s budget hotels lie on and around the southern ends of Via Maqueda and Via Roma, close to Stazione Centrale. However, you will get far more for your money staying in one of the new wave of B&Bs, known for their good service. The youth hostel, Baia del Corallo (091.679.7807, www.ostellopalermo.it; €18, double or family room €60 and under) is by the sea 12km northwest of the city: take bus #101 from the train station to Piazza de Gaspari, and then bus #628 to Punta Matese. If you prefer to stay in an apartment, try the Palazzo Conte Federico (091.6511881, www.contefederico.com), a magnificent (if chilly) palace built over the Punic city walls, close to the Ballarò market, which has several apartments for rent for €150 per night, or Orizzonte Rosso (333.663.8666, www.orizzonterosso.com), which also organizes upmarket boat trips and tailormade excursions all over Sicily.
Alla Kala Corso Vittorio Emanuele 71 091.743.4763, www.allakala.it. Five stylish designer rooms with magnificent views of the sailing marina, and a keen following among those in the know. €91–120
BB22 Palazzo Pantelleria, Largo Cavalieri di Malta 22 091.611.1610 or 335.790.8733, www.bb22.it. Faultless Milanese designer-chic (resinated cement floors, perspex chairs, walls painted in matt hues of stone) blended with a feeling of being at home (free wi-fi, coffee and water) in a historic palazzo a few steps from the Vucciria market. Breakfast is served on a small roof terrace. The owners also organize food and wine tours, in both Palermo and further afield in Sicily. €121–150
Giardini dell’Alloro Vicolo S. Carlo 8 091.617.6904 or 338.224.3541, www.giardinodellalloro.it. Lovely B&B in the heart of La Kalsa with books for guests to borrow, a courtyard where breakfast is served, and a living room used as an exhibition space for contemporary Sicilian artists. The five rooms each feature original works of art, and all have kettles and mugs. There is a small kitchen for the use of guests, and a small spa is being built in the garden. €61–90
Grand Hotel et des Palmes Via Roma 398 091.602.811, www.grandhoteletdespalmes.com. Although it may no longer have the cachet it had in the days when guests included Wagner, the Des Palmes remains a comfortable four-star chain hotel conveniently located on the main Via Roma. Some of the rooms are huge, and there are often substantial discounts via internet bookings in low season. €151–200
Grand Hotel Villa Igiea Via Belmonte 43 091.631.2111, www.villaigiea.hilton.com. This classic Art Nouveau building, originally a villa of the Florio family (the people who pioneered tuna canning), was designed by Ernesto Basile in 1900, and stands outside the city centre above the marina of Acquasanta. It has a swimming pool overlooking the port, though chain-hotel trappings (endlessly repeated photos of famous guests, overcharging for internet etc) mean that it doesn’t live up to its name. Popular with tour groups and often full, so book ahead. Good deals via the website. €301–400
La Casa dei Limoni Piazza Giulio Cesare 9 334.834.3888 or 338.967.8907, www.lacasadeilimoni.it. Clean, friendly B&B right opposite the train station. Great value for money, and the perfect place to stay if you arrive late or have to leave early. €60 and under
La Dimora del Genio Via Garibaldi 58 347.658.7664, www.ladimoradelgenio.it. Four cosy rooms in a centrally heated seventeenth-century palazzetto, furnished with a tasteful blend of antiques, modern furniture, and original paintings by Palermo artist Maurizio Muscolino. Not all rooms have en-suite bathrooms, so avoid those if you don’t like padding around at night in your pyjamas. The friendly owner is a talented cook, and offers cooking courses for guests, as well as a splendid Sunday dinner for €30 a head. €61–90
La Dimora del Guiscardo Via Vetriera 83–5 328.662.6074, www.ladimoradelguiscardo.it. Funky little B&B in the heart of La Kalsa, close to the area’s bars and restaurants. Clean, simple rooms, and a sole shared bathroom. €60 and under
L’Arabo e il Normanno Piazza d’Orleans 10 091.652.3417 or 339.336.5607, www.laraboeilnormannobb.com. Little B&B run by a charming couple. It is right opposite the Orleans metro stop, so ideal if you are arriving late from the airport. Five percent of profits go to a Third World charity. They also have a couple of apartments to rent in Trápani, useful if you are flying out from Birgi airport. €61–90
Letizia Via dei Bottai 30 091.589.110, www.hotelletizia.com. Each room in this delightful hotel, just off Piazza Marina, has its own colour scheme and furnishings. There’s an enclosed courtyard for breakfast, and free internet access for guests. €61–90
Palazzo Pantaleo Via Ruggero Settimo 74/H 091.325.471 or 335.700.6091, www.palazzopantaleo.it. Outstanding, this shipshape B&B has seven huge, light, airy rooms in an eighteenth-century palazzo on a quiet piazzetta off a major shopping street, a short walk from Piazza Politeama. Great attention to the kind of details that matter if you are on business – instant access in all rooms, and sockets supplied with adapters so that you can charge your mobile phone. On top of that, is respect for the privacy and independence of guests. On the upper floor is an apartment, and there is also a small kitchen where you can make drinks or snacks. €91–120
Paradiso Via Schiavuzzo 65 091.617.2825. The windows of this basic, old-fashioned first-floor pensione overlook the Piazza della Rivoluzione. It’s good and central, the couple who run it are a delight, and the ten rooms without bath are among the cheapest in town. No credit cards. €60 and under
Quattro Quarti Palazzo Arone di Valentino, Corso Vittorio Emanuele 376 091.583.687 or 347.854.7209, www.quattroquarti.it. A superior B&B with four smart, elegant rooms in part of a huge palazzo owned by the Arone di Valentino family. Guests are very well looked after, making this a great place to consider if you are a little nervous about finding your feet in Palermo. In the main part of the palace, there is a plush suite of rooms furnished with antiques. €91–120
Ucciard Home Via Enrico Albanese 34–36 091.348.426, www.hotelucciardhome.com. Trendy designer hotel opposite the prison, with sixteen comfortable, stylish rooms and lovely, luxurious bathrooms. Internet deals can be fantastic. €201–250
Vecchio Borgo Via Quintino Sella 1–7 091.611.8330, www.hotelvecchioborgo.eu. A smart and appealing hotel between the Piazza Politeama and one of Palermo’s best weekend markets. Comfortable rooms with bold printed fabrics and all amenities (including internet points). Excellent breakfast, including home-made cakes. Garage €10 a night, outdoor car-park free, but spaces limited. Worth checking the website for offers that can make it cheaper than many B&Bs. €91–120
The City
Historical Palermo sits around a crossroads, the Quattro Canti, a gleaming Baroque crossroads that divides old Palermo into its quadrants. The Albergheria and Capo quarters lie roughly west of Via Maqueda; the Vucciria and La Kalsa lie to the east, closest to the water. You’ll find virtually all the surviving ancient monuments and buildings of the city in these four areas.
Around the Quattro Canti
On the southwest corner of Quattro Canti (entrance on Corso Vittorio Emanuele), San Giuseppe dei Teatini (summer Mon–Sat 7.30–11am & 6–8pm, Sun 8.30am–12.30pm & 6–8pm; winter Mon–Sat 7.30am–noon & 5.30–8pm), begun in 1612, is the most harmonious of the city’s Baroque churches. Outside, across Via Maqueda, is Piazza Pretoria, floodlit at night to highlight the nude figures of its great central fountain, a racy sixteenth-century Florentine design. The piazza also holds the restored Municipio, while towering above both square and fountain is the massive flank of Santa Caterina (April–Oct Mon–Sat 9.30am–1.30pm & 3–7pm, Sun 9.30am–1.30pm; Nov Mon–Sat 9.30am–1pm & 3–5.30pm, Sun 9.30am–1pm; Dec–March daily 9.30am–1pm), Sicilian Baroque at its most exuberant, every inch of the enormous interior covered in a wildly decorative relief-work.
Piazza Bellini, just around the corner, is the site of two more wildly contrasting churches. The little Saracenic red domes belong to San Cataldo, a perfectly proportioned twelfth-century Byzantine chapel flooded with light (March–Oct Mon–Sat 9am–2pm & 3.30–7pm, Sun 9am–2pm; Nov–Feb daily 9am–2pm, 22 Dec–6 Jan daily 9am–5pm; €1). Never decorated, it retains a good mosaic floor. San Cataldo’s understatement is more than offset by the splendid intricacy of the adjacent La Martorana (winter Mon–Sat 9.30am–1pm & 3.30–5.30pm, Sun 8.30am–9.45am & noon–1pm; summer Mon–Sat 9.30am–1pm & 3.30–6.30pm, Sun 8.30am–9.45am & noon–1pm; free) – one of the finest survivors of the medieval city. With a Norman foundation, the church received a Baroque going-over in 1588. Happily, the alterations don’t detract from the power of the interior, entered through the slim twelfth-century campanile, which retains its ribbed arches and slender columns. A series of spectacular mosaics, animated twelfth-century Greek works, is laid on and around the columns supporting the main cupola. Two original mosaic panels have been set in frames on the walls just inside the entrance to the church: a kneeling George of Antioch (the church’s founder) dedicating La Martorana to the Virgin, and King Roger being crowned by Christ.
The Albergheria
The Albergheria district just to the northwest of the train station hasn’t changed substantially for several hundred years. A maze of tiny streets and tall leaning buildings, it’s an engaging place to wander, much of the central area taken up by a street market that all but conceals several fine churches. Via Ponticello leads down past the Baroque church of Il Gesù, or Casa Professa (daily 7am–noon & 4–6.30pm), the first Jesuit foundation in Sicily and gloriously decorated inside, to Piazza Ballarò – along with adjacent Piazza del Carmine the focus of a raucous daily market, with bulging vegetable stalls, unmarked drinking dens and gutsy snack stalls selling pane e milza and pane e panelle.
At the westernmost edge of the quarter, over Via Benedettini, is the Albergheria’s quietest haven, the deconsecrated church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti (winter daily 9am–5pm; summer daily 9am–6.30pm; €6) – St John of the Hermits. Built in 1132, it’s the most obviously Arabic of the city’s Norman relics, with five ochre domes topping a small church that was built upon the remains of a mosque.
Palazzo dei Normanni
From San Giovanni it’s a few paces to the main road, where, if you turn right and then veer left up the steps, you’ll climb out of the fast traffic to gaze on the vast length of the Palazzo dei Normanni, or Palazzo Reale, with its entrance behind on Piazza Indipendenza (Mon–Sat 8.15am–5.45pm, with last entry at 5pm; sometimes closes at 4.15pm for weddings; Royal Apartments open Fri–Mon only 8.15am–5.45pm, last entry at 5pm; entry Fri–Sun including Royal Apartments €8.50, entry Tues–Thurs excluding Royal Apartments €7). Originally built by the Saracens, the palace was enlarged considerably by the Normans, under whom it housed the most magnificent of medieval European courts – a noted centre of poetic and artistic achievement. Most of the interior is now taken up by the Sicilian Regional Parliament (which explains the security guards, the limited opening hours, and frequent closures of all or part of the complex). Wedding receptions can also lead to early closing. Be prepared to queue.
