Sicily - one month slow travel in Palermo
Our normal winter rental in Portugal is still out of commission, so we decided to look elsewhere for a change of pace. I’m honestly not sure how I landed on Sicily but we did decide to fly from London to Palermo and start in the furthest south point in Italy we were planning to go and work our way North as it warmed up.
We found a lovely and fairly comfortable airbnb which has been a great base - it is quiet for Palermo, If you are traveling lite and want a very nice work set up (printer included) and very fast internet, I can really recommend this place. Germana is really as amazing as the reviews say!
So that little blue dot is where we stayed, it is very much a working neighborhood with a lot of locals and large immigrant community. The food here is AMAZING! My biggest issue it no easy access to walk Unfortunately, the city doesn’t keep up the area much — the streets are full of trash and the sidewalks are full of dog poo. So, if you have kids that are learning to walk, I’d avoid the area.
Liberdad is the ‘rich’ street with a ton of fancy stores. Ultimately, the further away from the bay and the further from historic Palermo, the nicer the town gets. Now if you are just here for a short period of time, I’d recommend somewhere near the marina - you have a nice combo of old town, access to the pedestrian only areas, tons of old little shops, and the main sites. Staying long term, I’d look further south from the marina and west from historic center.
Lots of green grocers - make sure you ask the price, if it isn’t labeled. We tried both the Max supermarket and Familia Market - I’d go to Familia. A typical grocery haul is about 50 euros, but since the dollar is weak right now, this isn’t as good as it usually is. More about that here.
About the same prices (if not exactly the same) and a lot more options. There are a number of pedestrian only streets in old town, which is really nice. The walk along the bay starts at the marina - skip the cruise ship area, it isn’t particularly walkable.
