As I was waiting for the plane to take off from Palermo back to London, I couldn’t help but notice the girl in front of me texting her group chat entitled “White Lotus 2k23”. Now I won’t lie, my friends and I chose Palermo partly because of the White Lotus too, but I don’t think we were expecting it to be anything like the show. Here’s what to really expect when visiting Palermo…

Palermo is not Taormina

The White Lotus is shot at the San Domenico Palace, a five star hotel in Taormina on the eastern coast of Sicily. If, like me, you don’t have the same disposable income as Tanya McQuoid, you’re better off looking for an alternative. Knowing that Sicily’s main airports are in Palermo and Catania, these are two obvious options. Catania is the metropolitan centre in the east and is only one hour away from Taormina by train. Palermo is the capital of Sicily and a much bigger city (the biggest on the island). However, it is located in the west and is about 4 hours away from Taormina. If you chose Palermo for convenience and because it has more things to do, welcome to the party. Just keep in mind that:

1. Palermo is a city, not a quaint cliffside town in the shadows of a picturesque volcano.
2. The beach is not as close as you think. Palermo has a port and a lungomare (promenade, lit. ‘along the sea’), but the closest actual beach is a one-hour bus ride west in Mondello. You can also take the train one hour east to the beach in Cefalù.

As hot as Mount Etna

Sicily is home to Mount Etna, the most active volcano in Europe, although even above the Earth’s crust, Sicily is an absolute oven. When we visited in July, temperatures were between 34 and 39°C, and there was an extreme heat advisory. In the afternoon when the sun is strongest, you’ll notice that the streets are pretty empty as most people stay inside; if the locals are doing it, you should probably follow suit. Palermo is really most lively when the sun has gone down and it’s not as hot (don’t be fooled though, you’re still going to sweat at night). In the end, it’s best to visit Palermo outside of the summer months.

The food is immaculate

Palermo has a huge street food scene with three main markets: Ballarò, Vucciria, and Capo. You’ll find fresh produce and seafood, as well as cooked food like calamari, pane ca meusa (bread roll with beef spleen), arancine, caponata, etc.

To quench your thirst, there are drink stands throughout that sell spritzes of all kinds (limoncello, Aperol, Campari, Select) for 3 euros. If it’s too early to imbibe, you can go for spremute (fresh juices) for just one euro a cup – shout out to the juice man who told me that melagrane (pomegranates) were not in season and that I should opt for arancia (orange).

In terms of pasta and pizza, you can’t really go wrong. The most common dishes we saw were pasta alla Norma (pasta with eggplant) and pasta al pistacchio (pasta in a creamy pistachio sauce). Seafood is also a must, including raw oysters and shrimp.

Here are some restaurants and gelato spots we visited:

Osteria Ballarò

Il Cappero

Primo Canto Gelateria

I Cucci

Caponata

Cappadonia Gelati

Palermo, your age is showing

Palermo is almost 3000 years old and it shows. Most of the buildings in the city centre are dilapidated and seem like they’ve never been renovated. However, with age also comes charm, history and culture. Palermo has passed through the hands of the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, etc., and you can see this in the architecture. Check out popular landmarks such as the Palermo Cathedral, I Quattro Canti, San Cataldo (no need to pay to go inside, the outside is the nicer bit) and Church of the Gesù.

Beware of hot trash

One thing Palermo is really lacking is garbage collection; our Airbnb host even apologized in advance for the state of his city. Walking around, you will notice the large collection bins are always full, and trash is often left on the ground beside them. Left to stew in the summer heat, the smell of hot garbage can be pretty bad. If you’re staying near Ballarò, you might want to avoid Via Cesare Battisti right behind the Porta Sant’Agata as it is particularly ✨pungent✨.

Ms Rosalia

We landed in Palermo on July 14, which just so happens to be the day of the Festino, the annual celebration of the city’s patron saint Santa Rosalia. There was a band playing outside the Palermo Cathedral and then a procession. At night, people flocked to the Foro Italico to watch the fireworks, which were supposed to be at midnight but didn’t start until 1:30 – classic Italian punctuality 😉.

Final remarks

Come to think of it, Sicily is actually perfectly depicted in The White Lotus; behind its beautiful landscapes and delicious food hides the dark truth of corruption and inequality. It is hard to ignore the wealth disparity and general government neglect of the island, which can also be attributed to Mafia activity. Nevertheless, Palermo is a place worth exploring and probably better appreciated knowing its complexities rather than expecting an island paradise.