The showpiece of the Royal Apartments is undoubtedly the Sala di Ruggero, one of the earliest parts of the palace and richly covered with a twelfth-century mosaic of hunting scenes. The highlight of the visit, however, is the beautiful Cappella Palatina, the private royal chapel of Roger II, built between 1132 and 1143, and the undisputed artistic gem of central Palermo, its cupola, three apses and nave entirely covered in mosaics of outstanding quality. The oldest are those in the cupola and apses, probably completed in 1150 by Byzantine artists; those in the nave are from the hands of local craftsmen, finished twenty-odd years later and depicting Old and New Testament scenes. The colours are vivid and, as usual in Byzantine art, the powerful image of Christ as Pantocrator (creator of everything) dominates. Aside from the mosaics, the chapel has a delightful and recently restored Arabic ceiling with richly carved wooden stalactites, a patterned marble floor and an impressive marble Norman candlestick (by the pulpit), 4m high and contorted by manic carvings.
The Cattedrale
Spanning Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the early sixteenth-century Porta Nuova commemorates Charles V’s Tunisian crusade with grim, moustachioed turbaned prisoners adorning the western entrance. This gate marked the extent of the late medieval city, and the long road beyond heads to Monreale.
The Corso runs back towards the centre, past the huge bulk of the Norman Cattedrale (Mon–Sat 7am–7pm, Sun 7am–1.30pm & 4.30–7pm; free). The triple-apsed eastern end and graceful matching towers date from 1185, and despite the Catalan-Gothic facade and arches, there’s enough Norman carving and detail to rescue the exterior from mere curiosity value. The same is not true, however, of the sterile Neoclassical interior. The only items of interest are the fine fifeenth-century portal and wooden doors and royal tombs, containing the remains of Sicilian monarchs – including Frederick II and his wife, Constance of Aragon. There’s also a treasury (Nov–Feb Mon–Sat 9.30am–1.30pm; March–Oct Mon–Sat 9.30am–5.30pm; €2.50) to the right of the choir, the highlights of which are a jewel-and-pearl-encrusted skullcap and three simple, precious rings, all enterprisingly removed from the tomb of Constance in the eighteenth century.
The Capo
From the cathedral you can bear left, around the apses, and up into the Capo quarter, whose tight web of impoverished streets is home to yet another market. Just around the corner from Piazza del Monte is the fine church of Sant’Agostino (Mon–Sat 7am–noon & 4–6pm, Sun 7am–noon; free), built in the thirteenth century. Above its main door (on Via Raimondo) there’s a latticework rose window, and inside, a tranquil sixteenth-century cloister. The stalls of the clothes market (daily 8am to around 8pm) along Via Sant’Agostino run all the way down to Via Maqueda and beyond, the streets off to the left gradually becoming wider and more nondescript as they broach the area around the monumental Neoclassic Teatro Massimo, supposedly the largest theatre in Italy. To appreciate the interior fully take a tour (Tues–Sun every 30min 10.10am–2.30pm, except during rehearsals; €5), or attend one of the classical concerts or operas held here between October and June.
The theatre marks the dividing line between old and new Palermo. Via Maqueda becomes the far smarter Via Ruggero Settimo, which cuts up through the gridded shopping streets to the huge double square made up of Piazza Castelnuovo and Piazza Ruggero Settimo (commonly referred to as Piazza Politeama). Dominating the whole lot is Palermo’s other massive theatre, the Politeama Garibaldi, topped by a flamboyant statue group of sword-brandishing figures on leaping horses.
The Vucciria
Tucked into the wedge of streets between Via Roma and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the Vucciria market (daily 8am to around 8pm), once the most famous market in Palermo, is now a shadow of its former self, though it still has several basic bars and fish trattorias.
The northern limit of the market is marked by the distinctive church of San Domenico (Tues–Sun 8.15am–noon, Sat & Sun also 5–7pm; free), with a fine eighteenth-century facade and tombs inside containing a host of famous Sicilians. The oratory behind the church (Oratorio del Rosario; Mon–Sat 9am–1pm; free but tipping is usual) contains fluid exuberant decor by seventeeth-century maestro of stucco, Giacomo Serpotta and a masterful Van Dyck altarpiece, painted in 1628 before the artist fled Palermo for Genoa to escape the plague.
From Piazza San Domenico, Via Roma continues north, passing (on the left) Palermo’s main post office. Behind this surreal Fascist-era bulk is a sixteenth-century convent housing the Museo Archeologico Regionale, a magnificent collection of finds, mainly from western Sicily. The museum is currently closed for restoration but when it reopens, its displays will almost certainly include Egyptian and Punic remains – notably immense Punic tombs bearing the sculptured forms of their occupants – and Roman sculpture including a giant enthroned Zeus. The highlights of the collection, however, are finds from the temples of Selinunte, notably the vivid fifth-century-BC sculpted panels from Temples C and F, such as Perseus beheading the Medusa with a short sword. Look out as well for a glistening, muscular study of Hercules subduing a stag, found at Pompeii, the exquisitely restored bronze ram from Siracusa’s Castello Maniace and beautifully preserved Roman mosaics from Marsala.
Heading towards the water from Via Roma, you’ll come to the church of Santa Zita (also known as Santa Cita or San Mamiliano), on quiet Via Squarcialupo, whose marvellous oratory (Mon–Fri 9am–1pm; ring the bell if closed, or ask in the church in front; €2) holds one of Serpotta’s finest stucco extravaganzas – the Battle of Lepanto. From here streets spread back to the thumb-shaped inlet of La Cala, Palermo’s old harbour. This was once the main port of Palermo, stretching as far inland as Via Roma, but during the sixteenth century silting caused the water to recede to its current position, and La Cala now does duty as a yachting marina.
La Kalsa
Via Roma, running parallel to Via Maqueda and Via Ruggero Settimo is a broad, fairly modern addition to the city, all clothes and shoe shops, but there are discoveries aplenty to be made exploring the areas to its east. This southeastern quarter of old Palermo was worst hit during the war, but, after years of decay, it’s sloughing off its desolate image. It’s here that you’ll find some of Palermo’s most remarkable buildings and churches, as well as its only central park, Villa Giulia, just a few minutes’ walk along Via Lincoln from the train station and home to an extensive botanical garden (daily 9am to an hour before sunset; €5).
Of rather more interest is the nearby church of La Magione (Mon–Sat 9.30am–noon & 3–6.15pm; donation requested). Built in 1151, the simple, sparse Norman church has beautiful cloisters and a chapel, a rare plaster preparation of a crucifixion fresco and a lovely small Arab-Norman column carved with a Koranic inscription. The church backs onto the desolate square of LA KALSA (its name is from the Arabic khalisa, meaning “pure”), at the centre of the eponymous area. La Kalsa was subjected to saturation bombing during World War II, because of its proximity to the port, with the area now occupied by the square taking the brunt of the bombing. Across the square, set back off Via Spasimo, is the complex of Santa Maria dello Spasimo (closed for restoration), a former church, now roofless except for its Gothic apse, that holds atmospheric night-time jazz concerts outside in the courtyard.
Via Alloro and around
A block north of the square, Via Alloro is home to the Palazzo Abatellis, a fifteenth-century palace housing Sicily’s Galleria Regionale (Tues–Sun 8.30am–6.30pm, last entry 5.30pm; €8), a stunning medieval art collection. Inside, there’s a simple split: sculpture downstairs, and paintings upstairs, the one exception being a magnificent fifteenth-century fresco, the Triumph of Death, which covers an entire wall of the former chapel. The other masterpiece on the ground floor is a calm, perfectly studied, white marble bust of Eleanora of Aragon by the fifteenth-century artist Francesco Laurana. Upstairs, there are thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Sicilian works, Byzantine in style, and a fine collection of works by Antonello da Messina (1430–79), including three small portraits of sts Gregory, Jerome and Augustine and a celebrated Annunciation.
At the far end of Via Alloro, Piazza Sant’Anna is home to the Convento di Sant’Anna, which has been stunningly restored and opened as the seat of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna (Tues–Sun 9.30am–6.30pm; €7). The collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Sicilian works here are displayed thematically (portraits, nudes, mythology, seascapes, landscapes etc) to great effect. Its café, spilling into the courtyard in summer, is one of the loveliest places in the city for lunch or an aperitif.
Beyond the gallery, just off Via Alloro, on Vicolo della Neve all’Alloro, the Parco Culturale Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, named after the author of The Leopard, hosts concerts and readings and cultural events for children, as well as organizing fascinating two-hour guided tours (Mon & Wed–Sun 11am–9pm; 349.882.2453, www.parcotomasi.it) of the area in Italian and English, focussing on places associated with Lampedusa and his novel.
North of Via Alloro
North of Via Alloro, on Via Merlo, the late eighteenth-century Palazzo Mirto (daily 9am–7pm; €4) is one of the few palazzi in the city to have retained its imposing original fixtures and fittings. Continue along Via Merlo and you’ll reach Piazza Marina, a hectic square dominated by the liana-slung banyan tress of the Giardini Garibaldi. Overlooking the square is the vast Palazzo Chiaramonte, one-time headquarters of the Inquisition, and the more intimate and engaging Museo delle Marionette off Via Butera at Vicolo Niscemi 5 (Mon–Sat 9am–1pm & 2.30–6.30pm, Sun 10am–1pm; www.museomarionettepalermo.it; €5), a definitive collection of traditional Sicilian puppets, screens and painted scenery. In summer the museum puts on free shows (Spettacolo dei pupi; 091.328.060, or ask the tourist office for the current schedule). Beyond the museum, Corso Vittorio Emanuele runs down to the water and ends in the Baroque Porta Felice. The whole area around the gate was flattened in 1943, and has since been rebuilt as the ugly Foro Italico promenade.
The outskirts
If you are interested in seeing more of Palermo’s Norman relics, bus #124 runs west from the Politeama to La Zisa (from the Arabic, el aziz, “magnificent”), a huge palace begun by William I in 1160, with a fine exterior and a rich, well-crafted Islamic interior, housing a collection of Islamic art and artefacts (daily 9am–6.30pm; €4.50). Closer to the centre, about 1km beyond Porta Nuova at Corso Calatafimi 100, is La Cuba, the remains of a slightly later Norman pavilion that formed part of the same royal park as La Zisa: it’s now tucked inside an army barracks, but has been well restored and includes access to a Punic necropolis (Mon–Sat 9am–6.30pm, Sun 9am–1pm; €2).
