Palermo City Tours and Recommended Day Trips

To make the most of Sicily’s capital, uncover its secrets and take home unforgettable memories, join one of the many Palermo tours organised by local tourism operators.

Palermo is a wonderful city that offers visitors a variety of cultural and food and wine experiences: there’s therefore a wide choice of tours and activities, suitable for those spending just a day or two in the city as well as those staying for a longer holiday.

Between ancient history and metropolitan legends, a sip of zibibbo or Marsala wine and a street food snack, you’ll come away with a wealth of memories and emotions.

Picturesque neighbourhoods, magnificent churches, elegant and popular theatres, Greek temples, Roman mosaics, medieval castles, fortresses and even an active volcano await you: there’s no shortage of things to do in Palermo and the surrounding area!

City tours

Palermo tours on foot, by bus, lasting a few hours or a whole day: let yourself be guided through the discovery of this unique, captivating but not immediately obvious city. With an itinerary planned by expert guides you’ll go straight to the heart of the city!

Guided walking tours

A guided walking tour is the best way to get to know the wonderful city of Palermo, with its breathtaking monuments and hidden corners: its winding alleyways and Arab-influenced urban layout make it particularly suited to exploring on foot.

Make the most of the warm Sicilian sun for a stroll discovering Palermo’s history and traditions, and be accompanied by an expert local guide who will reveal the city’s secrets, tell you anecdotes and curiosities, and recommend the locals’ favourite spots.

By choosing small group tours or better still a private tour, you’ll be able to admire the city’s beauty without the stress and limitations imposed by large groups.

Walking tours typically last half a day, from two to four hours, and include visits to the main tourist attractions of Sicily’s capital, such as the elegant Teatro Massimo, the lively neighbourhood markets, the macabre yet fascinating Cappuccini Catacombs, the emblematic Quattro Canti, the magnificent Cathedral and much more.

There are many itinerary options and you’ll certainly find one that matches your interests or piques your curiosity.

You can opt for a classic historical and artistic tour, perhaps with traditional lunch in a Sicilian home, or meet fairies, tricksters, saints and ghosts by participating in the original Street Stories tour.

And more: admire the finest baroque palaces and churches with a themed itinerary, explore the Kalsa neighbourhood with its particularly distinctive atmosphere, relive the magic of puppet theatre combining art and folklore with a tour dedicated to marionettes.

Free tour of Palermo

Discover Palermo through the eyes of expert guides who will take you on a tour of the city's hidden treasures. Participating in a free tour will allow you to capture the true essence of Palermo.

The free tours are a viable alternative to traditional guided tours. They work like this: participation is free and at the end of the visit you can leave a tip at your discretion. Below you will find our favourite free tour, otherwise you can see the full list by visiting this page.

Bus tours

Walking for hours isn’t your thing? Travelling with children and wanting to explore the city without worrying about them running around? You prefer sitting comfortably?

Tourist bus tours are the perfect solution for exploring the city stress-free: the hop on-hop off formula allows you to get on and off as many times as you like within your ticket’s validity period.

Stops are located at monuments, churches, main streets and other important tourist attractions.

Food and wine tours

In Palermo, cooking is an art: you can’t really connect with the city without tasting its local products, preferably in an authentic setting like a neighbourhood market, a traditional home or a local restaurant.

Palermo’s food and wine tours and its surroundings introduce you to the rich Sicilian culinary tradition and its prestigious wines, renowned worldwide.

Don’t miss the street food tour, a lively walk through the historic centre that will introduce you to the real Palermo and take you to places frequented by locals where you can taste the delights of authentic local street food and meet colourful characters with rather particular personalities!

For something more refined, you can choose a wine and cheese tasting or a wine and desserts tasting in the city, or a winery tour that will take you far from the bustle of the centre.

Looking for something exclusive, perhaps for a special occasion or to indulge your taste buds without distractions? You can have a private chef cook a dinner just for you based on seasonal dishes in a stately home in the heart of Palermo.

If simply tasting Palermo’s gastronomic delights isn’t enough, you can learn the secrets with a Sicilian cooking class that begins with selecting and shopping for products at the neighbourhood market and ends with a sumptuous lunch, prepared (also) by you.

What to visit around Palermo

Palermo is an extraordinary city with a wealth of famous attractions that alone could fill several days of your holiday, but it would be a shame not to spend some time on a couple of unforgettable excursions in the surrounding area. There are indeed many places and attractions that can be visited in a day trip or, better still, by spending more time there.

Without straying too far from Palermo you can find beaches described as “Caribbean” (visit to believe), little-frequented islands and nature reserves.
Need some suggestions? Scopello, San Vito lo Capo, Isola delle Femmine, Favignana Island and the famous Zingaro Nature Reserve.

If you love history and culture, on a day trip from Palermo you can visit Erice, one of Italy’s most beautiful medieval villages and one of the few offering a magnificent sea view, or hugely important archaeological sites such as Segesta and Selinunte; if you have less time, you can visit Monreale, a town famous worldwide for its magnificent Cathedral.

For food and wine lovers we recommend Marsala, a key destination on the food and wine tourism circuit where you can taste the famous dessert wine and visit historic wineries, or other renowned towns rich in history and culture such as Agrigento, Trapani and Syracuse. A single day will be enough to take a journey back thousands of years by visiting some of Italy’s (and beyond) most beautiful archaeological sites, followed by a stroll through the historic centre of a picturesque town or up a hill with breathtaking coastal views.

But the list of fascinating places to visit in western Sicily certainly doesn’t end here. Fortunately the motorway connections are good and with a hire car it will be easy for you to reach anywhere… including western Sicily! What do you say, shall we head to Cefalù?