Arab-Norman palaces and street-food markets
Palermo wears its layered history openly: Phoenicians, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards all ruled here, leaving golden mosaics, red-domed churches and baroque squares. The Palatine Chapel and Monreale Cathedral, just outside town, hold some of the world's finest Byzantine mosaics. Eat your way through the Ballarò and Vucciria markets, trying arancine, panelle and sfincione, and finish with a cannolo. Mondello's sandy beach is a short bus ride away.