But for real horror-movie stuff, take bus #327 from Piazza Indipendenza southwest along Via dei Cappuccini as far as Via Pindemonte. Close by, in Piazza Cappuccini, the catacombs of the Catacombe dei Cappuccini (March–Oct daily 8.30am–noon & 2.30–6pm; Nov–Feb daily 9am–12.30pm & 3–5.30pm; €3) is home to some eight thousand mummified bodies. Preserved by various chemical and drying processes – including the use of vinegar and arsenic baths – the mummies were dressed in suits of clothes, then placed in niches along rough-cut stone corridors. Descending into the catacombs is quite unnerving, especially if you arrive in a lull between coach parties. Different caverns are reserved for men, women, the clergy, doctors, lawyers and surgeons. Suspended in individual niches, hand-written notes about their necks, the bodies have become vile, contorted, grinning figures – some decomposed beyond recognition, others complete with skin, hair and eyes.
Eating and drinking
Vendors in the markets and on numerous street corners sell classic Palermitani street food such as pane e panelli (chickpea-flour fritters served in bread), crocchè (potato croquettes with anchovy and caciocavallo cheese), and pane con la milza (bread with spleen).
Cafés and street food
Casa Obatola Via Alloro 16 091.982.4442. Relaxing little bar with seats outside on a piazzetta below Via Alloro, good for a rest before or after visiting the nearby Galleria Regionale. Delicious sandwiches and salads, and good pastries. Closed Sun.
Cibus Via E. Amari 64. High-class grocery store with a great deli counter, and a wood-fired oven where you can get light blistered pizzas and other savoury pastries to eat in or take away. It is 5min walk from the hydrofoil port, so an ideal place to stock up if you are sailing to Ústica or the Aeolian Islands. Mon–Sat 8.30am–11pm, Sun 8.30am–2pm & 6–11pm.
Franco ‘U Vastiddaru Piazza Marina. Palermitani street food such as pane e panelli, arancini, crocchè and pane con la milza (pane ca meusa in Sicilian) – which you can eat at plastic tables on plastic plates with plastic knives and forks on the busy corner of Piazza Marina and Via Vittorio Emanuele.
Friggitoria Chiluzzo Piazza Kalsa. Stand under a canopy, drink beer from a bottle, eat pane and pannelle in paper.
I Cuochini Via Ruggero Settimo 68. Diminutive, spic-and-span frigittoria – all gleaming white tiles and zinc – founded in 1826, and concealed within an arched gateway along Via Ruggero Settimo (the only sign is a small ceramic plaque). Panzerotti (deep-fried pastries, stuffed with tomato, mozzarella and anchovy, or aubergine, courgette and cheese), arancini (with ragù, or with cheese and ham), pasticcino (a sweet pastry with minced meat), timballini di pasta (deep-fried pasta), and besciamelle fritte (breadcrumbed and deep-fried bechemel) and the like – all at 70c a portion. Mon–Sat 8.30am–2.30pm.
Il Siciliano Via Orologio 37. Cool bar schizophrenically specializing in both hot chocolate and wine, and serving organic produce. Tues–Sun 5pm–2am.
Ima Sushi 4th floor Rinascente, Via Roma/Piazza San Domenico. If you want to pretend you are not in Palermo for a while (and it happens) head up to this sushi bar on the fourth floor of the Rinascente department store. Colour-coded plates of sushi, California rolls and sashimi on the obligatory conveyor belt, priced at between €2.50 and €7.50.
Mazzara Via Magliocco 15 (off Via Ruggero Settimo alongside Rinascente). Long-established bar-pasticceria where Tomasi di Lampedusa is reputed to have penned some of The Leopard. These days it serves light brunch and lunches alongside a dangerous selection of pastries and ice creams: try the rare roast beef with rocket and shaved parmesan. Closed Mon.
Michele alla Brace Piazza Borgo Vecchio. At the tiny market of Piazza Borgo Vecchio, you can’t miss this huge grill with a couple of plastic tables and a steaming cauldron of vegetables. Buy your fish from one of the nearby stalls and bring it to Michele, who will grill it, and provide you with veg, drinks and a table. Closed Wed.
Obika 4th floor Rinascente, Via Roma/Piazza San Domenico 091.601.7861, www.obika.it. On the top floor of the revamped Rinascente department store, this is the Palermo branch of an exclusive chain of bars specializing in meticulously sourced mozzarella di bufala, which appears in exquisitely presented salads and other light dishes. A great lunchtime escape from the heat and chaos of Palermo, and a good place for an aperitif (daily 6.30–9pm), the drinks accompanied by a selection of mouthwatering mozzarella tasters.
Palazzo Riso Corso Vittorio Emanuele 365 091.320.532. Cool, white, minimalist bar belonging to Palermo’s new contemporary art museum. Hazelnut- and chocolate-flavoured coffees, tisanes, cornetti with forest fruits, light lunches and aperitivos. Eat in the bar, or outside in the shady courtyard. Free wi-fi and use of computers.
Rosciglione Via Gian Luca Barbieri 5. Watch cannoli being made as you eat them at this bakery (which exports worldwide) on the edge of the Ballarò market. Mon–Sat 7am–2pm & 1.30–6pm, closed Sun.
Spinnato Via Principe di Belmonte 107–115. With tables outside on a pedestrianized street, this is the perfect place for breakfast, delicious cakes and ice creams, or an aperitivo served with an aesthetic cascade of roast almonds, shelled pistachios and crisps. Nearby are several other members of the Spinnato empire including Il Golosone, Piazza Castelnuovo 22, which serves up its pastries and ice creams fast-food style; and Al Pinguino, Via Ruggero Settimo 86, a popular and highly rated shrine to ice cream.
Restaurants
Antica Focacceria San Francesco Via A. Paternostro 58 091.320.264. This old-fashioned place has been in the same family for five generations. Downstairs they serve traditional Palermitani street food, such as focaccia schietta (focaccia with offal and caciocavallo cheese), sfincione (pizza with onion, tomato, caciocavallo and breadcrumbs), crocchè (potato croquettes) and panelle (chick pea flour fritters). Upstairs you can eat full meals (try the pasta con le sarde, pasta with sardines). There are also several fixed-price menus (pannelle, crocchè, an arancino or slice of pizza, cannolo and a drink for €7; or the same, with pasta instead of the arancino or pizza for €8.50). In summer you can eat outside. Closed Tues & mid-Jan.
Casa del Brodo Corso Vittorio Emanuele 175 091.321.655. Exuberant family-run place on the edge of the Vucciria market, which has been serving up bollito di manzo con patate e zaffarano, meat cooked in broth with potatoes and saffron, for a hundred years or so. You can also have your bollito with salsa verde, or plump for bollito misto which includes tongue and stinco di maiale (pig’s knuckle). Prices are reasonable, and set menus kick off at €16 including a quarter litre of wine. Fresh fish as well. Closed Sun in summer, Tues in winter.
Il Mirto e la Rosa Via Principe di Granitello 30 091.324.353. This began life as a vegetarian restaurant, and although carefully-sourced local fish and meat have now joined the menu, the emphasis on vegetables remains. It is also one of several businesses in Palermo to have publicly refused to pay pizzo. Signature dishes include caponata with pistachio-spiked couscous, and home-made tagliolini with a sweet, sticky tomato sauce, grilled aubergine and cheese from the Nebrodi mountains. Finish up with a voluptuous dessert followed by home-made cinnamon liqueur. Eating à la carte you’ll spend around €25 for 3 courses without wine, €30 if you have a dessert, but there are various menu deals (€10 for a primo, secondo and salad, €15 for antipasto, primo, secondo, salad and dessert). Closed Sun.
Locanda del Tinto Via XX Settembre 56/A 091.582.137. Urbane place on one of the nineteenth-century boulevards beyond Piazza Politeama, with a constantly changing menu and a lunchtime buffet (€8) or sushi (€18), popular with shoppers and people on lunchbreaks. Deftly made pizza and focaccia in the evenings. Closed Sat and Sun lunch in summer.
Mi Manda Piccone Via A. Paternostro 59 091.616.0660. Enoteca in the old town with a fine choice of mostly Sicilian wines, and an inspired but simple menu that changes with the seasons. Come at around 7pm for an aperitif, or from 8pm for dinner. Spring dishes could include a frittata of fava beans, artichokes and peas served with fresh ricotta, while in summer you might find spaghetti with mint, courgettes and capers, followed by swordfish with a pistachio crust and grilled radicchio, or mixed fried fish with salad. A three-course meal will cost around €30 excluding wine. Eve only, closed Sun.
Osteria dei Vespri Piazza Croce dei Vespri 091.617.1631, www.osteriadeivespri.it. Palermo’s best restaurant was begun as a hobby a decade ago and continues to be run with passion by brothers Andrea and Alberto Rizzo, who cook complex meals, with a loyal and intelligent use of local Sicilian ingredients. Dishes might include rabbit terrine with pistachios from Bronte, black tagliolini served with red mullet, ginger, red onion and fresh fava beans, or quail stuffed with prunes served on a puree of cannellini beans and celeriac. A la carte you’ll pay at least €20 per course, while there are degustazione menus at €65 and €85 per person, excluding wine. Closed Sun.
Osteria lo Bianco Via E. Amari 104 091.251.4900. Decorated with Juventus souvenirs and religious bric-a-brac, this is one of the cheapest places to eat in town. Traditional Palermitano food, such as pasta con sarde, polpette (meatballs) in tomato sauce, ricciola in a spicy tomato sauce, or a stew of beef, peas and carrots. Two courses with wine and fruit for under €15. Closed Sun.
Osteria Paradiso Via Serradifalco 23. No phone. Typical family-run trattoria, to the north of La Zisa, open only at lunchtime and specializing in fish. There is no written menu – the owner just tells you what’s available that day. Specialities include fish cooked in seawater, raw prawns dressed with olive oil and lemon juice, and deep-fried cicirello, a long skinny silver fish. Arrive early to get a table. Closed Sun.
Pizzeria Italia Via Orologio 54 (opposite Teatro Massimo) 091.589.885. Attracting large queues, this is the best place in town for light, oven-blistered pizzas (€4–10). Try the “Palermitana” with tomato, anchovies, onion, artichokes, caciocavallo cheese and breadcrumbs. Eve only; closed Mon.
Primavera Piazza Bologni 4 091.329.408. Not far from the cathedral, off Via Vittorio Emanuele, with outdoor seating in a lovely little piazza across from the Palazzo Riso, this popular, reasonably priced trattoria serves home-style cooking such as pasta con le sarde and bucatini con broccoli. Bottles of good, inexpensive local wine as well. Closed Mon.
