Restaurants close to the house
We absolutely love Il Bragone restaurant about a 10 min drive from the house https://ristorantebragone.it/ They have the best wood fired pizza, a pasta with pear& pesto called FIOCCHETTO, that is probably the best pasta we have ever tasted. Vincenzo and Dominico the owners will treat you royally. They also have exceptional aged beef selection from all over the world.
San Nicola We also like Covo del Brigante restaurant in San Nicola the next town after Trabia in the Palermo direction. https://share.google/vDnQRWLGXNtk41Xe2 We like this restaurant because they have a whole page of salads. Unusual for Sicily.
Caccamo Castellana is a nice restaurant just under the Castle. https://www.castellana.it/ Very historic interior. My suggestion is to order the stew or the pasta with cinghaile Tagliatelle al Ragù di Cinghiale.
Cefalu our favorite restaurants are La Brace https://share.google/nVGmq2hxM2iT6coSh which serves French cuisine. And BIF https://share.google/nVGmq2hxM2iT6coSh Again a really great aged meat selection from all over the world And lastly we love Bar Duomo in Cefalu for their pastries, coffee and spritz's. https://www.duomo1952.com/
Santa Flavia are a few seafood restaurants as this is a fishing port and harbor. https://share.google/nVGmq2hxM2iT6coSh is La Strummula has a 5 star rating. https://share.google/woqMZ5rb8bPOCTaIX Al Faro Verde is very good as well.
Bagheria the neighboring town is are two Michelin Star restaurants
I Pupi https://www.ipupiristorante.it/?lang=en We did eat here and had a wonderful 15 course meal.
Limu https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/sicilia/bagheria/restaurant/limu A family member had her engagement dinner here and cannot recommend it highly enough. Try the tasting menu!
Historical Sites
The Temple of Segusta is a must see. It includes a Doric temple and an amphitheater up on the hill top. It is about 1.5 hours from the house. https://www.parcodisegesta.com/home/vivere/storia/Tempio.html
Solunto is nearby near Santa Flavia, about a 30 min drive. You go through the museum first and see all the artifacts then you get to stroll up into this large city with fantastic views of Capo Zaffrano. The famous opening shot of The Godfather. Solunto may have replaced a Phoenician settlement in the vicinity, destroyed by Dionysos of Syracuse in 397 BC. Solus was built in the 4th Century, and fell to the Romans in 254 BC. By the 3rd Century BC it was abandoned. The city was discovered in 1825.
https://www.wondersofsicily.com/solunto.htm
Romana Del Casale is a Roman hunting lodge that is full of Mosaics that are unbelievable. The story goes that a farmer owned the land and one day there was a mudslide that revealed a mosaic floor. Since then excavation is still ongoing. It is vast and will take you a couple of hours to walk through and is covered. This is also an 1.5 hours from the house. https://www.villaromanadelcasale.it/
Agrigento is a World UNESECO site, that is 1.5 hours south of the house. It is known as the Valley of the Temples, a vast archaeological site with well-preserved Greek temples https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/831/
Scala de Turchi This is a stretch of coastline south of the house as well, This white cliff is located along the stretch of sea between Realmonte and Porto Empedocle (in the province of Agrigento) https://www.visitsicily.info/en/scala-dei-turchi/
Bagheria Villa Palagonia Is known as the "Villa of the Monster's" It is a Baroque Villa built by the Prince of Palagonia in order to keep his wife inside the villa walls. The villa’s surreal atmosphere, with mirrors angled to distort reflections and sculptures evoking a sense of chaotic creativity. It is at the end of Corso Umberto the Shopping street, open from 9-1:00 and 4-7pm https://maps.app.goo.gl/fVor4oaUWPUPvR357
Cefalu is a beautiful town to walk around, shop and eat. This is about a 40 min drive from the house. It is a toll road, getting your ticket first then at Cefalu exit you simply pay .90euros. If you want to take the stair climb up to the top of the Roca di Cefalu, the Rock above Cefalu where the town would hide out sometimes for two years while marauders invaded Cefalu. There is a Temple to Diana or Artemis at the top that is Norman built. Also a castle up there and walking the rock wall around the top of the town of Cefalu is breathtaking. https://www.visitcefalu.com/la-rocca-di-cefalu/
Palermo One of our favorite things to do on a Sunday morning is drive to Palermo, which takes a half an hour and go to the Piazza de Marina antique market. https://share.google/8UvQO0yYOCUaDWsir
