Palermo, verdict by verdict

Palermo is Sicily at full volume: Arab-Norman churches, the Cappella Palatina's gold Byzantine mosaics inside the Norman Palace, Monreale's six thousand square metres of golden story overhead, markets a thousand years old still shouting, and the best street food in Italy eaten standing up at Ballaro. Teatro Massimo's gold horseshoe hosts the country's grandest opera hour. It is the most interesting city on the island and also the most chaotic, and those two facts are not a coincidence.

The chaos is real: peeling palazzi, litter, loud traffic and pickpocket-prone lanes around the markets, so normal city habits apply. The Cappella Palatina runs scaffolding and closures through 2026, Monreale's split ticket system sells visitors the wrong parts, Mondello's shallow blue bay is wall-to-wall by late season morning, August heat is brutal, and unlicensed drivers inside the airport quote fantasy fares, take the Prestia bus.

Two to three days covers the city: Ballaro's market theatre on foot or a guided food tour, the Norman Palace and Monreale's mosaics, plus a Cefalu or Mondello day for the water. Sleep in the old town for the full-volume version or the Politeama side for quieter nights, and come spring or autumn, when the city is loud without being an oven.