Santandrea Piazza Sant’Andrea 091.334.999 or 328.131.4595. Chic, but relaxed family-run place a stone’s throw from Piazza San Domenico and the Vucciria market, that is definitely one of Palermo’s best restaurants, and is known for its key role in Peter Robb’s Midnight in Sicily. Dishes are seasonal and inventive, with a strong emphasis on local ingredients. Book early to eat alfresco. Closed Sun.
Trattoria Piccolo Napoli Piazzetta Mulino di Vento 4 091.320.431. Lively trattoria off the Vecchio Borgo market founded in 1951 and run by three generations of the same family. They have two boats at Terrasini: fish is brought in daily, and anything not eaten that day is sold on to the local market stalls. Try raw prawns, pasta with neonati (new-born fish) or what may prove to be the best caponata you will ever taste. Open Mon–Sat for lunch only, Fri & Sat eve also.
Trattoria Torrenuzza Via Torrenuzza 17 091.252.5532. Bustling, no-frills trattoria where fish is grilled on an outside brazier. Eat at street-side tables in summer, inside in winter. Antipasti (mussel soup, seafood salad, etc) and primi (pasta with broccoli, with mussels and clams, or with swordfish and aubergine) are all priced at €5, except for a couple of special dishes such as spaghetti with ricci di mare (sea urchin) which ring in at €10. Meat secondi (involtini, charcoal-grilled sausage and the like) are also €5, while fish dishes (mixed fried or grilled fish, grilled prawns, grilled sea bream or sea bass) cost from €7–10. Calamari and swordfish are frozen (but none the worse for it), the rest of the fish is fresh. Wine is a dangerous €3 a litre, so lunch here could well write off your afternoon. Open Mon–Sat lunch and dinner, Sunday lunchtime only.
Bars and nightlife
The main focus of nightlife is La Kalsa, in particular the streets between Piazza Garibaldi and Piazza Magione, which are packed with bars and pubs. One outstanding place is Kursaal Kalhesa, Foro Umberto I 24 (closed Sun eve & Mon), a trendy wine-bar-cum-bookshop set within the ancient fortifications of Arabic Palermo, where they do a great Sunday brunch. In summer it closes and moves out to an atmospheric ex-tonnara at the foot of Monte Pellegrino in the seaside town of Vergine Maria (bus #731), which becomes Il Kursaal Tonnara. Come for an aperitif in its jasmine-scented courtyard, alongside abandoned skeletons of broad wooden tuna-fishing boats, or for one of the frequent concerts, all of which kick off at 10.30pm. There is also a restaurant overlooking the sea, serving light, inventive dishes such as tagliata of swordfish in a sesame crust, and a heavenly pistachio mousse.
Back in town, for fabulous wines and nibbles, you won’t do better than the cosy, candle-lit Cama Enoteca, Via Alloro 105 (7pm–2am; closed Mon and summer – when they move out of the city and open a bar on the Égadi island of Maréttimo); the bar staff are welcoming and knowledgeable, and the variety of wines almost overwhelming. For a taste of alternative culture, head to the monumental deconsecrated convent of Nuovo Montevergini (320.234.6796) on Piazzetta Montevergine, where there’s a year-round bar and an autumn-to-spring season of exhibitions, live music, bookreadings, theatre and film.
Listings
Bike rental Rent Bike, Via Giardinaccio 66 (off Via Maqueda) 331.750.7886. €10 per day.
Buses AST 091.620.8111, www.aziendasicilianatrasporti.it (Castelbuono, Monreale, Módica, Comiso and Ragusa); Cuffaro 091.616.1510, www.cuffaro.info (Agrigento); Interbus 091.304.0900 or 091.616.7919, www.interbus.it (Siracusa, Trápani, Érice); SAIS 091.616.6028, www.saisautolinee.it (Catania, Enna, Piazza Armerina and Messina); Salemi 091.617.5411 or 0923.981.120, www.autoservizisalemi.it (Marsala and Mazara del Vallo); Segesta 091.616.9039, www.segesta.it (Trápani).
Car rental Avis, Via Francesco Crispi 115 091.586.940; Hertz, Via Messina 7/E 091.323.439; Maggiore, Stazione Notarbartolo 79 091.681.0801; Sicily By Car, Via Mariano Stabile 6/A 091.581.045. All of these also have desks at Punta Raisi airport.
Consulates UK (part-time only), Via Cavour 117 091.326.412; US, Via Vaccarini 1 091.305.857. For nationals of most other countries, the nearest consulates are in Naples or Rome.
Ferry and hydrofoils Grandi Navi Veloci (Grimaldi), services to Livorno, Rome and Tunis (at the port 091.587.404, www.gnv.it); NGI to Ústica (in caravan inside port 091.743.7393, www.ngi-spa.it); Siremar, to Ústica (by the port at Via F. Crispi 120 091.749.3111, www.siremar.it); Ústica Lines, to the Aeolian Islands, Cefalù and Naples (ticket office in port or at Agenzia Pietro Barbaro, Via Principe di Belmonte 51/55 091.333333, www.usticalines.it); Tirrenia, to Naples and Cágliari (at the port 892.123, www.tirrenia.it).
Gay and lesbian information ARCI Gay www.arcigay.it; ARCI Donna www.arcidonna.it.
Hospital Policlinica, Via Carmelo Lazzaro 091.655.1111. For an ambulance call 118.
Internet access Along Via Maqueda near the train station, or Aboriginal Café, Via Spinuzza 51, opposite the Teatro Massimo 091.662.2229 or 328.933.0660, www.aboriginalcafe.com (Mon–Sat 9am–3am).
Left luggage Stazione Centrale by track 8 091.603.3040 (daily 7am–11pm); Stazione Maríttima 091.611.3257 (daily 7am–8pm).
Pharmacist All-night service at Via Roma 1, Via Roma 207, and Via Mariano Stabile 177. There’s also a list in the daily newspaper Il Giornale di Sicilia.
Police Central city station at Piazza della Vittoria 112.
Post office Main post office is the Palazzo delle Poste on Via Roma (Mon–Sat 8am–6.30pm). Poste restante closes at 1.30pm daily.
Mondello
The most obvious trip from central Palermo is the 11km run to MONDELLO, a small seaside resort tucked under the northern bluff of Monte Pellegrino. In summer, tacky sunglasses stalls, hot-dog and burger vans, street-food and pizza places and lidos dominate, but the rest of the year Mondello is more laidback, and even quite charming. Indeed, in low season, there are few better ways of destressing from Palermo than the two-kilometre walk along its sandy beach curving below the beetling crag of Monte Pellegrino, round to a tiny working harbour. On the brash little piazza, the best-loved of the friggitorias was recently closed down by the Mafia for refusing to pay pizzo, though there are plenty of imitators if you fancy snacking on pane e pannelle, crocchè and foccaccia con meusa. And you’ll certainly eat better in these than in one of the gaudy seaside restaurants with their displays of dull-eyed fish. A good option is Calogero, on the seafront at Via Torri 22, where you stand up at the window and eat freshly caught and cooked octopus (they do have chairs and tables too, but standing at the window is more fun). For a sit-down meal, try Trattoria Sympathy (091.454.470), beyond the piazza on the Lungomare, where the fish is spanking fresh. To get to Mondello, take bus #806 or #833 from the Politeama theatre or Viale della Libertà – a thirty-minute ride.
Monreale
The marvellous Monreale cloister … conjures up an impression of such grace as to make one want to stay there forever…
Guy de Maupassant
The Norman cathedral at MONREALE (Royal Mountain) holds the most impressive and extensive area of Christian medieval mosaic-work in the world, the undisputed apex of Sicilian-Norman art. This small hill-town, 8km southwest of Palermo, commands unsurpassed views down the Conca d’Oro valley, to the capital in the distant bay. Bus #389 runs frequently from Piazza dell’Indipendenza, and the journey takes twenty minutes.
The severe, square-towered exterior of the Duomo (daily 8am–6.30pm, Sun 8am–12.30pm & 3–7pm; free) is no preparation for what’s inside. The mosaics were almost certainly executed by Greek and Byzantine craftsmen, and they reveal a unitary plan and inspiration. What immediately draws your attention is the all-embracing half-figure of Christ in the central apse, the head and shoulders alone almost twenty metres high. Beneath sit an enthroned Madonna and Child, attendant angels and, below, ranks of saints, each individually and subtly coloured and identified by name. Worth singling out here is the figure of Thomas à Becket (marked SCS Thomas Cantb), canonized in 1173, just before the mosaics were begun. The nave mosaics are no less remarkable, an animated series that starts with the Creation (to the right of the altar) and runs around the whole church. Most scenes are instantly recognizable: Adam and Eve, Abraham on the point of sacrificing his son, a jaunty Noah’s Ark; even the Creation, shown in a set of glorious, simplistic panels portraying God filling his world with animals, water, light … and people.
Ask at the desk by the entrance to climb the terraces (daily 9.30am–5.30pm, Sun 8am–12.30pm & 3.30–7pm; €1.50) in the southwest corner of the cathedral. The steps give access to the roof and leave you standing right above the central apse – an unusual and precarious vantage point. It’s also worth visiting the cloisters (same hours as Duomo; €6), part of the original Benedictine monastery established here in 1174. The formal garden is surrounded by an elegant arcaded quadrangle, 216 twin columns supporting slightly pointed arches – a legacy of the Arab influence. No two capitals are the same, each a riot of detail and imagination: armed hunters doing battle with winged beasts, flowers, birds, snakes and foliage. Entrance to the cloisters is from Piazza Guglielmo, in the corner by the right-hand tower of the cathedral.
If you want to stay over, try the Carrubella Park Hotel, Via Umberto I 233 (091.640.2187, www.sicilyhotelsnet.it; €121–150), a pleasant family-run place with great views over the valley of the Conca d’Oro.
Ústica
A volcanic, turtle-shaped island 60km northwest of Palermo, ÚSTICA is somewhere you could spend an entire holiday, though it is close enough to Palermo for a day-trip – however, travel doesn’t come cheap; expect to pay around €30 return by ferry, €40 by hydrofoil. Ústica’s fertile uplands are just right for a day’s ambling, and there’s a path running round the entire rocky coastline, with just a brief stretch where you have to follow the road. The main reason people come to Ústica, however, is to dive, for its waters are a diver’s paradise, the clear water bursting with fish, sponges, weed and coral. Less adventurous types can easily take a boat trip through Ústica’s rugged grottoes and lava outcrops.
The small rather dishevelled port of Ústica Town, where the boats dock, has a few bars, a bank, several restaurants and a handful of places to stay. All these sit around a sloping double piazza, just five minutes’ walk uphill from the harbour. If you’re coming to dive, first choice is Profondo Blu (091.844.9609 or 349.672.6529, www.ustica-diving.it) run by a Belgo-Italian couple of dive-enthusiasts with decades of experience throughout the world. Dive trips are well organized, with hot showers and cups of tea on board the boat, as well as racks for diving gear. Whether diving or not, you might want to consider staying in one of their mini-apartments (€61–90), a couple of kilometres outside town, where you could cook at home, and eat on your own terrace, or join the divers for hearty meals under a pergola.