You simply park near the harbor, there will be people to help you park and you simply give them 1 euro and they watch your car. However it is only on a Sunday from 9-1:00 pm. Here you will find so many antique treasures, pottery, art & clothing and Cafe Luca is a great meeting point for dolce and cafe if your in a group and need a meeting point. https://www.cafeluca.it/
After this you can walk up Via Victoria Emmanuele which leads you to the famous Four Corners or Quattro Conti. https://wearepalermo.com/news/quattro-canti-four-corners/
This street is easy to find as it leads away from the harbor right near Cafe Luca where you have refreshed yourself with a pastry and coffee and Piazza Marina Antique Market. There are no cars on the weekends and makes for a nice walk where there are many shops and places to eat and it will lead you to the famous Four Corners. Or Quattro Contri
And to the Erotic fountain Fontana Pretoria better known as the "Fountain of Shame" https://youtu.be/ekLCB8XvYzY
From here it is an easy walk to the Church of San Cataldo a simple Norman built church with three red domes. https://experiencesicily.com/2020/11/29/the-red-domes-of-palermo-2/
Cathedral de Monreale is a must see. This is a church and Duomo up above Palermo. The Church itself is free, but a must to to buy a ticket for all the sites, which includes a walk up the stairs and across the top of the church in which you can view the Duomo, and Palermo. You can buy a separate ticket for the Duomo itself which has a garden surrounded in column's imbedded with fantastic carvings and mosaics. https://www.duomomonreale.com/ https://youtu.be/21tNyX0Zmb4?si=yPht5SK32XNAcos7
Clothing Shops
My favorite question of all. Here is my list, organized by location.
Caccamo
Lab This is a great small shop near the Castle is hip, chic and modern selection of women's clothing with great prices. https://share.google/zSh9ssICVtGXo9hLM
Bagheria
Corso Umberto is the main street of shopping stores. https://maps.app.goo.gl/XWeWE2idqbQh3WTV9 Trabia to Corso Umberto
Sorbino is a great place for Men's clothing. https://sorbino.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorA-Uw4y6Zk4_j3SuZCp5Hudzl_hO-3-g6W3jhG8k-HDkYwAVUz Its is brand new location for Sorbino so there isn't a website set up for this location. But it is in the center of Corso Umberto.
Q Shoes No website but great Women's and Men's shoes, sneakers, hikers and the best boots. https://maps.app.goo.gl/vnPbe9FLpMQ3ef1r7
Corso Umberto a nice women's clothing shop with sweaters and assortment of finer clothing. https://maps.app.goo.gl/fVor4oaUWPUPvR357
Cefalu
There are several stores on the main street in Cefalu, here are my favorites.
La Galleria Has a nice selection of Women's and Men's, clothing and shoes. https://share.google/K0tKffPGBYgTZiBOF
Contro Vento Is located in the historic main street in Cefalu. Mimmo will take care of you. There is a men's store on one side of the street and a women's store opposite side of the street. shttps://share.google/K0tKffPGBYgTZiBOF https://share.google/eopXg1gg3QLd3TyVX
Pure Vida Is a nice unique clothing store, patterns, prints and solids. https://maps.app.goo.gl/pVvk6V1gYfHYym4u9
Termini Immerese
Termini has several clothing and shoe stores. Most lye at the bottom of Termini in a shopping area where Cafe Opera which has two locations, one is Gluten Free. Nice place to start before your shopping begins. https://www.grancafeopera.it/
Gianifilippo Calzature has a great selection of men's and women's shoes and great boots. https://www.gianfilippocalzature.it/ https://share.google/nfl2PcvJGzbe0PHLl
Motivi Is a womens store with two sides to it. One is plus sizes. https://share.google/9aEKKAq6HxhEF2yBQ
Esse Shoes also has a great selection of men's and women's shoes and boots.https://share.google/Ri3et4w1lJ7gLLABB
Sapia Outlet Is on a street that closed off to cars and has a lot of other clothing stores, baby clothing etc on this quiet street. Sapia outlet has more designer clothing. https://share.google/YR3wFoLF7xtXCf87n
And if you need a bag for all your collected finds Mercato Grande Cina is a Chinese store that sits on top of a supermarket called MD, that has 40euro bags. https://share.google/BQBVSdYL02dgB4ier
We've added our favorite locations the above map. The symbology roughly matches the activity, but you can expand the map (icon in top left corner) to see the list of locations and icon key.
If you discover a new magical place during your stay, we'd be delighted to add it to our map for future guests to enjoy.