Sicilian Dolce Vita🍋

Authentic towns, fresh vegetables, turquoise waters, and amazing food—oh, and cats too! Welcome to Sicily, the island south of Italy, where they truly know the meaning of Dolce Vita ☀️⛱️

Dolce Vita translates to “the sweet life.” It’s the Italian way of living: enjoying the small things, living slowly, taking a pause in between, appreciating everyday moments, and living your life fully.

This is how we all should live, right? Well, we decided to experience Sicily that way. We didn’t pressure ourselves to see everything in the cities, and we didn’t wake up super early to take photos of the famous places. Instead, we ate the most delicious foods, swam, and embraced the Sicilian way of living.

Cefalù shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Portra 400

In the last week of May, we went to Palermo for an early summer vacation. I had read that Sicily should be warm enough at the end of May to have a couple of dips in the sea, and it was true. We were able to swim twice, and it was not "that" cold. I will explain everything about it. Our plan was as follows: 3 days in Palermo and 2 days in Cefalù. This plan should give us enough time to relax and explore.

Let’s start with the less fun part, which is transport from/to Palermo Airport.

Palermo Airport ↔︎ Palermo Central

Very Important Tip ☞ If possible, book a window seat on the plane to see the island as you are about to land. The airport is next to the sea, offering stunning views. Unfortunately, I was not lucky and had an aisle seat, but my husband saw it all! ☜

We took a flight from Berlin to Palermo in the morning, and we arrived in Palermo around noon. The flight from Berlin to Palermo takes 2.5 hours. Once you are at Palermo Airport, it is easy to find your way to the train station (or exit) with the signs, which take you to Palermo City Center. We decided to take the bus (Prestia e Comandè). We saw on Google Maps that it takes the road next to the sea, and if you sit on the left side, you can see the sea on your way to Palermo :) The bus stop is just outside the airport on the right. Google Maps shows the way correctly. It costs 6 € per person; there are ticket sellers in front of the bus, and you can pay by card. It takes about an hour to arrive at the city center.

When our vacation was over and we were heading back to the airport, we took the train because there might be a traffic jam in the city, and you don’t want to stress yourself out when there is a plane to catch. The train also has some routes next to the sea, but relatively fewer in comparison to the bus. When you sit on the right side of the train, you can see the sea :) To buy the tickets, you can use the Trenitalia App, or you can buy them from the counter in Palermo Central Station. It costs 6.40 € per person and takes about an hour as well.

Transportation in Palermo

There are busses in the city to go to Palermo Central Station or Mondello Beach. One way ticket costs 1,40 €, day ticket costs 3,5 €. You can buy your tickets inside the bus.

Boring Part OVER

Palermo shot on Canon EOS R6 50mm f / 6,3 1/320 Sec. ISO 100

Where to stay in Palermo?

We stayed in the most comfortable rooms at I Canti Rooms, directly in the center of Palermo Old City. We could reach everywhere within walking distance (except Mondello Beach), and everything was perfect. I highly recommend this place.

First Day in Palermo

Our first day started in the afternoon with a quick stroll in the city center with two cups of orange juice😋. There are fresh orange juice makers in every corner in Palermo and I loved it! One cup costs 3 € 🍊

Juice Stand shot on Canon EOS R6 50mm f /4,5 1/80 Sec. ISO 320

Then, we visited the botanical garden of Palermo: Orto Botanico di Palermo. It was a very beautiful botanical garden and, in my opinion, a must-see if you are into nature like we are :) There are different kinds of trees and plants that you cannot typically see in continental climate regions, such as cactuses in the open area, a small bamboo forest, cotton trees, and a huge magnolia tree. Since Palermo is not very green and can be very hot in summer, it is a nice place to escape the heat and hustle of the city :)

Entrance fee is 7 € per Person.

The botanical garden is very close to the seaside, so we walked towards the sea to see it for the first time in months!

We also made friends with our first cat here :)

There are many cats on the streets of Palermo, and it's always a joy to see them around :) It also reminds me of my home country, Turkey, where people live harmoniously with cats :)

After that, it was time for dinner, and we discovered Mortadelleria while strolling through the streets. It is a sandwich shop where you can also order a mixed plate of Sicilian dishes to share for 18 €. Of course, an Aperol Spritz on the side, and you are good to go!

Trip to Cefalù

Our second day started with breakfast at Caffè Borsa before we went to Cefalù. It is a small cafe with a view of Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa, which is a nice sight to behold, given that the hotel is located in a restored 19th-century palazzo. Here, you can find toast with ham and cheese, a variety of Italian croissants, very good coffee, and, of course, fresh orange juice :) We liked this place so much that we had breakfast here every day in Palermo :) We tend to establish routines when exploring new places. If we like a place, we visit it several times :)

Cefalù Sea Side shot on Canon EOS R6 f/4 1/125 Sec ISO 100

How to go to Cefalù

Since we don’t have our driving licenses (yet), we couldn’t drive in Sicily, so we planned our vacation around public transportation. Cefalù is an hour's train ride away from Palermo and easy to reach. It is affordable too, costing only 7.10 € per person. You can book your tickets via the Trenitalia app or buy them at the counter in the station.

