Is there any reason you'd be going to Mondello in particular? It's a bit dead until the summer season and although there are some nice sea views, I can think of lots of places I'd sooner see.. anyway, I would definitely recommend Monreale, on the other hand. There is a stunning cathedral which is one of the finest I've ever seen and I've travelled a fair bit - to get to Monreale you should take a bus (I can't remember the number) from Piazza Indipendenza outside the Norman Palace.
Other things to see would be the Norman Palace though it has some rather erratic opening hours - the cathedral in Palermo is beautiful outside but nothing special inside and they are renovating part of it at the moment. If you walk around the back of the Cathedral there's a little local craft/tourist shop that has some decorated traditional sicilian carts which make quite a nice photo opportunity.
If anything is going on at the Teatro Massimo take the chance to go inside - i believe they have some guided tours and it is beautiful inside.
The archeological museum has some of the remains that were found at Selinunte so if you are interested in Ancient Greece it makes a good detour.
The markets of palermo are famous, particular the Vucciria. It isn't very big but will give you more of a feel for the place if you wander down there.
They have a massive Good Friday parade in Trapani which is about an hour and a half east of Palermo - it's very famous in the area but I'm not overly impressed by Trapani as a city.
The catacombs in Palermo are quite unique.. very different from those in Rome and if you have a slightly mawkish tendency would probably enjoy them but they are a bit macabre because the Capuchin monks developed a way of preserving the bodies that means you can see the expressions on the faces of some of the bodies, some of them have facial hair still but for me, the interesting part was that they are dressed in the fashion of the day so you can, for example, see a soldier in full napoleonic uniform.
La Matorana church is a little gem that still holds to the Greek Orthodox rites and it's in Piazza Bellini where there is a great pizzeria which i used to go to a lot!
Via Principe di Belmonte is good for cafes and Spinnato is particularly nice for a coffee in the afternoon or aperitif in the evening and the ice creams are great.
Hope it's of some help - I don't really know anything about hotels because I used to live over there but if there's anything else specific then I might be able to help.
Hi we went to Sicily in September 2004 and toured the island. We started off in Siracusa and stayed in the Holiday Inn. Pleasant hotel, good budget staff not too friendly and location not so good but very close the the theatre ruins. We moved onto Agrigento and stayed in the Colleverde Park Hotel, and this was our favorite. Staff were very friendly food was great and the rooms had views of the temples. The gardens were massive & were beautiful to look around. We stayed at the Crystal hotel in Trapani, not to keen on this one, nice enough but very expensive. The Massimo Plaza hotel was very friendly but very small, to the point where breakfast in bed was a necessity due to lack of dining facilities. But good budget and the staff very friendly, good location too. Last but not least we stayed in Ipanema hotel in Taormina Mare. Fantastic hotel, good budget, not far from the beach friendly staff and good food. Only gripe is lack of parking.Hope this all helps and I am not too late with it. Good trip
The Hotel has a big brass plate outside and the lobby is on the 5th Floor of the building so in you go , get in the v small lift - 2-4 people max and you enter at the 5th Floor - at night you buzz on the intercom and they let you in - its open 24 hrs for you night owls out there...! Our room was airy , wooden polished floors , strong hot shower , nice bathroom loads of wardrobe space and aircon and tv - we were in a room at the back of the hotel which was a bit quieter ( room 502) than I imagine than at the front but we were so exhausted each evening with all our walking,eating , shopping, more walking and drinking and more eating we flaked out even with a distant sound of beeping and traffic and church bells ..... Breakfast is help yourself to bread, jams, spreads , croissants, pain au choc, cassata, choc cake, yoghurts , fruit juices , coffee etc and you can eat inside or wander on to an enormous terrace to soak up the fantastic views and rays - youre not on top of neighbouring tables either and the hotel was full when we were there at Easter. The staff were lovely , english speaking too and gave us a guide and a street map to help us and were full of advice if we wanted it.