Ústica Town has a couple of decent hotels: the smartish Clelia, at Via Magazzino 7 (091.844.9039, www.hotelclelia.it; €61–120), with a roof terrace overlooking the sea, and the more basic Ariston, Via della Vittoria 5 (091.844.9042, www.usticahotels.it; €61–90), which has simple rooms with fabulous sea-views and can arrange diving and boat trips; it also has apartments to rent around the island. For eating first choice is Giulia at Via San Francesco 13 (091.844.9007), where you should try pennette dressed with locally grown basil, parsley, chilli, oregano, garlic, pine nuts, raisins, anchovies, capers and olives. Giulia also has several clean and basic rooms (€61–90) above the restaurant, that are among the island’s cheapest. Finally, don’t miss visiting Maria Cristina, just above the piazzas at Via Petriera 5, to buy wonderful Ústica lentils, home-made jam, pesto and sauces, and bottled tuna and other fish to take home.
The Tyrrhenian coast
From Palermo, the whole of the rugged Tyrrhenian coast is hugged by rail, road and motorway, and for the most part, pretty built up. The first attraction is Cefalù, a beach resort and cathedral town. Beyond Cefalù, there are several resorts tucked along the narrow strip of land between the Nebrodi mountains and the sea, most of them not worth going out of your way for. The lovely Riserva Naturale Laghetti di Marinello, however, is definitely worth making a beeline for, although most people tend to head straight for the port of Milazzo – Sicily’s second-largest port – the main departure point for ferries and hydrofoils to the seven fascinating islands of the Aeolian archipelago.
Cefalù
Despite being one of Sicily’s busiest international beach resorts, CEFALÙ has a parallel life as a small-scale fishing port, tucked onto every available inch of a shelf of land beneath a fearsome crag, La Rocca. Roger II founded a mighty cathedral here in 1131 and his church dominates the skyline, the great twin towers of the facade rearing up above the flat roofs of the medieval quarter. Naturally, the fine curving sands are the major attraction but Cefalù is a pleasant town, and nothing like as developed as Sicily’s other package resort, Taormina.
Halfway along Corso Ruggero, the main pedestrianized road through the old town, stands the Duomo (daily: summer 8am–7pm; winter 8am–5.30pm; free) built – partly at least – as Roger’s gratitude for fetching up at Cefalù’s safe beach in a violent storm. Inside, covering the apse and presbytery, are the earliest and best preserved of the church mosaics in Sicily, dating from 1148. Forty years earlier than those in the cathedral at Monreale, they are thoroughly Byzantine in concept. In high season, when Cefalù’s tangibly Arabic central grid of streets is crowded with tourists, you’d do best to visit the cathedral early in the morning, before succumbing to the lure of the long sandy beach beyond the harbour. There are a couple of other places also worth visiting: the Museo Mandralisca (daily 9am–1pm & 3–7pm, but may stay open over lunch in summer; €5), at Via Mandralisca 13 (across from Piazza Duomo), has a wry Portrait of an Unknown Man by Antonello da Messina, and a huge shell collection; and La Rocca (daily 8am–1 hour before sunset; free), which holds the megalithic Tempio di Diana, from where paths continue right around the crag, inside medieval walls, to the sketchy fortifications at the very top.
Practicalities
The tourist office is at Corso Ruggero 77 (Mon–Sat 8am–8pm; summer probably also Sun 9am–1pm; 0921.421.050, www.cefalu-tour.pa.it; also check out www.palermotourism.com for information on Cefalù), with free maps and accommodation lists. If you want to stay over, try the clean, basic and small Locanda Cangelosi, centrally placed at Via Umberto I 26 (0921.421.591, www.locandacangelosi.it; no credit cards; €60 and under); it also has a handful of two-, three- and four-bed apartments with kitchens to rent. Alternatively, the pleasant B&B delle Rose (&0921.421.885; €61–90), at Via Gibilmanna, twenty minutes’ walk out of town along Umberto I, has rooms with private terraces. Otherwise, for a selection of B&B rooms and apartments right on the seafront, try Villa Cerniglia, Lungomare G. Giardina 320.306.4275, www.villacerniglia.com; €61–150). There are no outstanding restaurants, but you’ll eat adequately at Al Porticciolo, Via Carlo Ortolani Bordonaro 66 and 92 (091.921.981; closed Wed in winter), with a terrace built right onto the rocky shore. Whatever you do, don’t miss the Caffè di Noto, at Via Bagno Cicerone 3, right at the edge of the centro storico and the beginning of the Lungomare, where fabulous ice creams come in flavours including mango, raspberry, prickly pear, and chocolate with chilli.
Marinello and the Nebrodi mountains
If you fancy a break on your journey along the Tyrrhenian coast, head for the superb and unspoilt Riserva Naturale Laghetti di Marinello 10km east of Patti, where saltwater lagoons, sand dunes and dramatic rocky cliffs provide an important sanctuary for migratory birds. The cliffs above the reserve are dominated by the lavishly kitsch Santuario di Tindari (daily 6.45am–12.30pm & 2.30–7pm) built in the 1960s to celebrate numerous miracles attributed to a Byzantine icon of a Black Madonna. It’s a hugely popular pilgrimage spot (indeed Tindaro and Tindara are extremely common Christian names in these parts) so Sundays are best avoided. From the front of the sanctuary a path leads to what is left of ancient Tyndaris (daily 9am–1 hour before sunset; €2) including an overrestored Roman basilica and a well-preserved Roman house with mosaic floors.
To really get off the beaten track, there are a number of routes into the Nebrodi mountains, taking you through isolated hill-towns and villages that have changed little in centuries. Autumn weekends are a great time to visit, as virtually every village holds some kind of sagra, a festival celebrating a single foodstuff, such as mushrooms, olive oil or bread: see www.parcodeinebrodi.it for more information. If it’s spectacular scenery you are after, take the SS118 to Etna via the welcoming hill-town of NOVARA DI SICILIA, best known for maiorchino, a sheep cheese so strong you could swear the Novara flocks are grazed on chilli. If you want to stay, Sganga Kondé King (0941.650.526; €60 and under), on the main road through town, is a very pleasant B&B in a huge palazzo, run by ex-RAI journalist Minni Stancanelli; Mussolini spent a night here in 1927. For food, there are a couple of traditional trattorias, notably La Pineta, (941.650.522; closed Mon) where you can taste the local ricotta, deep-fried, crespelle (little pancakes) stuffed with wild vegetables, and home-made pasta with hearty mountain sauces featuring Nebrodi pork or, in season, wild mushrooms. Local sweets such as dito di apostolo (ricotta-stuffed pastries) can be sampled at the Bar Angelina, while cheese-lovers can buy the feisty local maiorchino from the Macelleria Antonella. All the above are along the main road through town.
Milazzo
At the foot of a hilly sickle-shaped castle-topped cape, and dominated by a giant oil refinery, MILAZZO is the main port of departure for the Aeolian Islands, which means, at best, a couple of hours in town waiting for a ferry or hydrofoil – at worst, a night in one of the hotels.
If there’s time to kill, you might like to poke around the streets of the Borgo, the old town on the top of the hill, where the magnificently preserved Spanish castle sits inside a much larger and older walled city, complete with its own cathedral. The castle is currently closed for restoration but should open daily 9.30am to 12.30pm and 3.30 to 6.30pm; call 090.922.1291 to check. Built by Frederick II in the thirteenth century, over Arab foundations on the site of the ancient Greek acropolis, it’s one of Sicily’s best castles, with views stretching to the Aeolian Islands and beyond.
Dotted around the Borgo are plenty of pubs – all good fun if you have time to kill – which open every evening in summer, at weekends in winter. The steps that run down the far side of the castle walls lead to the Spiaggia di Ponente, a long beach of grey gravel with crystal-clear waters.
Practicalities
Buses (including the Giuntabus service from Messina, whose timings are pretty much organized to tie in with hydrofoil arrivals and departures) stop on the port-side car park (turn right as you disembark from the hydrofoil). The train station is 3km south of the centre, but local buses run into town every thirty minutes during the day, dropping you on the quayside or further up in Piazza della Repubblica. Milazzo’s helpful tourist office is at Piazza Duilio 20 (Mon–Sat 8.30am–1.30pm and possibly afternoons in summer; 090.922.2865, www.aastmilazzo.it), just back from the harbour, at the beginning of the main shopping zone.
The ticket office at Milazzo station often closes without warning, especially at weekends, and the automatic machines are frequently out of action, so it can be impossible to buy a ticket. If you board the train without a ticket, some ticket collectors will hold the train at the next station, Barcellona, while you buy a ticket; others will impose a €6 fine and bring the Carabinieri on board at Barcellona if you object. The best thing to do is to buy your ticket online in advance at www.trenitalia.it, or at a travel agent: there are agents on the main streets of Lípari and Salina; in Milazzo, go to Catalano, Via L. Rizzo 17 (090.928.4509; Mon–Sat 8.30am–1pm & 4–7.30pm) on the seafront heading towards the Municipio (turn right when you leave the hydrofoil dock).
Accommodation
Cassisi Via Cassisi 5 090.922.9099, www.cassisihotel.com. Elegant, minimalist, family-run hotel, with a deft touch of contemporary oriental style. The buffet breakfast is abundant, with local cheese and salamis, typical pastries and biscuits, and lots of fresh fruit. Five minutes’ walk from the port, and close to the main shopping area. €91–120
Orchidea sandwiched between Via XX Luglio and Via Nino Bixio 090.928.8004, www.bedandbreakfastorchidea.com. Clean, functional B&B in a modern palazzo overlooking the port. The rooms won’t win any design awards, but they are clean, serviceable and four have sea views. There are also two family suites with a twin room, double room and bathroom. There is a kitchen for guest use. Signposted from the port. €61–90
Petit Hotel Via dei Mille 37 090.928.6784, www.petithotel.it. Ground-breaking eco-hotel in a nineteenth-century building on the seafront overlooking the hydrofoil dock. Staff go out of their way to be helpful, and breakfasts include local salamis and cheeses, organic yogurt, eggs and jams, and home-made cakes. €91–120
Solaris Via Colonello Berte 70 333.605.0091, www.bbsolaris.eu. Bright and welcoming B&B a block from the port, with five cheerfully decorated rooms with a/c and fridges. All the rooms have balconies and one has a small covered terrace. €61–90
Food and drink
The classic café to hang out in while waiting for your ferry or hydrofoil is Albatros, Via dei Mille 38 (090.928.3666; closed Tues in winter) directly opposite the hydrofoil dock, which has a great range of pastries, good savouries, and good ice cream. For take-away fare, Il Spizzico, next to the Ustica Lines office, does the best arancini hereabouts, including a version filled with spinach and mozzarella. There are plenty of restaurants along the seafront, to the right as you leave the port, all of them pretty indifferent. You’re better off heading round the corner behind the Carige bank to Al Bagatto, Via M. Regis 11 (090.922.4212; closed Wed), a wine bar where you can sample local salami and cheeses, as well as more substantial dishes. The old town also has several resto-pubs around the Castello, though the views are better than the food. If it’s a drink you’re after, Tropical Bar, Via dei Mille 9–11 (090.928.6068), makes a great aperitivo with a substantial array of nibbles, and decent wine.