We took the train to Cefalù around noon and, for that, arrived at Palermo's main station about half an hour earlier than the train's departure time. If the train is already at the station, get on board immediately; otherwise it’s hard to find a place to sit. Don’t make the mistake we did by having a coffee beforehand, thinking, “We still have time.” We ended up sitting apart, again!😅

If you sit on the left side in the direction the train is traveling, you will be able to see the sea as you go. I promise it will be worth it.

Where to stay in Cefalù

We booked a this nice little flat Incao Holiday Candeloro House in the old city, just a 5-minute walk from the beach. It was only 69 € at the time, but I think in the high season, it won’t be the same. Also, booking your accommodation months before your trip helps a lot with the price.

Arriving to Cefalù

The train station in Cefalù is located about a 15-minute walk from the city. Follow the crowd to find your way into the city!

Once we arrived in the old city, we were starving and decided to have lunch before checking in. We found the restaurant Mandralisca Sedici in a little side street across from the cathedral. It was one of the best meals we had. I had pasta with clams and a small salad with tomatoes and capers, and Burak (my husband) had pork medallions with cacao sauce. Everything was delicious! They also brought warm bread with really delicious olive oil from the region. If you don’t know what to do with the bread, it’s simple! Just pour some olive oil onto the little plates they give you, and add some salt and pepper. Dip your bread and enjoy!

The Beach

After lunch, we checked in to the flat and transformed into a beach couple👙🩳. The beach in Cefalù is really beautiful, actually it is amongst the most beautiful beaches in Sicily. We were at “Spiaggia del Porto Vecchio”, right next to the viewpoint “Molo di Cefalú”. We rented two sunbeds and one umbrella here for 20 €, and it was really nice. The water there is amazing, the atmosphere is comfortable—a perfect spot to chill and relax while enjoying the shallow turquoise waters of Cefalù.

Cefalù Beach shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Portra 400

Catching Sunset

After a few dips, it was time to catch the sunset. Cefalù is looking towards the west, so you can see the sunset over the sea. It is a beautiful view, and luckily for us, there was rain. I don’t say this sarcastically; it was really a lucky event because I got to photograph the views with clouds, and it gave a really nice texture to the photos :)

I even took a lucky shot with my phone (iPhone 15 Pro).

I accidentally captured a lightning strike hahah 🌩️

I used the Live mode in the camera.

The best place to see the sunset is the viewpoint “Molo di Cefalù”. It is actually the place to see the beauty of Cefalù as well :) There is a slightly higher point where you can go up and see the beauty of the town with golden light even better.

Sunset taken from Molo di Cefalù shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Portra 400

Also, there are arches downstairs that you can use to frame your shots. I think the arches are one of the reasons why Cefalù seems so aesthetic to the eye. Here are a couple of examples to frame your shots with arches.

Dinner

After the beautiful sunset, it was time for a well-deserved dinner. We walked through the streets and found this pizza place, Lilie’s Club and it was amazingly delicious! We had a wonderful Sicilian wine (the cheapest one on the menu, haha, because we know nothing about wine, but hey, it was the right choice!), a pizza, and a salad. I think you cannot go wrong in Cefalù with the food. Everything we tasted was amazing and generally it costed for two people about 40-50 €.

Second Day in Cefalù

The day I didn’t want to leave this little town! It was so relaxing there that I was so sad we had to leave. If I had known, I would have booked two more days there. But that’s why I am writing: if you want a relaxing vacation, book at least two nights here so that you have enough time to relax and also explore the city.

The second day started with a nice breakfast at Karma, where we had croissants with ham and tomatoes for 3 €. You can also have porridge or granola, where you can choose what to put in it.

After that, we went again to the seaside to see what was going on there during the day. The beach was as it was, but there were fishermen on the shore. They seemed like old pals just enjoying their day with fishing. Two or three of them were fishing while the others patiently watched and had conversations.

Fishermen & Fishes shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Portra 400

Afterwards, it was time to check out and we needed to leave our baggage somewhere. I asked our landlady and learned that there is a laundry place with a locked room where you can store your luggage. There was a telephone number on the door; if you call it, someone will come and open the door for you. It is conveniently located in the middle of the old city but quite expensive, at 5 € per bag—even for a small one. However, we didn’t want to walk all the way to the train station to drop off our bags, so this was our only option.

