Can anyone recommend the best areas of the city to stay, will have about 4 nights there before going to Cefalu. I have travel book, but I know that there are bad areas to stay out of.....please recommend. I am traveling with 25 yr old very pretty daughter, I want her to be safe!! This is in Sept not in the heat of summer.
Thank you in advance.
This is not in Palermo, but just outside in Monreale, 3-4 miles away:
http://www.bebalgiardino.it/
We stayed there for 3-4 nights.
Fantastic place, fantastic people. For us it was 10/10.
I wouldn't want to stay in Monreale for multiple days if I didn't have a car and plan mostly to make trips to other towns. Repeated trips into Palermo by public bus would get to be a drag.
I spent several days in Palermo in 2015, walking all over the city. It is sort of gritty in places (including around Palermo Centrale), but I never felt I was in what we would call a "bad neighborhood". However, I live in Washington DC. If you're from a small town, your standards may be different. Also, I am not young and beautiful!
I think you'd be comfortable with the environment around the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi, but I don't suggest that it's the only spiffed-up area or the best area. Nor do I know how convenient it will be to the sights you want to see. Palermo's fairly large, and things are sort of scattered.
Thank you both.....I will check out Monreale. I am thinking that it may be best to stay in good area of Pal. due to maybe not having a car. I have been advised not to rent car. I think that I need to ask Rick Steves himself on that one. My son rented a car in Italy last year when he left Venice....he had a lot of problems. If I get rental (because I want to drive to Catania and Taormino), then I would stay on outskirt of Palermo and take bus in.....or whatever they use.....I have much to learn about this trip.
I am not from small town, lived in Los Angeles....haha, now in New England. Los Angeles, if you can handle that city, you can handle anything! But of course, I am familiar with LA, and familiarity matters a lot.
We are going to Sicily for the first time this fall. We are taking a Rick Steve's tour and the first hotel is the Ambasciatori Hotel. It gets decent reviews and people seem to like the area.
I had a great stay in 2014 at the Bed and Breakfast La Bella Vita, and my friend went back in 2015 and it was just as nice. Here's my review with the details: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/palermo-bed-and-breakfast-la-bella-vita. However, it looks their former website is defunct. I don't know if the old e-mail is still valid, but it was [email protected]. If that doesn't work, you can book it via other sites like https://www.bed-and-breakfast.it/en/sicily/bb-la-bella-vita-palermo/5046 or http://bb-la-bella-vita.hotel-palermo-it.com/en/.
Whether you stay at this particular place or not, the neighborhood was fine and has lots of other accommodations. I agree with acraven - while the old center (south of where I stayed) did not feel unsafe, it was gritty and would probably not be a comfortable place to stay. North of where I stayed is fancy (that's where Gucci, Hermes, Prada, and other designer brands have their Palermo stores, so you know there's money). If you absolutely want the spiffiest area, look there. Here's a link to a Google Maps listing of hotels in the area:
You definitely do not want to drive into Palermo! Don't even think of it.
You don't need to drive from Palermo to Catania or Taormina, either. The train service is fine. The train cuts through the center of the island, which gives you a chance to see a bit of the interior rather than the more touristy coast. The train goes to Catania first, then up to Taormina.
The stop for Taormina is below the hill town and is called "Giardini Naxos". There are frequent buses from the train station up to Taormina, or I'm sure you could snag a taxi.
If you're staying in Catania, you'll want to consider the neighborhood in that city as well, if only for aesthetic reasons. I think the stretch between the Catedarle di Sant' Agata up to Giardino Bellini might be a good area to look in.
Taormina is intensely touristy, and I can't imagine that any lodging up on the hill would be in a questionable area!
Edited to add: I should have mentioned that there are areas of Sicily where it would be beneficial to have a car, just not if you are only planning to visit Palermo, Catania and Taormina. There are some interesting stops to be made as you travel through the interior, including the wonderful Roman mosaic site at Villa Romana del Casale (near Piazza Armerina). And I love the Baroque towns west of Siracusa. Those areas can be seen more efficiently with a car, though it is possible to use buses if you have some patience.
We've stayed at the Ambasciatori several times, and love it. Interesting neighborhood, great staff, walking distance from the train station... And it was reasonably priced, as well. If you haven't checked out April's link, do so. Did I mention the rooftop terrace where breakfast is served?