The Aeolian Islands
Volcanic in origin, the Aeolian Islands are named after Aeolus, the Greek god who kept the winds he controlled shut tight in one of the islands’ many caves. According to Homer, Odysseus put into the Aeolians and was given a bag of wind to help him home, but his sailors opened it too soon and the ship was blown straight back to port. More verifiably, the islands were coveted for their mineral wealth, the mining of obsidian (hard, glass-like lava) providing the basis for early prosperity, because it was the sharpest material available until people learned the art of smelting metals. Later their strategic importance attracted the Greeks, who settled on Lípari in 580 BC, but they later became a haven for pirates and a place of exile, a state of affairs that continued right into the twentieth century with the Fascists exiling their political opponents to Lípari.
The twentieth century saw mass emigration, mostly to Australia, and even now islands such as Panarea and Alicudi have just a hundred or so year-round inhabitants. It’s only recently that the islanders stopped scratching a subsistence living and started welcoming tourists, and these days during the summer months the population of the islands can leap from 10,000 to 200,000. Every island is expensive, with prices in shops as well as restaurants reflecting the fact that most food is imported. But get out to the minor isles or come in blustery winter for a taste of what life was like on the islands twenty – or a hundred – years ago: unsophisticated, rough and beautiful.
Getting around in summer is easy, as ferries (traghetti) and hydrofoils (aliscafi) link all the islands. In winter, services are reduced and in rough weather cancelled altogether, particularly on the routes out to Strómboli, Alicudi and Filicudi. A car might be worth taking to Lípari and Salina, or you can rent bikes and scooters when you get there: the islands are very popular with cyclists, though you need to enjoy hills.
In high season (Easter & July–Aug), accommodation is scarce, many places insist on half-board, so you’d be wise to book in advance. From October to March prices can drop by up to 50 percent. There are campsites on Vulcano, Salina and Lípari – but camping rough is illegal.
There are ATMs on all the islands except Alicudi. Power cuts are commonplace, caused by storms in winter, and in August by over-demand, so a torch is a good idea, especially in winter. Don’t be surprised if hotels ask you to be sparing with the water as it is imported by tanker.
Getting to the Aeolian Islands
Sailings from Milazzo operate daily and are frequent enough to make it unnecessary to book ahead (for which there is a surcharge) except in the high season (unless you’re taking a car), although bear in mind that there is a severely reduced service between October and May – and that even moderately rough weather can disrupt the schedules. The shipping agencies are down by the harbour and open usual working hours in summer and open just before departures in the low season – Siremar (Via dei Mille 19 090.928.3242, www.siremar.it) for ferries and hydrofoils, Ústica Lines (Via dei Mille 32 090.928.7821, www.usticalines.it) for hydrofoils only, and NGI (Via dei Mille 26 090.928.3415) for ferries only. Hydrofoils are more frequent and twice as quick, but almost twice the price of the ferries. The islands can also be reached from Palermo, Naples, Cefalù and Messina.
Vulcano
Closest to the Sicilian mainland, VULCANO is the first port of call for ferries and hydrofoils – 45 minutes by hydrofoil, around an hour and a half by ferry – and you know when you are approaching it from the rotten-egg reek of sulphur. The novelty value of its smouldering volcano, and the chance to wallow in warm mud baths and swim above bubbling mid-sea fumeroles, make it a popular day-trip and holiday destination. Consequently Vulcano has been carelessly developed, its little town ugly, and the promontory of Vulcanello studded with bland mass-market hotels. Just fifteen minutes’ walk from the port, across the neck of land separating it from Porto di Ponente, there’s an excellent black-sand beach.
The path up to the crater begins about a kilometre out of town on the road to Gelso, marked by a sign warning of the dangers of inhaling volcanic gases. The ascent (access €3 in summer) should take less than an hour. Wear hiking boots, as the ashy track is slithery, and follow the crater in an anticlockwise direction, so you are going downhill rather than up through the clouds of sulphurous emissions on the northern rim. Alternatively, there is an easier hike to Vulcanello, the volcanic pimple just to the north of the port, spewed out of the sea in 183 BC: start at the port and head past the Fanghi de Vulcano.
If you are feeling lazy, the Fanghi di Vulcano, or mud baths, and offshore fumeroles are a couple of minutes’ walk from the port. In season there’s a small entrance fee. Don’t wear contact lenses, and be prepared to stink of sulphur for a couple of days. Alternatively, there is a rather nouveau-riche spa, the Oasi della Salute, at Via Lentia 1, with three thermal hydromassage pools and a beauty centre (May–Sept; 090.985.2093).
High prices and mass tourism make Vulcano best seen on a day-trip. The cost of food on the island is exorbitant, and you have to choose carefully from the battery of unexceptional restaurants (most of which close between Nov and Easter) along the road that bends around from the port: you’re better off bringing a picnic with you.
Lípari
LÍPARI is the biggest and most heavily populated of the islands. Development has not been carefully controlled, and although parts of the island are beautiful and unspoilt, getting there inevitably means passing through villages cluttered with brassy holiday houses. The main port and capital, Lípari Town is a busy little place bunched between two harbours.
Arrival, information and accommodation
Hydrofoils and ferries dock at the deep Marina Lunga, which curves around to the north, while the smaller Marina Corta, formed by a church-topped mole and dwarfed by the castle that crowns the hill above, is used by excursion boats.
The tourist office at Corso Vittorio Emanuele 202 (Mon–Fri 8.30am–1.30pm & 4–7.30pm; July & Aug also Sat 8.30am–1.30pm; 090.988.0095, www.aasteolie.191.it) has a list of hotels and information for all the Aeolian Islands. In July and August it’s a good idea to listen to the offers of rooms as you step off the boat. Expect to pay around €25–40 per person in August, €20 at other times of the year, for something with a shower, kitchen, and balcony or terrace. There are also two pleasant rooms to rent from Christine Berart, the islands’ vet, at Vico Montebello 19 (090.9880.783 or 338.886.1297, christine@eolnet.it; €61–90). The nearest campsite is Baia Unci Campsite (090.981.1909, www.campingbaiaunci.it; mid-March to mid-Oct), 3km away from the port at the busy resort of Canneto; the bus from Lípari stops outside.
Carasco Porto delle Genti 090.981.1605, www.carasco.it. Best choice in town if you have children, as this big 1960s hotel, fused to a cliff on the edge of town, has a vast pool. All the rooms have terraces, and virtually all have sea views. Facilities include a decent restaurant and a poolside bar. €121–150
Diana Brown Vico Himera 3 090.981.2584, www.dianabrown.it. Spotless place on a quiet alley off the main Corso, run by a charming South African lady who has lived on the island for thirty years, and so can give good advice on anything you need to know. Rooms come with fridges and kettles; breakfast is served on a sunny roof garden; and there is a wonderfully well stocked book-exchange. €61–90
Enza Marturano Via Maurolico 35 368.322.4997, www.enzamarturano.it. Four air-conditioned rooms, with fridges, kitchens and private terraces close to the Marina Corta; breakfast included. It is worth checking the website for special off-season deals. No credit cards. €61–90
Hotel Tritone Via Mendolita 090.981.1595, www.bernardigroup.it. Comfortable hotel in a quiet part of town, but just a 5min walk from the centre, built around a swimming pool with thermally-heated spring water. There is also a well-equipped spa centre, with a wide range of massage therapies and beauty treatments. It is owned by the same people as the excellent Filippino restaurant. €201–250
Villa Meligunis Via Marte 7 090.981.2426, www.villameligunis.it. If you fancy staying in the lap of luxury, push the boat out at this gorgeous converted palazzo with excellent views of the citadel and sea from its rooftop restaurant, and a pool alongside; it offers great discounts off-season. €151–200
Island transport
From Lípari Town, the rest of the island is easy to reach on a network of buses, which leave regularly from a stop by Marina Lunga, opposite the Esso service station. Buses run in two directions around the island, clockwise to Quattropani, and anticlockwise to Canneto, Porticello and Acquacalda. There are enough departures (up to ten daily in summer) to be able to get around the whole island easily in a day, although if you’re really pushed for time the bus company operates a ninety-minute tour of the island (giro dell’isola), usually twice a day (July–Sept; €5) – though they need a minimum of twelve passengers to run. Alternatively, you could drive or scooter around Lípari’s winding roads in a couple of hours, stopping at places like Monte Guardia, Quattrocchi, Quattropani and Monterosa for some amazing views out across the archipelago. Rental agencies such as the friendly and reliable Da Marcello (090.981.1234) line the dockside at Marina Lunga (the ferry and hydrofoil port); you’ll have to leave your passport, credit card or a hefty deposit as security. Bikes cost from €10/day, scooters from €20, small cars from €30 for most of the year, up to €60 in August.
Lípari Town
The upper town within the fortress walls, the Castello, has been continuously occupied since Neolithic times. Alongside the well-marked excavations, there’s a tangle of churches flanking the main cobbled street, and several buildings that make up the separate arms of the Museo Eoliano (daily 9am–1.30pm & 3.30–7pm; €6) – a lavish collection of Neolithic pottery, late Bronze Age artefacts, and decorated Greek and Roman vases and statues. Highlights are the towering pyramids of amphorae rescued from ancient shipwrecks, a stunning array of miniature Greek theatrical masks found in tombs, and unique polychrome painted pottery ascribed to an artist known as the Lípari Painter.
The town’s numerous restaurants and pizzerias have (often poor, and inevitably overpriced) tourist menus at around €15–20, and even the cheaper places impose hefty 15 or 20 percent service charges. Two great places are the expensive Filippino on Piazza Municipio (090.9811.002) where the food is creative and delicious, and Kasbah (090.9811.075), off the Corso on Via Maurolico, a relaxed and elegant place, serving wonderful, reasonably priced Mediterranean food and superb pizzas in a garden planted with citrus trees. Bars along the corso fill up from early evening onwards: the classy enoteca Di Vino in Vino at no.102, is a cut above the rest, with a well-researched range of wines, along with Nebrodi-mountain hams and cheeses, tasters of which you’ll be given with your glass of wine at aperitif hour. They also have a wide range of salads, bruschette and toasted sandwiches. For great ice creams and pastries, the place to go is Subba, Corso Vittorio Emanuele 92, which has been in the same family since the 1930s.