It was lovely wandering around the town and some good restaurants aroung Piazza Marina and the Banyan trees in the garden - the whole town was really friendly even with my pidgin Italian - A nice place for lunch or dinner outside St Francis of Assisi church in Pl de san Francesco that s reasonably well known in that area down via Pasternostro, is Antico Focacceria San Francesco - you may need to book in the evening but its a delightful setting outside and if as we did you have to come back in an hour in the evening then go to a delightful winebar/restaurant with beautiful wrought iron decor and high ceilings 20 yards away called Mi Mada Picone . Fantastic choice of wines - alas no birra nazionale - but a lovely place and would have liked to try the restaurant - maybe next time. Another nice place for a Pizza in the day as well as eves ( most places dont do pizzas in the day) is Bellini at Piazza Bellini - with fantastic vista across the Piazza - I could go on - we loved Palermo! We also had a lovely meal at a restaurant in Mondello ( bus 806 from Piazza sturzo - buy a one day ticket from a Tabacchi - dont buy parking tickets like some fool did - ahem)outside above a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the main square - seafood so fresh and lovely sandy beach - roastin ghot at end of march!. saw loads of beautiful churches and an Easter parade with effigy of Jesus and Mary with candles and people marching thru the streets - fascinating to be there - Oh and don t miss the markets every morning - not the Sunday we were there though....Vucciriara and Ballaro markets were a fantastic experience , never seen so many artichokes, massive caulis and lemons like melons , seafood and olives - marvellous. Theres good bars down via Candelai and via Principe de Belmonte for late night beers etc that are very nice - again all walking distance - great hotel , great City - LOVED IT
The Hotel has a big brass plate outside and the lobby is on the 5th Floor of the building so in you go , get in the v small lift - 2-4 people max and you enter at the 5th Floor - at night you buzz on the intercom and they let you in - its open 24 hrs for you night owls out there...! Our room was airy , wooden polished floors , strong hot shower , nice bathroom loads of wardrobe space and aircon and tv - we were in a room at the back of the hotel whic was a bit quieter ( room 502) than I imagine than at the front but we were so exhausted each evening with all our walking,eating , shopping,walking and drinking and more eating we flaked out even with a distant sound of beeping and traffic and church bells ..... Breakfast is help yourself to bread, jams, spreads , croissants, pain au choc, cassata, choc cake, yoghurts , fruit juices , coffee etc and you can eat inside or wander on to an enormous terrace to soak up the fantastic views and rays - youre not on top of neighbouring tables either and the hotel was full when we were there at Easter. staff were lovely , english speaking too and gave us a guide and a street map to help us and were full of advice if we wanted it.
It was lovely wandering around the town and some good restaurants aroung Piazza Marina and the Banyan trees in the garden - the whole town was really friendly even with my pidgin Italian - A nice place for lunch or dinner outside St Francis of Assisi church in Pl de san Francesco that s reasonably well known in that area down via Pasternostro, is Antico Focacceria San Francesco - you may need to book in the evening but its a delightful setting outside and if as we did you have to come back in an hour in the evening then go to a delightful winebar/restaurant with beautiful wrought iron decor and high ceilings 20 yards away called Mi Mada Picone . Fantastic choice of wines - alas no birra nazionale - but a lovely place and would have liked to try the restaurant - maybe next time. Another nice place for a Pizza in the day as well as eves ( most places dont do pizzas in the day) is Bellini at Piazza Bellini - with fantastic vista across the Piazza - I could go on - we loved Palermo! We also had a lovely meal at a restaurant in Mondello ( bus 806 from Piazza sturzo - buy a one day ticket from a Tabacchi - dont buy parking tickets like some fool did - ahem)outside above a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the main square - seafood so fresh and lovely sandy beach - roasting hot at end of March!. Oh and don t miss the markets every morning - not the Sunday we were there though....Vuciriara and Ballaro markets were a fantastic experience , never seen so many artichokes, massive caulis and lemons like melons , seafood and olives - marvellous. Theres good bars down via Candelai and via Principe de Belmonte for late night beers etc that are very nice - again all walking distance - great hotel , great City - LOVED IT
The Hotel has a big brass plate outside and the lobby is on the 5th Floor of the building so in you go , get in the v small lift - 2-4 people max and you enter at the 5th Floor - at night you buzz on the intercom and they let you in - its open 24 hrs for you night owls out there...! Our room was airy , wooden polished floors , strong hot shower , nice bathroom loads of wardrobe space and aircon and tv - we were in a room at the back of the hotel whic was a bit quieter ( room 502) than I imagine than at the front but we were so exhausted each evening with all our walking,eating , shopping,walking and drinking and more eating we flaked out even with a distant sound of beeping and traffic and church bells ..... Breakfast is help yourself to bread, jams, spreads , croissants, pain au choc, cassata, choc cake, yoghurts , fruit juices , coffee etc and you can eat inside or wander on to an enormous terrace to soak up the fantastic views and rays - youre not on top of neighbouring tables either and the hotel was full when we were there at Easter. staff were lovely , english speaking too and gave us a guide and a street map to help us and were full of advice if we wanted it.
