Palermo, as we all know, is a rich, vibrant, bustling and colourful city, but if you fancy venturing beyond it to explore the surrounding areas, this is definitely the article for curious travellers like yourself!
Sea stacks, focaccia, salt, wine and contemporary art are the highlights that the discerning and curious traveller certainly can’t afford to miss on their trip to discover what lies outside of Palermo.
Happy reading!
Interesting destinations near Palermo: Scopello
Let’s start in the province of Trapani, to the west, where in the summer, but especially out of season, the area of Scopello is without doubt one of the most charming destinations. Picture a small bay with sheer cliffs and imposing sea stacks soaring up from the bluer than blue waters. As well as the charming tuna fishery, now completely restored and an extremely popular venue for exclusive events, the sea stacks provide a backdrop for this famous spot which was actually the setting for some of the scenes in the movie Ocean’s Twelve.
Hire a RIB or a paddle board for a truly sensational experience on the water; nearby Castellammare you’ll find many companies offering boat trips including lunch on board or RIB rental to explore the most beautiful coves. Personally, I’d recommend going out of season or on a weekday, as the area is extremely popular and usually very busy.
And afterwards? Well, you can’t leave Scopello without trying its pane cunzato, or seasoned bread: a kind of focaccia, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, made with tomatoes, oregano, anchovies and cheese, all generously drizzled in locally produced olive oil.
So where can you try it? Practically everywhere in fact, but the locals know that just outside of the small and delightful town of Scopello, there’s a family-run bakery that offers its many customers a few tables right outside, in the shade of the fig trees. The sign says it all; scrawled on a wooden board, it reads “Forno a legna, Pane Cunzatu” (Wood-fired oven. Seasoned Bread), as if to emphasise that here it’s not so much about style but more about substance! You’ll find the bakery at via XXIV Maggio 5.
Interesting destinations near Palermo: The Marsala Salt Pans
Windmills in Sicily? Well of course! The sea salt industry has its roots in the island’s Moorish past and the commodity once known as “white gold” is still produced in the same way today. In the summer along the road you’ll see the mounds of salt left to dry, as well as the basins and the salt workers toiling under the sun. In autumn the salt is lovingly covered with terracotta tiles, the type typically used for the roofs of houses, to protect the salt from the rain and the damp.
But if I had to recommend the best time to visit this magical place, it would have to be at sunset. As the last rays of the sun kiss the sea, the salt pans take on a vast array of pinkish and purplish hues, the windmills in the distance stand out against the skyline, whilst flocks of pink flamingos fly towards the sun or simply remain in the middle of the basins, looking for the last little fish.
The best place to watch this amazing spectacle is Mamma Caura, a small restaurant at the “Ettore Infersa” salt pans, the main ones along the coast, where you can buy salt, be it highly or less refined, and in particular the precious salt flakes with their delicate flavour.
The old factory has been converted into a small museum where you can discover all the secrets of the harvesting and processing, and if you book in advance you can enjoy a real salt worker experience in the ancient basins no longer in use.
The Ettore Infersa Salt Pans can be easily reached from the Trapani-Marsala coast road, following the directions to l’Imbarcadero Storico di Mozia (the historical pier of Mozia). As you sip a glass of chilled wine (the province of Trapani is renowned for its whites), you’ll enjoy an enchanting and incredibly romantic moment, perfect for declarations of love, proposals or simply for falling in love with this stretch of coast.
But if you’re not the romantic kind, why not board the boat that cuts through the waters of the lagoon to take you to Mozia, the ancient Phoenician settlement? Alternatively, if you’re looking for a bit more action, you could take a few kitesurfing lessons on the Stagnone lagoon.
This lagoon is home to fluttering pink flamingos, and daredevils can try their hand at some amazing acrobatics as they take advantage of the wind that’s always blowing at full strength.
Interesting destinations near Palermo: Parco della Fiumara
We now leave the province of Trapani behind us and turn towards Messina. Did you know that you’ll find Europe’s largest open air museum of contemporary art in Sicily? A dried-up riverbed is home to the wonderful installations sponsored by patron Antonio Presti and created by some of Italy’s greatest contemporary artists.
The exhibits dominate a practically unknown area, creating a beautiful and charming landscape involving all the local municipalities: Castel di Tusa, Motta d’Affermo, Pettineo and others, with the idea of creating a popular museum and bringing together villages and hamlets that are now almost uninhabited.
The works all blend into the landscape nicely and you can go inside some of them and lose yourself, such as in the magnificent Labirinto di Arianna (Ariadne’s Labyrinth) by Italo Lanfredini, standing on the hill overlooking Castel di Lucio. Others almost want to relate to the laws of the universe, such as the Piramide 38° parallelo (Pyramid of the 38th Parallel) by Mario Staccioli, where the “Rito della Luce” (Ritual of Light) is celebrated every year on the night of the summer solstice. You certainly can’t go there without feeling an intense, ancient and powerful energy that remains within your heart as well as in your memory.
Simply type “Fiumara d’Arte” into Google Maps to find all the installations and decide which of these are of most interest to you. In addition to those already mentioned, I would personally also recommend you visit the “Finestra sul Mare” (Window to the Sea) by Tano Festa, a frame that blends in with the blues of the sky and the sea, and which you can find along the coast road to Messina.
And now, not to detract from the beauty of these places, I should remind you that we are in the home of the granita and in Castel di Tusa itself you’ll find a tiny bar serving some truly wonderful granitas. It’s called Porto Marina and it’s a real Aladdin’s cave for genuine food lovers (the vegetables come from the owner’s kitchen garden), but above all for lovers of delicious granitas accompanied by the obligatory Sicilian brioche, brioscina con tuppo, (literally ‘brioche with chignon”), slightly sweet, with a dollop of whipped cream to finish it off.
This bar is easy to find, at Via Nazionale 61. The owner is lovely and will be delighted to welcome you.
This list is quite short and I can assure you that I could go on and on listing all the beautiful places, both the well- and lesser-known, in Sicily, but I’d like to leave you with one piece of advice: enjoy the little things, the smiles on the locals’ faces, appreciate the generosity that you’ll be shown. If you’ve decided to venture into the heart of Sicily you’re sure to be richly rewarded.
And if you’re interested in finding out more about the wonders around Palermo, you can also read our article on the unmissable towns and villages around the city.
