A romantic weekend in Palermo: the itinerary for two
Palermo lends itself to a weekend for two far better than people tend to say. It is a theatrical city, full of natural stage sets — the Teatro Massimo lit up at night, the terraces over the gulf, the squares that empty out after dinner — with a climate that works almost all year round, except in the height of August. What follows is a slow weekend, built around three evenings, and resting on one thing that makes all the difference: a room facing the Massimo, with a sitting area where you can settle in to read before heading out.
Friday evening: arrival, dinner and a stroll
Our advice is to arrive by seven. A relaxed check-in, a shower, and a glass on the balcony with the theatre in front of you before you go out. From May to October the evening is perfect simply for sitting still: the sunset light catches the Massimo's façade from the west and the colonnade glows pink.
Dinner in the old town
For the first evening, choose a restaurant just a few steps away: the area around Via Bara all'Olivella and Via Patania, behind the theatre, is full of trattorias and bistros. Contemporary Sicilian cooking, wines from Etna or Vittoria, a few tables outside. There's no need to book far ahead, but on a Friday evening it's best to call in the afternoon.
An evening stroll
After dinner, a walk along the pedestrianised Via Maqueda towards the Quattro Canti. The soft light on the paving, the baroque façades, the street musicians: it is one of the simplest and loveliest ways to see Palermo. You return to Porta Maqueda by way of Piazza Verdi, with the floodlit theatre as a final backdrop.
Saturday: Monreale, lunch with a view, an aperitivo at the Giardino Inglese
Breakfast on the floor opens the morning: cappuccino, fresh pastries, fruit, jams, local cured meats and cheeses. Then you set off for Monreale, fifteen kilometres from the centre. Take the 389 bus from Piazza Indipendenza or a taxi (around 25 euros): in thirty minutes you're there.
The cathedral and the cloister
Monreale Cathedral is one of the most romantic places in Sicily, even if that word belongs to another age. The mosaics of the apse, the Christ Pantocrator, and above all the Benedictine cloister with its 228 paired columns: ask for two tickets, take all the time you need, sit on the low wall of the cloister and watch the shadows shift.
Lunch with a view
Monreale has a handful of restaurants with terraces looking out over the Conca d'Oro towards Palermo. Pasta with sea urchin, grilled fish, a chilled white from Menfi or Mozia. Lunch with a view is something of a local institution: book ahead.
The return and an aperitivo
Back in the afternoon. A pause in the room, and then an aperitivo at the Giardino Inglese or in the bars around Via Principe di Belmonte (ten minutes on foot from Porta Maqueda): a grown-up atmosphere, a few tables outside, and an excellent list of contemporary Sicilian wines.
A special dinner
For the Saturday evening, choose a restaurant that's worth it: a seafood kitchen, a panoramic terrace, or one of the new addresses for contemporary Sicilian cooking that have opened in the old town in recent years. Walking back to Porta Maqueda after dinner is part of the ritual.
Sunday: Mondello, the Capo market, an unhurried departure
Sunday slows everything down. A long breakfast, and then Mondello: twelve kilometres of gulf, white sand and turquoise sea that, even out of season, works its charm. The 806 bus from Piazza Sturzo or a taxi. A walk along the pier, a coffee in one of the historic bars on the seafront, a couple of hours by the sea if the season allows.
Lunch and a last wander
Back into the city for lunch. On a Sunday, the Teatro Massimo often has daytime concerts or guided tours: it's well worth closing the weekend with the opera season, if the timing lines up. The alternative: one last wander through the Capo market and a stop at a pasticceria to take home cannoli to share that very evening.
The Porta Maqueda Suite: the detail that changes everything
For a romantic weekend, the room is not a detail. The Suite with private sitting room at Porta Maqueda is the grand piece of the house: around sixty square metres, two balconies overlooking the Teatro Massimo, and a sitting area separate from the sleeping quarters where you can settle in to read or enjoy a glass before going down to dinner. It is the most requested room in the property, especially at weekends and during the opera season.
Alternatively, the corner Junior Suite has two balconies with a panoramic view and beautiful morning light. Both are on the first piano nobile of a nineteenth-century palazzo, with double windows that let the theatre in without the traffic. See all five rooms to choose the right option.
Breakfast is included, the staff are a Sicilian family, and the in-house concierge helps with restaurant reservations, theatre tickets and transfers.