Central Sicily

I was looking around for some cheap flights from Scotland and spotted one from Edinburgh to Palermo. I had been to Sicily three times before: as a child, for work (a conference), and as a romantically-involved adult, but always to the east side of the island. I decided that flying to Palermo rather than Catania would give me an opportunity to visit the temples at Agrigento for the first time, as well as some other interesting places in central Sicily. I also hoped that by heading to the small mountain town of Castelbuono, in the hills above Cefalù, there would be an opportunity for a day’s good walking.

Costs. Flight £60. Palermo hotel (B&B) €46. Agrigento room €51 per night. Termini Imerese room (B&B) €44.10. Castelbuono room (B&B) €45 per night. Cefalù room (B&B) €54.50. Airport–Palermo train €5.90. Palermo–Monreale bus €2.80. Palermo–Agrigento train €9.90. Agrigento–Termini train €8.70. Termini–Cefalù train €4.20. Cefalù–Castelbuono bus €2.70. Cefalù–Palermo train €6.20. Monreale entrance €13. Agrigento entrance €13.50. Solunto entrance €4. Castelbuono castello entrance €5. La Rocca entrance €5. Typical evening meal with drinks €11–€21. Total cost of trip £575.

Places I stayed and was happy with. Hotel Cortese, Palermo (Day 1); B&B Antichi Cortili, Termini Imerese (Day 4); B&B Panorama, Castelbuono (Days 5 and 6); B&B Delle Rose, Cefalù (Day 7).

Books. The Rough Guide to Sicily (Rough Guides, 11th edition).

Day 1: Travel to Palermo. Left home at 12.55 pm, caught bus into town and then 2.15 pm bus to Edinburgh airport, arriving 3.15 pm. Boarded plane late at 5.15 pm. Landed in Palermo at 9.50 pm (local time). Caught 10.45 pm train to Palermo, getting off train at Palazzo Reale–Orleans station. Walked through some quite intimidating backstreets to find my friendly hotel (pre-booked) at 11.50 pm, where I was checked in by the owner in his dressing gown (I had warned them I would be arriving late).

Day 2: Tour Monreale Cathedral; train to Agrigento. Breakfast at 8.30 am. Left hotel at 9.20 am and caught jam-packed 10 am bus (no. 389P) from the Piazza Indipendenza to Monreale, arriving 10.30 am. Visited very impressive Norman cathedral, chapel, rooftops and cloisters. Caught 1.15 pm bus back to Palermo. Walked to Palermo Cathedral and looked at rather uninteresting Royal Tombs. Walked to main Palermo Centrale rail station and caught 3.42 pm train to Agrigento, arriving 5.54 pm. Had great difficulty finding my pre-booked B&B. And, when I did find it, I was not allowed to enter! It seems some masonry had fallen from it and my booking had been cancelled for safety reasons! Instead, I found a nearby guest house as a “walk-in” at about 7 pm. Went out for nice dinner (noodles with wild boar sauce at Naïf) at about 8.15 pm.

Day 3: Tour Agrigento. Left guest house at 9.50 am. Caught bus to famous Greek temples at 10.15 pm. Slow queue for tickets and I only entered site at 10.45 am. Was allowed to enter the Kolymbethra gardens free of charge because I was an NTS member, despite not having my card with me. Left the main archeological site at about 2 pm and started walking up road towards the town. Break for beer in roadside bar at 2.30 pm. Found the archeological museum but I was rather too tired and hot by then. Back at guest house at 4.25 pm. Was attacked by a giant tick that was roaming loose in my room! Went out for an unexceptional pizza at 6.40 pm.

Day 4: Train to Termini Imerese; visit Solunto. Left guest house at 9.45 am and caught 10.15 am train to Termini Imerese. Arrived at 11.45 am and caught the 12.11 pm train to Santa Flavia for Solunto. Arrived in the station at 12.38 pm and walked up to the interesting and scenic archeological site, arriving at 1 pm. Left at 2.45 pm, walked back to the train station, and caught the 3.20 pm train back to Termini, arriving at 3.45 pm. Walked up hill to old town and found my very nice B&B (pre-booked) at 4.20 pm. Went out at 6 pm for beer and found very friendly bar with a view over the sea and excellent WiFi. At 7.15 pm moved to budget pizza place in the main square.

Day 5: Train and bus to Castelbuono. Left B&B at 8.45 am and went for my included breakfast at the cafe in the Piazza Duomo until 9.25 am. Walked down to train station for 10.06 am train to Cefalù, arriving 10.26 am. Caught 11 am SAIS bus (it arrived at 10.45 am) from outside the railway station to Castelbuono, arriving 11.40 am. Visited castle at 12 noon. Interesting building but mostly a museum of local art. Walked to my lovely B&B (pre-booked), arriving there at 1.15 pm. Spent the afternoon chilling with a beer and some snacks. Went out for dinner at about 8.05 pm.

Day 6: Walk around Castelbuono. Breakfast at 8.55 am. Left B&B at 9.55 am with intention of walking uphill to the Refugi Crispi, situated on the prominent mountain behind the town, but I missed a turning (because of two errors on Google Maps), which delayed me maybe 40 min, while the weather also seemed ominous. So I headed back down the hill, arriving back at the B&B at 1.55 pm. Chilled on the lovely terrace, with views down to the castle. Went out for pizza at about 7.30 pm. There was some sort of religious festival taking place in the town. Finished dinner at about 8.40 pm and found that a procession of torch-bearing men in black suits had temporarily cut off my route back to the B&B. All very odd, especially since my presence seemed to attract a few hard stares.

Day 7: Bus to Cefalù. Breakfast at 9 am. Checked out of B&B at 10.30 am but then sat on the terrace with my hostess’s leave. Left at about 12.30 pm, visited church with frescoes in the crypt, and explored the supermarket, before catching 1.30 pm bus to Cefalù. Reached nice B&B (pre-booked) at 2.30 pm. Went out at 3.45 pm and visited cathedral, medieval laundry, and the interesting La Rocca headland, getting back to the B&B at 6.05 pm. Left again at 8 pm and, finding local pizza place closed, walked down the Corso again until I found somewhere for dinner.

Day 8: Travel home. Breakfast at 8.20 am. Left B&B at about 9.05 am, reaching train station at 9.20 am. The 9.46 am train to Palermo left and arrived on time and then I caught the 11.12 am train out to the airport, arriving 12.15 pm. Was through airport security by 12.40 pm. Boarded plane at 2 pm. Took off at 2.30 pm. Landed at 4.42 pm (local time) but then we stood around for 20 min because, I would guess, of congestion at passport control. Was out of the airport at 5.30 pm. Caught 5.55 pm bus to Glasgow. I arrived in Glasgow at 7 pm and was at home at 7.45 pm.

Wildlife seen. Italian Wall Lizard, Moorish Gecko, Broad Scarlet, Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail, Marbled White, Cleopatra, Wall Brown, Dung Beetle.

Other useful links. Edinburgh Airport bus

Trenitalia (Italian trains)

Palermo–Monreale (AMAT) bus

Cefalù–Castelbuono (SAIS) bus

Reflections. This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, if one discounts the hour spent trying to find out what was going on with my B&B in Agrigento. Monreale, Agrigento, Solunto and Cefalù were all fabulous, Castelbuono was perfect for a relaxing couple of days, and the weather was great. I will surely return to Sicily at some point, with thoughts of exploring the west side of the island or maybe of doing some proper walking around Castelbuono.

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