Palermo is Italy’s most underrated city for sights: a 2,700-year-old Mediterranean crossroads where Norman kings built Arab-inspired palaces, Baroque architects covered churches in marble, and street markets operate exactly as they have for a millennium. The centro storico is one of Europe’s largest historic centres, dense with monuments from a dozen civilizations. Here are the top things to do in Palermo.
Best Things to Do in Palermo
Palazzo dei Normanni and Cappella Palatina
The Norman Palace, built by Arab rulers in the 9th century and expanded by Norman kings in the 12th, is Palermo’s defining monument. The Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel) inside is the masterpiece: a gold-ground mosaic cycle covering every wall and the wooden muqarnas ceiling painted by Fatimid craftsmen, combining Byzantine, Islamic and Latin Christian art in a single room. Entry costs 15.50 EUR (19 EUR including the Royal Apartments). Open Monday-Saturday 08:15-17:00 (last entry 16:00), Sunday and holidays 08:15-13:00. Book tickets online at least 2 days ahead during peak season (May-October) at the CoopCulture website; same-day tickets often sell out by 10:00. Located on Piazza del Parlamento. Allow 1.5 hours. The palace also houses the Sicilian Regional Assembly, which may close parts of the building without notice on session days (typically Tuesday-Thursday afternoons).
Palermo Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta)
A architectural palimpsest: an Arab-Norman basilica (1185) with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque additions, topped by a Catalan-Gothic facade added in the 18th century. The cathedral holds the tombs of Norman kings Roger II and Frederick II in porphyry sarcophagi. Entry to the main cathedral is free. The rooftop terraces (7 EUR, climb 100 steps, open 09:00-18:00) give the best panoramic view of Palermo and Monte Pellegrino. The treasury and crypt access costs 7 EUR. Open Monday-Saturday 09:00-17:30, Sunday 09:00-13:00. Located at Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Allow 1 hour. Go early (09:00) for the rooftop before the midday sun makes the climb unpleasant in summer.
Mercato di Ballaro
Palermo’s largest and oldest street market, running daily since the Arab period along Via Ballaro in the Albergheria district. The 500-metre strip of stalls sells fish, meat, vegetables, spices, cheese and street food. The vendors’ shouted prices in Sicilian dialect create the market’s signature soundscape. Come hungry: try pane con la milza (spleen sandwich, 3 EUR at Antica Focacceria San Francesco nearby), panelle (chickpea fritters, 1.50 EUR for a sandwich) and arancine (fried rice balls, 2 EUR). Open Monday-Saturday 07:00-20:00, busiest 09:00-13:00. The market extends into the surrounding alleys; wandering the side streets reveals Palermo’s most authentic, unrenovated neighbourhood. Keep valuables hidden; the market has pickpockets. Best visited in the morning when the fish stalls are freshest and the light filtering through the tarpaulin canopies is most photogenic.
Duomo di Monreale
The cathedral of Monreale, 8km southwest of Palermo on the slope of Monte Caputo, holds the world’s largest Byzantine mosaic cycle outside Constantinople: 6,340 square metres of gold-ground mosaics depicting biblical scenes, completed 1182-1189. Entry costs 4 EUR (main cathedral), 6 EUR including cloister and terraces. Open Monday-Saturday 08:30-18:00, Sunday 08:00-12:45 and 14:30-17:30. Reach by AMAT bus 389 from Piazza Indipendenza (20 minutes, 1.40 EUR) or taxi (25-30 EUR each way). Allow 2 hours. Visit on a clear morning when sunlight through the east windows illuminates the apse mosaics. The adjacent cloister has 228 twin columns with carved capitals, each different.
Quattro Canti (Piazza Vigliena)
The Baroque intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda where four near-identical concave facades create an octagonal urban theatre. Each facade has a fountain representing a season, a statue of a Spanish king of Sicily, and a patron saint. Built 1609-1620. Free to view 24/7. Stand in the centre at dusk when the setting sun catches the upper facades. The intersection is the heart of the centro storico, with the Fontana Pretoria (the “Fountain of Shame” with its nude statues, 1554) 50 metres south on Piazza Pretoria.
Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Catacombs)
One of Palermo’s strangest sites: underground corridors beneath the Capuchin monastery holding 8,000 mummified bodies, clothed and arranged by profession, dating from the 16th to early 20th centuries. The most famous resident is Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old girl who died in 1920 and whose body remains remarkably preserved. Entry costs 3 EUR. Open daily 09:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00 (closed Sunday afternoons). Located at Piazza Cappuccini 1, a 15-minute walk from the centre or bus 327. No photos allowed (enforced). The site is not for children or anyone squeamish about death.
Mondello Beach
Palermo’s city beach, a 1.5km crescent of white sand 10km north of the centre, backed by Monte Pellegrino and art nouveau villas. The water is shallow and calm, good for families. The beach has public free sections (spiaggia libera) and private stabilimenti (beach clubs) with loungers and umbrellas for 15-25 EUR per day. The best stabilimenti: Al Platania and Ombelico del Mondo, both with restaurants. Reach by AMAT bus 806 from Piazza Sturzo (30 minutes, 1.40 EUR) or taxi (20-25 EUR). The bus is packed on summer weekends; go on a weekday or take the 08:00 bus. Parking near the beach is nearly impossible from June to September. The beach season runs late May through early October.
Teatro Massimo
Italy’s largest opera house and Europe’s third-largest, opened in 1897 with a 1,350-seat auditorium and perfect acoustics. The neo-classical exterior on Piazza Verdi is a Palermo landmark. Guided tours in English run daily at 10:00, 11:30, 14:30 and 16:00 (10 EUR, 30 minutes). Opera and ballet tickets cost 25-150 EUR depending on seat. The closing scene of The Godfather Part III was filmed on the theatre’s steps. Book tours at teatromassimo.it. Located a 5-minute walk from the Quattro Canti.