Another vote for Hotel Ambasciatori. The neighborhood seemed perfectly safe to me, and it's within walking distance of many sights and good restaurants. It's also an easy walk to the hotel from the airport bus stop and back to the station for the train to Cefalu. Monreale is a great sidetrip, but I wouldn't recommend the town as your base for exploring Palermo.
I took th RS Sicily tour last year and we stayed at the Hotel Ambascatori too. Good location, nice enough hotel, rooftop patio with amazing view. I would stay there again. Fairly close to the train station where the airport bus drops you off. There were 3 of us so we took a taxi. Cost €55 and no shenanigans.
Monreale is definitely worth a day trip if you have the time.
On my RS trip we stayed in the Hotel Posta, about a block from the big post office and we could walk all over Palermo. Very nice rooms. You can see photos and prices etc on TripAdvisor.com
For best prices I would recommend contacting the hotel directly - so no add on cost from the booking companies.
I am going in about a month and am staying at a bnb near teatro massimo. While I haven't been, I picked this area because it is very well located for sightseeing and I have heard from many people who have been that this slightly "newer" (relative!) area feels a bit nicer than some of the old quarter. A friend who has been there mentioned the designer stores like Prada in this area - not something I care about but may give a sense of the area. This is all secondhand, but it's how I made my decision.
My Goodness all of you....thank you so much. I have been working so much I forgot to reply. I am going to look at the hotels mentioned tomorrow.....car vs no car....car vs no car.....OMG! Its like living in NYC here or downtown Boston.....car is a pain, plenty of central transportation....i.e. the subway, no subway in Palermo like London's tube.....I get that there is no place to park , shady car rentals unless using US car rental (Hertz etc) which I would......but what about the freedom to drive where you want without....worrying about trains and buses.....
On another site, they say to hire a driver??? Now I am really skeptical of that...working on my Italian....can speak a bit, understand somewhat...but when they start talking real fast....forget about it!!
Seasoned Sicilian travelers...si prega di communicare....hope thats right?
Most drivers for hire speak some English.
Do you know where you want to go outside the city?
I am leaving for Palermo next week, I have been to Sicilia many times, perhaps I and the others here can answer specific questions.
To me, car or no car in Sicily is very simple.
In Palermo - no car! (I have no personal experience with Catania, but it seems similar).
For seeing places outside of Palermo, you can have a car or not, as you choose. If you are going between main centers, buses and trains work fine; if you're going to smaller towns or more rural areas, a car is very handy. Once in a city (such as Taormina, Siracusa, etc), you don't use a car to get around.
So, if you are starting in Palermo, don't pick up a car until you leave. If you're ending in Palermo, return the car when you arrive there. If Palermo is in the middle of the trip, try to use public transit to get there (bus or train), or else get very specific directions on where to park. Once you have parked your car in Palermo, you won't touch it until you leave.
For more details of my Sicily trip in 2014, including lots of info about our car rental and driving, here's my trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/sicily-palermo-caltanisetta-siracusa-taormina
No need to worry about "shady" car rental companies; we used Kemwel, which is a consolidator and our car was through Hertz. The next year, my friend again used Kemwel and his car was through Europcar (not well known in the US, but a major company in Europe). We found Kemwel had, by FAR, the best rate, but do check around.
Zoe....I sent you a private message, not that its private, just wanted to ask some questions. I dont see how to reply specifically to people on this board. I will figure it out as I have not blogged on RSs board before...
Harold....thank you also. I think that you solved my problem. We will stay in Palermo first, so will get the car upon leaving for Cefalu and then to Catania and park there and go to Taormina....have car to drive back to Palermo.
Check out Rick Steves' current blog. He is tagging along with the Sicily tour, and has some interesting things to say about Palermo. Rick noted that Palermo felt safer and more civilized than he had remembered.
We were in Palermo last April with the Rick Steves tour. As others have mentioned, the Ambasciatori hotel was an excellent value. We felt fine walking around the city on our own. One time we found ourselves in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, but did not feel worried for our safety.
Thank you Bob.....glad the city has improved. I had someone (A Sicilian) explain why the city was in such disrepair.