There’s a SISA supermarket and various alimentari and bakeries on the main Corso – if you’re self-catering, head for the deli counter and fruit and veg section at the SISA, and buy your bread from the bakery opposite.
Boat trips
Tour operators all over town offer year-round boat trips, both around Lípari and to all the other islands. The boats mostly run from Marina Corta, but agencies are prominent at the main port too. Universally recommended is Da Massimo, Via Maurolico 2 (090.981.3086, www.damassimo.it), with clean, well-maintained boats with freshwater showers and sun shades; English is spoken. They also offer a boat trip to Strómboli with the excellent Magmatrek, including a night ascent of the volcano (from €70).
Prices for boat trips are roughly the same everywhere, from €15 for a Lípari and Vulcano tour, Lípari and Salina €25, and from €30 to Panarea and Strómboli. If you want to hire a gommone (rubber boat) and putter around yourself, expect to pay around €100 per day for a 50-metre boat with shower and canopy and space for six people. Most operators also run beach shuttles in summer to good beaches on Lípari that are otherwise tricky to reach, like Praia Vinci.
Around the island
Canneto, a shabby resort with a long pebble beach on the east of the island, is a good place to take the kids, though unless you are at the campsite it’s unlikely you’ll want to stay. Beyond here, the island’s east coast has been marred by extensive pumice mining: Porticello, with a pumice beach below abandoned mine-buildings has a certain industrial allure and good snorkelling, with turquoise waters over the pumice seabed.
If you are after beaches and a walk, take the bus west out of Lípari Town (direction Pianoconte) and ask to get down at Localitá Monte, from where it’s a thirty-minute walk to the pebbly beach at Valle Muria (if you don’t want to walk you can get there and back by boat from Marina Corta in summer: look out for Barney in the green and yellow boat; €5 each way). Continuing beyond Localitá Monte, the road climbs up to Quattrocchi (“Four Eyes”), with much-photographed views over spiky faraglioni rocks to Vulcano. Just after the village of Pianoconte, a side road slinks off down to the ancient thermal baths at San Calogero hidden behind a long-disused spa hotel: there’s usually an unofficial guide to show you around and allow you a dip if you dare in the scummy 57°C Roman pool. For a great coastal hike, stay on the bus from Lípari asking the driver to drop you at the Cave Caolina, a quarry of multicoloured clays used as pigments by the Lípari Painter (whose work can be seen in the Museo Archeologico) from where an easy-to-follow path leads down through the quarry, and back to San Calogero, passing sulphurous fumaroles, a hot spring, and a couple of places where you can scramble down the cliffs for a swim. If you feel happier with a map, there are large-scale Isole Eolie maps on sale in many shops along the main corso.
Salina
North of Lípari, SALINA’s two extinct volcanic cones rise out of a fertile land that produces capers and white Malvasia. It’s excellent walking country with marvellous vantage points over the other islands. Tourism came to Salina far later than Lípari and Vulcano, with the happy result that development and building have always been strictly controlled. Although you could bring a car, there is really little need as there are bus services between all the main villages.
Walking trails cut right across Salina, in particular linking the main port, Santa Marina and the nearby hamlet of Lingua with the peak of Monte Fossa delle Felci (962m). There are trail heads signed from the road between Santa Marina and Lingua, and also from the Circonvalazione that cuts behind Santa Marina. If you want an easier time of it, take a bus to the sanctuary of Madonna del Terzito at Valdichiesa – in the saddle between the two mountains – from where there’s a broad easy-to-follow jeep track; this is about 10km to the top, and should take a couple of hours.
Santa Marina di Salina
The principal island port is SANTA MARINA DI SALINA on the east coast – a relaxed village ranged along a single, pedestrianized main street, with good swimming from a beach of large stones. You may be able to find private rooms here, or try the B&B Da Sabina, at the far end of the village from the port at Via Risorgimento 5/C (090.984.3134 or 333.272.6025, www.bbsalina.it; €61–90, rising to €121–150 in Aug). Mamma Santina, Via Sanità 40 (090.984.3054, www.mammasantina.it; €151–200; end March to Nov), signposted to the left up the hill off the main street of Via Risorgimento, is a stylish place with a great pool, though service is not always up to scratch. Down on the seafront, the Mercanti di Mare (090.9843.536, www.hotelmercantidimare.it; €121–150) has nine white, airy rooms and a terrace with views over the sea to Strómboli, Panarea and Lípari: its owner, Alberto, is author of a book of the same name, about the seafaring history of the islands.
Nni Lausta (090.9843.486; May–Oct) on Via Risorgimento, is a cool wine bar and restaurant whose New York-trained owner-chef brings an adventurous new twist to local dishes. Try the tartare di tonno, raw tuna dressed with wild fennel and capers, or spaghetti with raw sea urchin. The Porto Bello restaurant above the port (closed Wed in winter & all Nov) serves excellent local antipasti, and beautifully prepared pasta and fish dishes.
Lingua
LINGUA, sitting by a pretty lagoon 3km south, makes a pleasant alternative base to Santa Marina. It has two small museums in exquisitely restored Aeolian houses overlooking the lagoon with its skew-whiff lighthouse: a small ethnographic museum (May–Oct Tues–Sun 9am–1pm & 3–6pm; free) displays examples of rustic art and island culture – mainly kitchen utensils and mill equipment, much of it fashioned from lavic rock, while the archeological museum (May–Oct Tues–Sun 9am–6pm; free) has finds from Bronze Age and Roman Salina.
If you’re on a tight budget, best value on the island is the funky apartments, with lovely owners, known as the Villagio (335.666.0777 or 329.796.6120; €60–90) on the main road through the village, overlooking the lagoon. Alternatively, the smart La Salina Borgo di Mare has lovely rooms, many with private terraces, set in the buildings of the former salt works by the lagoon (090.9843.441, www.lasalinahotel.com; €151–200). You’ll also find rooms at the restaurants ’A Cannata, just above the seafront (090.984.3161, www.acannata.it; €61–120), Il Delfino, right on the seafront at Via Garibaldi 19 (090.984.3024, www.ildelfinosalina.com; €61–120), and Gambero, also on the seafront (090.9843.049, www.ilgamberosalina.it; €60–90), whose rooms open onto a terrace with great views of Lípari. Half-board is compulsory in all three in August (a hefty €120 or so per person) and all have minibuses to ferry guests between the port and Lingua.
The town’s main draw is its seafront piazza, hub of Salina summer-life, where the tiny barDa Alfredo is famous throughout Italy for its fresh fruit and nut granitas. They also do pane cunzato, a huge round of grilled bread piled with various combinations of home-cured tuna, capers, tomatoes, baked ricotta and local olives. For more formal creative meals, and good pizza, the restaurant behind, Alfredo in Cucina, has a terrace overlooking the lake.
Malfa and Pollara
Salina’s only road climbs from the harbour at Santa Marina and traces the coast north, turning west at Capo Faro, with its vineyards and a lighthouse. It’s also home to a hip hotel, Capo Faro (090.984.4330, www.capofaro.it; €201–300), owned by the Tasca d’Almerita wine people, with twenty stunning, contemporary rooms occupying seven Aeolian-style houses that look down across the vineyards. The pool is marvellous, the restaurant less so, and children under 12 are not accepted.
A couple of kilometres beyond here, the road winds in to MALFA, Salina’s largest village, set back from the sea, and home to the island’s most charismatic hotel, the family-run Signum (090.984.4222, www.hotelsignum.it; €121–200), which has elegant rooms set around an infinity pool, and an excellent restaurant. Malfa, itself, though quite busy with traffic in the centre, has an appealing little fishing port tucked away at the foot of cliffs, reached by either road or paved stepped footpaths. Its stony beach, backed by dramatic cliffs, was closed in summer 2010 because of falling rocks. If this is still the case, do as the locals do and swim instead from the harbour. If you are around in late afternoon, don’t miss watching the sunset from the chic cliff-top bar of the Santa Isabel hotel (open Easter to Oct).
Just out of Malfa, a minor road (served by several buses a day) snakes off west to secluded POLLARA, raised on a cliff above the sea and occupying a crescent-shaped crater from which Salina’s last eruption took place some 13,000 years ago. Scenes from the 1994 film Il Postino were shot in a house here which you can rent, though it is pretty basic and quite expensive: call Pippo Cafarella (339.425.3684). Pollara’s beach, which also featured in Il Postino, diminishes every year, and in 2010 falling rocks led to its closure. Swim instead from the ancient fishing-boat ramps reached by a cobbled footpath from below the Postino house. If you want to stay, the Locanda del Postino (090.984.3958, www.lalocandadelpostino.it; €91–150), has ten rooms with terraces occupying the former priest’s house, and a restaurant known for its fish. The other place to eat in Pollara is Il Cappero (090.9843.968), an agriturismo serving pasta dressed with a pesto made of local capers and rabbit in agrodolce.
Leni and Rinella
Most ferries and hydrofoils also call at the little port of RINELLA, on the island’s south coast, with a black-sand beach; buses meet most boat arrivals on the quayside (and call here several times a day). There’s a little hotel, L’Ariana (090.980.9075, www.hotelariana.it; half-board in Aug €210 per person; closed mid-Nov & Dec), occupying a nineteenth-century villa with a frill of terracotta busts around its roof, just above the port. In summer its terrace is a marvellous place for a sunset aperitivo, accompanied by superior nibbles including smoked swordfish, and crostini with a delectable artichoke dip. The same family produce great home-cooked food at the amiable Bar Papero (open all year) tucked behind the main road on Piazzetta Anna Magnani, which is a great place for lunch. In addition there are two excellent pizzerias, Da Marco above the port, and Le Tre Pietre, on the main road out of the village. The village is also the site of the Aeolians’ most beautifully located campsite, Campeggio Eolie, 200m up the road from the port (090.980.9052, www.campeggioeolie.it; closed Oct–April; bungalows €121–150), with tent pitches, spaces for caravans, a bar-restaurant, small shop and seven tiny bungalows ranged across pine-shaded terraces right on the shore. It also has internet access, and can arrange boat trips.
Panarea
Only 3km by 1.5km, PANAREA is the smallest, loveliest, most painfully stylish and ridiculously expensive of the Aeolians, and in summer its harbours, hotels and villas overflow with an international crowd of designers, models, pop stars, film stars, royalty and their lackeys. In low season, however, the island is an utter delight, accommodation prices relatively sane, and the three-hour walk, up the peak of Pizzo Corvo, and hugging the fractured coastline, one of the most stunning anywhere in Italy.
