Palermo

Palermo takes two to three days, or four to five with Monreale, Cefalù and Mondello added. The city was founded in 734 BC as a Phoenician settlement, and the later centuries left Norman churches with Arab ceilings, the Baroque Quattro Canti and three markets that still work in the middle of town.

The walk starts on the train. The Trinacria Express runs from the airport to Palermo Centrale in about 1 h, and the ticket is €5.80. From the station you walk to the Quattro Canti, an octagonal square where Via Maqueda crosses Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Four old districts meet here, Kalsa, Seralcadi, Albergheria and Castellammare. The fountains at street level stand for the seasons, above them are the Spanish kings, and at the top the city's patron saints. The square and the neighbouring Piazza Pretoria charge no entry.

From the crossing you head for Norman Palermo. Roger II commissioned the Palatine Chapel, inside the Palazzo dei Normanni, in 1132; its gold mosaics date from the 1140s onwards, and the wooden muqarnas ceiling is Islamic work. The ticket is €19 and includes the Royal Apartments, which are shut on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so this part of the plan stays off those days. The cathedral dates from 1185, and holds the tombs of Roger II and Frederick II. Entry: free (nave); €10 Monumental Area (treasury, crypt, royal tombs, roofs). The chapel, the cathedral, Monreale and Cefalù are together on the UNESCO list since 2015.

The Teatro Massimo opened in 1897 as the third-largest opera house in Europe, closed in 1974 and reopened only in 1997. The last scenes of The Godfather Part III were shot here. The guided tour takes 40 min and costs €14, and booking is recommended.

What remains is the market and the catacombs. Ballarò market, in the Albergheria district, most likely began under Arab rule, and entry is not limited. The Capuchin Catacombs, by contrast, keep hours: daily 9–17.30 (last entry 17.10), entry €5. For everything else — districts, beaches, day trips — this guide has its own pages.