Once this was settled, we decided to walk to the other side of town, towards the lighthouse. There are really nice views here with cliffs and the sea. We also found two restaurants with the best view 😍—hint, a cat was involved in the best view.

View from Restaurant La Trinacria shot on Canon EOS R6 50mm

We had lunch at one of these two restaurants after exploring the area a bit. There was nothing but pretty wildflowers, and on top of the hill, there was the lighthouse. There is also a marina down the cliff. The restaurant where we sat was La Trinacria, where you should definitely try the typical pasta of Cefalù: Pasta 'a Taianu'.

After lunch and a couple of shopping stops, it was time to go back to Palermo. We took the train around 5 o’clock, and it was pretty empty, but keep in mind that it was a weekday.

Mondello Beach

We planned our last full day in Palermo for Mondello Beach, which is a popular destination near Palermo. It is famous with its crystal clear turquoise waters and fine white sand. It is nestled between two rocky cliffs that frame the bay, creating a scenic backdrop.

Mondello Beach shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Portra 400

The beach is about 11 km away from Palermo and easy to access by bus (or not haha) or by car. It is tricky to reach there by bus, cause the busses are usually very crowded and I got the impression, that there are not enough busses. If you don’t take the bus from its first stop, its likely that you have to squeeze to get in, or not able to get in at all. We had this situation and it was a weekday. The first stop of bus 806 is Piazza di Crispi. After getting in the bus you ride about 30-40 Minutes to reach the Mondello Beach.

The beach is well equipped with facilities like beach clubs and restaurants. We got two sun beds and an umbrella in the Lido (beach club in Italian) Mondello Italo-Belga s.a. for 28 €. We were there around 12 o’clock, it is cheaper after 2 pm though. It was a nice experience, with a clean beach, functioning sun beds and umbrellas. Also there are changing rooms and showers. There is also the bar Mida Lounge Bar Valdesi behind the beach, where you can get nice coffee & beverages. The front side of the beach club is secured with fences, and for a good reason, to protect you from possible theft. It is a long crowded beach, so you never know.  Our belongings were secure inside, as we were having fun in the water. The water was amazing, it’s like a very luxurious pool of nature with a turquoise color.

From the Beach Club shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Porta 400

I took only my analog camera with me that day, cause I couldn’t risk that my digital camera got stolen 🙈 Actually my analog camera has more value for me cause it’s 50 years old, but still it’s only 120 € 🫠

Food Market

Street Food shot on Canon AE-1 with Kodak Porta 400

Our last day in Palermo started again with our usual breakfast at Caffè Borsa. After checking out of our room, we headed to the Ballarò food market. Food markets in Palermo are really famous, and for a good reason! They are lively and fun, with tourists and locals shopping together while sellers suddenly start singing and dancing 💃🏻

Everything there is colorful and looks so fresh and tasty. The markets are also famous for their street food options. We could only eat a slice of watermelon because we were already full from breakfast, but watching people in this vibrant environment was totally worth it.

One Slice of Watermelon for 1 € shot on Canon EOS R6 50mm f/8 1/160 Sec ISO 100

There are four famous food markets in Palermo you can visit:

• Mercato di Ballarò

• Mercato del Capo

• Mercato della Vucciria

• Mercato di Borgo Vecchio

Cathedral Area

Our last stop in Palermo before we went to the airport was the Cathedral area, which is just a short walk from Mercato di Ballarò. We strolled around the streets and took photos of the Cathedral from the outside. It was a Saturday, and Palermo was much more crowded than on weekdays, so we didn’t get in.

Next to the Cathedral, there is Villa Bonanno Park, where you can rest and enjoy some green. Also, the Arch Porta Nuova and Norman Palace are nearby if you want to visit.

Honest Thoughts

As I said before, we didn’t beat ourselves to see everything and skipped most of the things in the city.

If I would be honest, Palermo is a beautiful city but hustle and bustle of the city was too much. You always need to be careful because of the motorcycles everywhere and the main road of the city “Roma street” has  a crazy traffic 😅. It was hard to cross to the other side, cause no one on the road was paying attention to the pedestrians. You need to be extra careful there!

So what I liked in Palermo was the botanic park and the food market, other than that it is unfortunately not the city for me. Even the Mondello beach was too much of a hurdle, although it has the most beautiful water. Of course this is only my opinion. Cefalù on the other hand was a sweetheart. Everything was perfect there. A true Dolce Vita. As I said before, if I knew I would book more days.

In a nutshell, I would give Palermo only a day and then explore the other parts of Sicily. But keep in mind that this vacation was not focused on city sightseeing but on relaxation.

We couldn’t rent a car and also didn’t have so many days to explore, so we saw only these two places, overall it was a nice vacation :)

Have you been to Sicily before? What was your experience?

Much love ♥︎

Cansu