Quick Trip to Palermo, Sicily
We wrapped up our week in Italy with a two-night quick trip to Palermo, Sicily! I knew I wanted to squeeze in a third destination to our seven day trip (flying in/out of Rome, four days exploring the Amalfi Coast, and 2 nights open at the end). We played with the idea of Cinque Terre or Tuscany, but because it was early May, the weather in northern Italy would've likely been pretty chilly and I was hoping for some bikini time! We went as far south as possible (seeking sunshine!) and decided on visiting the beautiful island of Sicily.
However, our travel to Palermo from Sorrento was a little rocky... First of all, it was raining. Our original plan was to walk to the train station (a few blocks away from our hotel, maybe half a mile). Totally manageable, in fact we walked to our hotel from the train station when we arrived. But in the rain, dragging our luggage on the wet cobblestones was a different story. We considered it, weighed our options, and finally opted to order a taxi–– it cost about 30€ for a half a mile, which is ridiculous to me, but we had to do it to avoid wet bags. Of course as soon as we hopped in the taxi, the rain immediately stops and clears up... Oh well.
We needed to catch the first time out on the "Cirumvesuviana" local train line into Naples, and our walk-in-the-rain versus taxi dilemma now had us running behind. Of course, the taxi took (probably) longer than walking would've taken because of the crazy traffic, so we missed that first train and had to wait for the next one about 20 minutes later. But, no problem! We got on the next train, and arriving in Naples is when things started getting problematic.
We get out at the Naples train station, which is a shared bus stop. We go straight to the bus line info desk and inquire about next bus options to get to the Naples airport. It was cheap, around 7€ each, and it was supposed to arrive in just 10 minutes or so. The cashier said go outside and GO TO THE RIGHT, that is where your bus will arrive. Perfect! Timeline back on track. Until... 10 minutes goes by. Another ten minutes go by. A bunch of buses are coming and going, but never the bus line we're waiting for. We try asking other people around waiting for buses if they're waiting for the same line? Nope... (and, language barrier).
Another ten minutes go by. We're thinking well, it's Italy, I guess things don't run on schedule much here?...Finally, as we're nervously watching the time go by and our expected boarding time is rapidly approaching, we go back to the cashier later and (essentially) say hello, we've been waiting at the stop outside TO THE RIGHT... where the hell is our bus, we've been waiting for half an hour?!? She immediately looks wide-eyed and exclaims, NO NO NO, your bus stop is over there!!! As she points to the LEFT!!! (again, language barrier).
At this point, we're starting to panic a little bit because we're scared we're going to miss our flight, and there's no way we're going to wait for another mysterious bus– so we run to the main street and hail the first taxi we see. Of course, we see our exact bus line that's headed to Naples airport pull up to the bus stop, literally the second we got our bags inside the taxi. Again, oh well... the taxi was another 40€ spent, but at least we got peace of mind to catch our flight. We reach the airport finally and our flight was even delayed 30 minutes, so we were finally able to chill for a bit!
Arriving in Palermo was easy-peasy. There's a direct bus from the airport to the city center with several options of where to get off. Our Airbnb host had sent us super detailed arrival directions, so thankfully we knew exactly where to get off and where to walk. Our host met us at the apartment and showed us the space, and it was lovely!
The streets of Palermo had old-world charm, with tiny cobblestone alleys and big plaza squares. The street were FULL of people out at night! It was so packed we were wondering if it was some sort of holiday. We asked around and they said it was just a typical weekend night out (there's a big university nearby).
Sicily has a unique taste and style, compared to the rest of Italy. Staff at pizzerias and restaurants we'd eat at would ask us where we were traveling from (since we're obviously tourists). We would explain we'd just come from the Amalfi Coast area, and every waiter would immediately explain that this Sicilian pizza is totally different from Napolitano pizza! They're very prideful in their distinct regional cultures, and it shows.
We stayed in a penthouse apartment with an enormous 360° rooftop terrace–– all to ourselves! It was a bit cloudy and off/on rain the afternoon we arrived, but see below for the beautiful views on day 2 with clear blue skies!
The penthouse Airbnb is an "Airbnb Plus" meaning it's been reviewed in-person by the Airbnb team and has a certain amount of guaranteed amenities. It was lovely and highly recommended, and the price couldn't have been better. Only $63/night!!!
As a last minute decision on our second day in Palermo, we took a half-day trip to a nearby beach town. Although Palermo is lovely, we wanted to see more of Sicily and the nearby coastline. While out walking around town, we popped into a cafe to get on Wi-Fi and started researching nearby towns reachable by bus. Within a few minutes, we had decided on Mondello Beach and started walking to the nearest bus stop headed north.
The bus system in Palermo and the surrounding areas is super efficient and easy to navigate- although very, very popular! Our bus (and the ride back) had to turn around dozens of riders, because we were at standing room capacity.
The water at Mondello Beach is so incredibly crystal clear– I'm tempted to say it was even more turquoise than the water we've seen in the Caribbean. I had no idea it would be so picturesque! It wasn't quite warm enough for a proper beach day in a bikini, but we hung out on the sand for a little bit soaking up the technicolor water, and explored the little town on foot, stopping for a delicious and authentic Sicilian lunch and eventually catching the bus back to Palermo.
It was a quick trip, but I was glad we chose to explore Sicily for the tail-end of our memorable Italy trip!
