Four days in Palermo: history, culture, food and sea

To get the day off to a good start, there's nothing like a good breakfast: cappuccino and cornetto filled with ricotta cheese, a must for Sicilian breakfasts, or for those with a sweet tooth, granita with brioche, but strictly col tuppo!

After recharging your batteries, set off to explore the city's historic centre. Start by visiting Palermo Cathedral, part of the Arab-Norman itinerary and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, its architectural style combines Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements.

Continue with a visit to the Palatine Chapel inside the Norman Palace, which is also part of the Arab-Norman UNESCO World Heritage Route.

Originally built as a private chapel for the royal family, it is now one of the most beautiful chapels in the world. The gilded Byzantine mosaics are sure to leave you breathless!

Stop for lunch at the Taverna dei Canti, near the Quattro Canti, a restaurant offering traditional Sicilian dishes such as panelle and crocchè, as well as gastronomic reinterpretations, from starters to main courses, in a mix of land and sea!

After treating your taste buds, discover the Quattro Canti, a beautiful square steeped in history that forms the centre of the city. Admire the decoration of the four buildings and the majestic statues.

Not far from the Quattro Canti, you'll also find one of Palermo's most beautiful fountains: the Fontana Pretoria, built in Florence in 1554. Originally intended for a private garden, it was later acquired by the Senate of Palermo.

For dinner, enjoy an aperitif at Planta, where you will find everything and more. The Lounge Bar is a 15-minute walk from Quattro Canti.

On the second day of this tour of Sicily, we head for the largest opera house in Italy and the third largest in Europe: the Teatro Massimo.

A visit to the theatre includes entry to the Sala Grande, the Salotto annexed to the royal box, the Sala Pompeiana, the Sala degli Stemmi and the Foyer. If you add €5 to the ticket price, you can visit the stage and watch the opera or ballet being performed!

Just a 10-minute walk from the Teatro Massimo is the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi, a theatre with a semi-circular structure that is a true example of neoclassical architecture.

Although smaller than the Teatro Massimo, the Politeama is now the headquarters of the Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana and an important monument for the city of Palermo, so much so that Piazza Castelnuovo and Piazza Ruggero Settimo, next door, are called Piazza Politeama.

Your morning in the theatres will surely have left you hungry! We suggest you try Ke Palle Arancine d'Autore, just a 5-minute walk from Teatro Massimo.

Here you'll find not only the classic arancini with meat sauce or ham and mozzarella, but also fish, pistachio or unimaginable flavours, such as arancino di anelletti alla siciliana!

Or try the famous coppo di fritto: vegetables, chips or panelle and crocchè served in a paper cone. For those with a sweet tooth, we recommend trying the sweet arancina, a Nutella arancino covered in sugar. Although the savoury arancino is still the best, the sweet arancino is well worth a try!

After a visit to the Teatro Massimo and the Politeama Garibaldi, stroll along the most important streets in the historic centre to admire the churches and palaces: Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Via Maqueda, Via Roma, Via Lincoln and Via Cavour.

But the shopping street par excellence is Via Ruggero Settimo, where Palermitans go to do all kinds of shopping or simply to stroll.

As night falls, you can choose to attend a play at the famous Teatro Massimo or, if you feel like discovering something typical of the Sicilian folk tradition, we recommend the Opera dei Pupi.

This is a very special theatre where the protagonists are Sicilian puppets who interpret stories taken from the epic and chivalric literature of the Carolingian cycle!

On the third day, we recommend a stroll through the streets of the city's historic markets: Vucciria, Ballarò and Capo. It's the ideal place to discover the classic Palermo abbanniata method amidst the divine aromas that mingle and tickle your nostrils!

You'll find everything from meat to fish, fruit and vegetables, street food and sweets typical of the culinary tradition of Palermo and Sicily.

The Capo market is behind the Teatro Massimo and a 15-minute walk from the Vucciria. The Ballarò market is near the Chiesa del Gesù, known as the Casa Professa.

Let yourself be intoxicated by the aromas and taste the typical specialities of Palermo and the region! Pane e panelle (bread and fritters), pani ca meusa (bread with spleen), stigghiola (lamb or kid intestines), arancini (fried rice balls) and much more!

In the afternoon, you can relax in the botanical garden, a peaceful oasis in contrast to the chaos of the city, where you can admire a wide variety of plant species from all over the world and discover the herbarium, which has a huge collection of dried plants!

Sicily means sea! You can't visit Palermo without at least a visit to Mondello: a seaside hamlet in Palermo known for its beautiful beaches with crystal-clear water and fine white sand. On your last day in the Sicilian capital, enjoy some well-deserved relaxation in the sun!

If you're feeling hungry, there's nothing like a good seafood lunch with a view of the sea. At Poldo2, you'll find a wide choice of starters and main courses, so you won't be disappointed at all!

In the afternoon, take a stroll around the centre and visit the Tonnara Tower, a witness to Mondello's past as a fishing village from the 15th to 18th centuries.

Among the Art Nouveau villas, the Antico Stabilimento Balneare stands out. This is a house on stilts on the sea, known as the Charleston. It housed the historic restaurant of the same name.