Touching down at Palermo Falcone Borsellino Airport in Palermo places you close to cities like Cefalu, Monreale, and Trapani, all easily reachable. Palermo is loud, layered, and a little chaotic in the best way, a port city where Arab, Norman, and Spanish rulers each left their mark on the same streets. Markets spill onto sidewalks, baroque churches sit beside crumbling palazzi, and food is taken very seriously. It rewards wandering with no plan.

Standout experiences in Palermo: - Stand under the golden mosaics of the Cappella Palatina inside the Norman Palace - Eat arancine, panelle, and sfincione from the stalls of Ballaro market - Try pane con la milza, the spleen sandwich locals swear by, if you are brave - Catch an opera or just tour the grand Teatro Massimo - Visit the cathedral and climb to its rooftop terraces - Spend an afternoon on the sand at Mondello, the city's beach suburb - Visit the eerie Capuchin Catacombs - Watch the evening passeggiata around the Quattro Canti crossroads

Sicily is an island, and Palermo is the natural base for its northwest corner. The cathedral at Monreale, with its hillside mosaics, is twenty minutes up the road. Cefalu's cathedral and beach are about an hour east, the ruined Greek temple at Segesta is an hour west, and Trapani and the hilltop town of Erice sit beyond that. Come in mid July for the Festino di Santa Rosalia, when the city parties for days in honor of its patron saint, and finish every night with a granita.