Photo Xerones, CC BY 2.0
Palermo · Sicily
Things to see in Palermo
In Palermo the atlas lists 182 historic places: 70 historic villas and palaces, 48 museums, 23 fortresses and towers, 15 archaeological sites, 15 historic theatres, 5 castles, 4 abbeys and monasteries and 2 lighthouses.
Of these, 22 list opening hours, 3 have free entry and 4 are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Don’t miss: Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele (1897), opera house in Palermo, Italy.
By date of construction, the most common period is the Modern era (59% of dated places) and the Early modern period (28% of dated places).
Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale
- 182historic places
- 630,167inhabitants
- 14 maltitude
The town
Palermo (Sicilian: Palermu) is on the northern coast of the Italian island of Sicily. It is a city with a thousand years of history, beautiful Arab-Norman architecture, amazing food, and lively neighbourhoods. It is a bit scruffy around the edges, but a visit of a few days will make you want to stay for weeks.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
182 places
Villas and palaces 70
Show all 46 places
Palazzo Ajutamicristo 
Natoli Palace 
Cuba Palace 
Villino Favaloro 
Villino Florio 
Palazzo Branciforte 
Palazzo d'Orleans 
Villa Castelnuovo 
Palazzo Ziino 
Villa Montalbo Boscogrande 
Villa Trabia alle Terre Rosse 
Palazzo Comitini 
Villa Napoli 
Palazzo Sant'Elia 
Palazzo Isnello 
Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi 
Villa Raffo 
Villa Virginia Caruso 
Villa Niscemi 
Palazzo Artale 
Palazzo Sclafani 
Villa Sofia 
Palazzo Alliata di Villafranca 
Archbishop's Palace 
Palazzo Asmundo 
Bonocore Palace 
Palazzo Campofranco 
Palazzo Jung, Palermo 
Villa Alliata di Pietratagliata 
Category:Palazzo del Monte di Pietà (Palermo) 
Palazzo Drago Ajroldi 
Mirto Palace 
Palazzo Sambuca 
Palazzo Scavuzzo 
Palazzo Tomasi di Lampedusa 
Palazzina dei Quattro Pizzi 
Palazzo Moncada di Paternò 
Villa Alliata Cardillo 
Hotel de France 
Palazzo Conte Federico Museums 48
- UNESCO
Show all 21 places
Sicilian Ethnographic Museum Giuseppe Pitrè 
Museum of palenteology and geology Gaetano Giorgio Gemmellaro 
Chiesa di San Cataldo 
Museo dell'Islam 
Museo del Risorgimento Vittorio Emanuele Orlando 
Pietro Doderlein museum 
Palazzina Cinese 
Santa Maria dello Spasimo 
Oratorio dei Bianchi 
Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa 
Palatine Chapel 
Albergo Delle Povere 
Palermo Museum 
Centro Internazionale di Fotografia Stanze al Genio Fortresses and towers 23
Archaeological sites 15
Historic theatres 15
Castles 5
- UNESCO
Getting there
By plane: Palermo Airport (PMO IATA Falcone–Borsellino Airport) (32 km west of the city at Punta Raisi), ☏ +39 0917020273. Has flights incoming from other Italian centres and major European cities on a regular basis. Purchase bus ticket from the ticket office next to the bus at the airport. From city centre to the airport, purchase ticket from the driver. There are 1-2 buses per hour, 50 minutes, €6.30 one way (€10 return if bought online). The usual taxi and car rental services are also available at the airport. Trenitalia also offers regular service at the airport at the Punta Raisi station located in the basement of the terminal. Cost to take the train to Palermo Centrale is €6.50 (March 2023). A trip to Palermo Centrale takes just under an hour, whether by bus or by train.
By ferry: Ferries steam between the port of Palermo and the following several Italian ports on a regular basis: Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples and Cagliari (Sardinia). International routes are available from Valletta (Malta) and Tunis (Tunisia). You can view and compare schedules and prices for ferries to Palermo on Ferryhopper.
By train: There are overnight through trains from Rome, Naples and even Milan via the train ferry across the Strait of Messina. The main railway station, Palermo Centrale, is located at Piazza Giulio Cesare.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
What to see, according to Wikivoyage
Because of its variety of monuments, attesting to its long and rich history, and the number of other cultural and naturalistic attractions, Palermo can offer a very interesting experience to the visitor interested in exploring it. The Cathedral of Monreale, the Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel, the Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, the Church of San Cataldo, the Palermo Cathedral, the Zisa Palace and the Admiral’s Bridge, comprise together with the cathedral in Cefalù the world heritage site “Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale”.
Palermo Cathedral. Honey-coloured and Catalan influenced. Frederick II, Barbarossa's grandson, died in 1250 and is buried here, far from his ancestral home above Hohenstaufen, Germany. Frederick's sarcophagus is of porphyry dyed with imperial purple. Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina). It's one of the artistic gems of Palermo: a chapel with magnificent mosaics and Arabian-style decorations, among the most beautiful in the world. It is inside of Palazzo dei Normanni. included in the Normans palace tickets. Palazzo dei Normanni (Palace of the Normans).
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage · Underlined names link to our own pages.