Cars are banned, and the only transport is by Vespa or electric golf car. Panarea’s couple of hundred year-round inhabitants live in three linked hamlets on the eastern side of the island, Ditella, San Pietro and Drauto, with the boats docking at San Pietro. One of the least expensive places to stay is the rooms owned by Pippo and Maria Soldino in Iditella beyond the Carabinieri barracks. They are spotlessly clean, have their own terraces, are set in a garden, and out of season Pippo and Maria will cook for you (090.983.061 or 334.703.5010; €91–120). Good value, in low and mid-season at least, is the Albergo Girasole (090.98.3018 or 328.861.8595, www.hotelgirasole-panarea.it; €121–150), also family-run, at Drauto, out on the way to the sandy beach at Zimmari. Or you could try the gorgeous A Quartara, Via S. Pietro 15 (090.983.027, www.quartarahotel.com; closed Nov–March; €251–300), an intimate boutique hotel where the staff make everyone feel special. The Raya on Via S. Pietro is the hotel that put Panarea on the party map, but unless you’re a member of the in-crowd, it’s really not worth considering, as how you are treated depends very much on who you are. However, if it happens not to be a guest-list-only night, you could go for an aperitif or after-dinner drink on the fine terrace of the lovely bar. The food is usually good at the Trattoria da Francesco, just above the port, and at the charming, harbourside Trattoria da Adelina, Via Comunale del Porto 28 (090.983.246).
Thirty minutes’ walk south of San Pietro, clearly signposted, Zimmari is the island’s one sandy beach. From here, a steep path leads up to Punta Milazzese, where you can see the foundations of 23 Bronze Age huts, with the glorious cove of Cala Junco below. Just before you reach the Bronze Age village is the beginning of the well-marked track up Pizzo Corvo, circling the entire island and ending up at Calcara to the north of town, where there are steaming fumaroles on the beach.
Strómboli
Despite the regularity of the volcanic explosions, people have always lived on STRÓMBOLI. It is in a constant state of activity, throwing up fountains of fire and glowing rock every twenty minutes or so. A full eruption happens on average every 10 years. A flow of lava is often visible from afar, slowly sliding down the northwest side of the volcano into the sea. In January 2003 there was a colossal landslide, triggering a ten-metre-high tsunami that inundated the coasts of Sicily and Calabria.
Most of the many hotels and rooms to let on the island are on the eastern side, in the adjacent parishes of San Vincenzo, San Bartolo and Piscità, often grouped together as Strómboli Town and something of a chic resort since Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman immortalized the place in the 1949 film Strómboli. From the quayside, the lower coastal road runs around to the beach of Ficogrande and, further on, Piscità, where there’s a series of tiny lava coves with ashy sand. It’s around 25 minutes on foot from the port to here. The other road from the dock cuts up to the Piazza di San Vincenzo, which offers glorious views of the offshore islet of Strombolicchio.
On the other side of the island, accessible by hydrofoil, the hamlet of Ginostra is a laidback place of steeply terraced white Aeolian houses, where the only way of getting about is on foot or donkey. Hydrofoils run back to Strómboli Town twice a day in summer (once daily in winter), but these are susceptible to cancellation because of rough waters.
Guides for the ascent of the volcano cost around €28 per person, though if eruptions are thought to be dangerous, the mountain is closed; try Magmatrek on Via Vittorio Emanuele (090.986.5768 or 333.906.6053, www.magmatrek.it), where the staff are well informed and in constant radio contact with the volcanologists at the control centre. The climb up takes three hours, and you are expected to go at a fair whack; at first, it is no different from climbing any mountain, then suddenly all vegetation stops, giving way to black ash strewn with small jagged boulders spewed out by the volcano. Once on the top, all you can see at first are clouds of white steam – then suddenly there will be a resounding clash, the clouds glow red, and spouts of fire shoot up into the air, the glowing boulders drawing tracks of red light across the night sky. You should not attempt the climb alone. Be equipped for a tough-ish hike, and for a night climb bring warm clothes and a torch.
The best boat trips are the tours around the island, calling at Ginostra and Strombolicchio (2hr 30min; €20), and trips out at night to see the Sciara del Fuoco (1hr 20min; €15). Try Pippo (090.986.135 or 338.985.7883) – who has a stand in front of the Beach Bar, or Paola and Giovanni (338.431.2803) who work from opposite the Sirenetta hotel in Ficogrande.
Practicalities
In summer, the quayside is thick with three-wheelers and touts offering rooms; prices start at around €25 per person. First budget choice is the lovely Casa del Mulino (090.986.701 or 338.540.8931, michele.wegner@gmail.com; €61–90) in Piscità with four simple rooms in an old windmill perched right on the lava-cliff edge above a cove. For more luxury, the place to go is the Sirenetta Park Hotel, Via Marina 33 (090.986.025, www.lasirenetta.it; €151–200). Founded in 1952, the Sirenetta is outside town on the long black-sand beach of Ficogrande: its rooms are in Aeolian style, whitewashed with flat roofs and terraces, in spacious, well-tended gardens with a saltwater pool, and most have beautiful views over to the rocky islet of Strombolicchio. There are also yoga courses, massages, thalassotherapy and ayurvedic treatments, a diving centre, a tennis court and an amphitheatre where concerts, plays, films and weddings are staged. On the beach across the road is the very chic La Tartana Club, where in summer the fashionable set gathers for beach cocktails, live music and dinner. If you want to stay in Ginostra, try one of the rooms at the B&B Luna Rosa (090.981.2305; €60–120) or contact Magmatrek guide Mario Priuti about houses to rent (339.787.8465).
The most convivial restaurant in Strómboli Town is Zurro, down by the port at Via Marina (090.986.283), named for its piratical-looking owner-chef, an ex-fisherman whose food is both flamboyant and delicious. Summer nights often see impromptu parties on the beach at Petrazze, to the south of the port, while the best spot to hang out in town is Bar Ingrid, in the square by San Vincenzo church.
Filicudi
FILICUDI, the larger of the two most westerly islands, is a fascinating place, the contours of its sheer slopes traced with steep stone terraces and crisscrossed by stone mule tracks. It is an island best explored by foot, which is just as well, as there is no public transport. The tarmac road that connects the several small settlements gives a false impression of the island, making villages seem far apart that are, in fact, just a few minutes’ walk away, at least if you are fit: most of the tracks are pretty steep, occasionally following, but mostly cutting between, the ancient terraces carved into the slopes of maquis and prickly pear.
The main settlement is Filicudi Porto, which has a couple of shops, bars, hotels and a pharmacy. Inland, accessible by road or mule track, are three whitewashed villages, Valdichiesa, Rocche Ciauli and Pecorini. And down on the west coast, about 3km by road from the port, is the lovely little seaside village of Pecorini Mare. If you are not up to walking, a red minivan-taxi meets most boat arrivals (€12 per person to Pecorini Mare). If it’s not there call D&G Servizio Navetta (347.757.5916).
There are plenty of good walks along the ancient mule tracks of Filicudi: one of the nicest is out to the abandoned village of Zucco Grande. Walk up to La Canna hotel from the port – follow the well-kept stone mule track that begins from a point almost opposite the hydrofoil and ferry dock – then continue until you meet the tarmacked road. The path continues on the other side of the road, heading towards the settlement of Valdichiesa. After about twenty minutes, the path forks, and you’ll see the first of several signs to Zucco Grande. The path is well-marked, following the contours through a prickly terrain of gorse, lentisk, prickly pear and euphorbia. Another twenty minutes brings you to the village, abandoned forty years ago when its last inhabitants left for Australia. A couple of pioneering souls have bought ruins here, which are being renovated, but at the moment there is just one inhabitant, Giovanni, who has a couple of rooms and can provide a basic dinner (347.813.2579 or 368.407.544).
Practicalities
As long as you don’t mind a steep ten-minute haul up a stone-stepped alley, you could do no better than La Canna (090.988.9956, www.lacannahotel.it; €121–150), a family-run hotel in the hilltop village of Rocche Ciauli, above the port. Fourteen pleasant rooms open onto a huge whitewashed terrace with views of five other islands. There is a decent-sized swimming pool, and the restaurant serves typical Aeolian food often with fish caught by the owner. They also have several houses to rent around the island.
If you want a beachside base, head for Pecorini a Mare, where there is little to do except eat good food, hunt for seashells (Filicudi has some of the best shells in the archipelago) and walk slowly up the hill out to the clifftop viewpoint above at Punta Stimpagnato (allow about 30min) to watch the sun set over the mid-sea rock known as La Canna. The nicest place to stay here is La Sirena (090.988.9997 or 349.869.3320, www.pensionelasirena.it; €91–120) run by an Englishwoman and her Sicilian husband (who is also a great cook). They have several rooms (most with cooking facilities) and houses around the traffic-free village. The food is among the best you’ll find anywhere on the islands.
Alicudi
End-of-the-line Europe doesn’t come much more remote than Alicudi, a stark cone rising from the sea two and a half hours from Milazzo by hydrofoil. Electricity arrived only in the 1990s, and the sole way of getting about is on foot, though the six donkeys are used to carry heavy loads. There are just eighty year-round inhabitants, while superstitions and sightings of ghosts abound – as does the conviction that some Alicudari are blessed with the power to control the weather and divert cyclones. Up the sheer slope behind the tiny port, terraced smallholdings and whitewashed flat-roofed houses linked by lava-paved paths cling on for dear life, among bursts of bougainvillea.
Most of the hiking here is up stepped tracks that seem to have been designed with giants in mind, so be prepared for a good deal of calf-work. If you don’t fancy hauling yourself to the top (675m; 2hr), you’ll still get plenty of exercise climbing up to the church of San Bartolomeo, where controversy rages over the removal of the statue of the saint to a more easily accessible church lower down the hill (it is said that since the statue was moved, the island has had bad luck). Otherwise, follow the path north out of the port behind the church of the Carmine from where it’s an easy walk to the narrow stony beach of Bazzina, with a couple of smallholdings behind it.
Practicalities
There is one hotel in the port, the modern twelve-room Ericusa (090.988.9902, www.alicudihotel.it; €151–200) with sea views and a restaurant. Otherwise contact Silvio Taranto, Via Regina Elena, 98050 Alicudi (090.988.9922), who can put you in touch with people who have rooms to rent. For twenty years Silvio and his wife have been cooking dinner at their house above the port for whoever needs a place to eat. There’s no menu and no choice, and everyone eats the same, sitting at long tables on the family’s terrace, drinking locally produced red wine. Another good place to eat is Da Rosina Alla Mimosa higher up in the village (090.988.9937 or 368.361.6511, www.rosina-barbuto.it; €60 and under), named after a huge mimosa tree that was uprooted by a tornado. Virtually everything is produced or (in the case of rabbit, goat and fish) caught by the family. In autumn, the menu includes wild mushrooms and from autumn to spring wild greens such as fennel and borage. There are also a handful of simple rooms to rent.