Seeking tips on where to stay in Palermo? Here're many useful ideas if you travel with your family, friends, or your loved one
Sicily is a mandatory stop for those who love art, nature, culture and good food. Its main town is the perfect starting point to explore this incredible island. Finding the best neighborhood where to stay in Palermo won't be difficult because for several years now the city has been experiencing a real renaissance.
The possibilities are endless, just as there are endless monuments or hidden corners to discover. Of course, even the gastronomic delicacies are endless, in a city that fully deserves to be one of Italian food capitals.
Let's discover right away a city that for almost three thousand years has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures.
Where to stay in Palermo
If you are looking for a place where to stay in Palermo you will be spoiled for choice.
This city, a destination for international tourism for many years, has a very strong identity matured over the centuries of its very long and rich history, which began at the time of the Phoenicians.
Palermo has always fascinated kings and artists, simple travelers or poets and even those who love to go back there often are never disappointed.
The historic center is rich in monuments, then there are the museums and the lively Ballarò market. Without forgetting that Palermo is a seaside city and therefore has a beautiful beach where it's possible to swim for almost six months a year.
How Palermo welcomed us, I don't have enough words to say: with fresh mulberry greens, evergreen oleanders, lemon espaliers. In a public garden there were large beds of buttercups and anemones. The air was mild, warm, perfumed, the wind soft.
Where to stay in Palermo as a couple
Sunny, with a beautiful promenade and many things to see, including the famous Mondello beach just outside town, Palermo has everything you need for a holiday to remember.
The Politeama-Libertà district is not only a good starting point for visiting the city, but also an excellent choice if you are looking for a place where to stay in Palermo as a couple. With theatres, bar and restaurants of all kinds, shops and the convenient position, this area is considered a bit like the city's parlour.
The Pietrasanti Mattarella park also houses a lovely and romantic English garden where you can find some coolness even on the hottest days.
A very nice hotel in Palermo for a holiday with your loved one is Politeama, right next to the elegant thater that gives the name to the district. More info about Politeama Hotel❯
Where to stay in Palermo with your family
Monte di Pietà surely is the right choice if you're looking for a hotel where to stay in Palermo with your family.
It's a beautiful neighborhood of the historic center, where some of the city's most beautiful monuments and squares can be found. Don't miss, for example, the wonderful cathedral of Palermo or the Palazzo dei Normanni, a short distance from each other.
A pleasant walk along the shopping streets will also easily lead you to the Archaeological Museum, or the Teatro Massimo. In any case you will have everything at your fingertips, including some excellent restaurants where you can enjoy all the delights of Sicilian cuisine.
Casa Nostra Boutique Hotel is a very nice hotel equipped with all comforts, including a parking lot, just a few minutes from the Cathedral. More info about Casa Nostra Boutique Hotel❯
Where to stay in Palermo with your friends
La Kalsa is the ancient Arab quarter of Palermo, also famous for its beautiful Renaissance palaces and the equally famous Pretoria fountain. Here there are museums, craft shops and excellent street food too.
This is one of the city's liveliest areas, which comes alive even more in the evening because it's very popular with young people. Close to the harbor and the seafront, this neighborhood offers awesome views and unforgettable sunsets, and it's also the perfect solution if you're looking for a place where to stay in Palermo while traveling with your friends.
Try for example Zefiro Suites, a modern and central hotel a few steps from Via Roma, one of the main streets of the center of Palermo. More info about Zefiro Suites❯
How to get to Palermo from the airport
The city of Palermo is served by the Palermo Punta-Raisi's Falcone-Borsellino international airport, which is located about thirty kilometers from the centre.
The shuttle bus is the cheapest way to reach the city from the airport. It makes several stops that also include the main station and the harbor.
The train connects the airport's passenger terminal with the center of Palermo with runs every half hour that take from one hour and one hundred and twenty minutes, depending on the number of intermediate stops.
Of course, there is also a taxi to go from the airport to the center of Palermo, at a cost of around €40.
5 things not to be missed at Palermo
Elegant streets, ancient alleys, imposing palaces, majestic cathedrals and markets. Then, of course, there is the sea. Palermo always knows how to charm and surprise, but to help you choose among all its wonders, here are five things that you just can't miss.
The Cathedral, of course, is a must see. In a single church different architectural styles blend harmoniously, including the Arab, the Catalan and the Gothic, for a whole that has no equal. Here rest saints and kings, including the famous Frederick II.
Equally unmissable is the Palazzo dei Normanni, the oldest royal residence in Europe, which also includes the remains of the first Phoenician settlements in Sicily. Its palatine chapel is an unmissable sight thanks to the golden Byzantine mosaics that decorate all the interiors.
The Catacombs of the Capuchin Convent house the largest collection of mummies in the world. An unusual show, but of great cultural value and certainly fascinating.
The Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia, dedicated to the patron saint of the city, is located on the outskirts of Palermo but is certainly worth a visit because it is a beautiful combo of art and nature. It is in fact set in the rock, a few steps from a beautiful viewpoint.
The monumental neoclassical building of the Teatro Massimo is among the best-known symbols of Palermo. It is one of the major opera houses in Europe, which is a credit to a city where the theatrical tradition goes back centuries and is as rich as ever.