It was lovely wandering around the town and some good restaurants aroung Piazza Marina and the Banyan trees in the garden - the whole town was really friendly even with my pidgin Italian - A nice place for lunch or dinner outside St Francis of Assisi church in Pl de san Francesco that s reasonably well known in that area down via Pasternostro, is Antico Focacceria San Francesco - you may need to book in the evening but its a delightful setting outside and if as we did you have to come back in an hour in the evening then go to a delightful winebar/restaurant with beautiful wrought iron decor and high ceilings 20 yards away called Mi Mada Picone . Fantastic choice of wines - alas no birra nazionale - but a lovely place and would have liked to try the restaurant - maybe next time. Another nice place for a Pizza in the day as well as eves ( most places dont do pizzas in the day) is Bellini at Piazza Bellini - with fantastic vista across the Piazza - I could go on - we loved Palermo! We also had a lovely meal at a restaurant in Mondello ( bus 806 from Piazza sturzo - buy a one day ticket from a Tabacchi - dont buy parking tickets like some fool did - ahem)outside above a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the main square - seafood so fresh and lovely sandy beach - roastin ghot at end of march!. Oh and don t miss the markets every morning - not the Sunday we were there though....Vuciriara and Ballaro markets were a fantastic experience , never seen so many artichokes, massive caulis and lemons like melons , seafood and olives - marvellous. Theres good bars down via Candelai and via Principe de Belmonte for late night beers etc that are very nice - again all walking distance - great hotel , great City - LOVED IT
anbody been to sicily ,i am eager to go,although i dont think my 13 yr old would appreciate it ,maybe too quiet for her,but me and my hubby could spend a quiet week there next may .any info would be appreciated,
In the meantime there are a few posts lower down which may interest you and also look on Tripadvisor.
cheers.
thankyou so much have a great time
Just to say Hubs has been reading a book called "cosa Nostra" by John Dickie about the Sicilian maffia.Frightened himself to death.They have fingers in every pie.
bye
actually , i love the godfather films ,i think thats where i got the idea to visit sicily i shall look that book up.
Taormina is absoltely wonderful. Go there!
I am off to Sicily at the weekend and staying at Hotel Caesar Palace in Giardini Naxos - Has anyone stayed there ? I would appreciate any feedback. Also just found out that Taormina Film festival starts on saturday - not sure this is a good thing, guess Taormina will be busy/expensive this week ? Again I would appreciate any comments
Many thanks
Sorry missed your post, you will have already been there. We stayed next to this hotel, hope you had a good time anyway.
Anyone know anything about Catania in Sicily. I have a nephew who will be doing an elective so thought might go and spend a weekend there, but dont knoiw anything about the place.
It is a 2 and a half hour bus trip from Catania to Palermo.
is there anything worth seeing there, is it worth a visit ?
Yes loads - in particular Mount Etna - best access via Nicolosi! Try the tourist office website!
Here's a link to our photo's from Sicily in May 2003.
You could get the train north to Taormina or south to Syracuse and definitely go and see Etna, in fact there's so much to do and see you will have to go for a week at least!
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