Palermo - Getting around

I would appreciate any advice regarding getting around Palermo. We will be visiting on the Monday following Easter, la Pasquetta (Little Easter), when there will be some special cultural events happening in the nearby village of San Marino delle Scale which is roughly three miles from the port. I would love any advice regarding hiring a van/driver for the day, or if others have visited this village, is it close enough for a cab from the dock? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

we booked with Don Saro (he is on Viator). He was FANTASTIC! I would strongly recommend him in Palermo!

we booked with Don Saro (he is on Viator). He was FANTASTIC! I would strongly recommend him in Palermo!

but very expensive.

A cheaper way would be to simply use the local bus (it used to be the #2 but we think they may have changed their bus numbers). There are also a few express "Sommatinese" buses and you can find their schedule here:

http://90100home.jimdo.com/2011/07/20/trasporti-nuovi-collegamenti-tra-san-martino-e-palermo/

Hank

I'm with Hank. I also like buses

We rode bus number 101 quite a bit. It runs to and from the train station and downtown Palermo.

We'll be in Palermo on Sunday, Sept 27, from 10am to 6pm. Is this port easily done on your own?

How far is it from the port to the main attractions in the heart of the city? Can you catch the bus right at the port? I haven't checked elsewhere yet, and wonder if the bus would be on a Sunday schedule and not running as often.

Alternatively, we're considering a privately organized walking tour with cc people.

We'll be in Palermo on Sunday, Sept 27, from 10am to 6pm. Is this port easily done on your own?

 

How far is it from the port to the main attractions in the heart of the city? Can you catch the bus right at the port? I haven't checked elsewhere yet, and wonder if the bus would be on a Sunday schedule and not running as often.

 

Alternatively, we're considering a privately organized walking tour with cc people.

There is a hop-on, hop-off bus that picks up right at the port and goes all around the city.

http://www.palermo.city-sightseeing.it/eng/#

We enjoyed it.

I was in Palermo just over 2 weeks ago. You don't need a shuttle bus as the port is in the town itself. The one thing that detracts from the place is the amount of hawkers trying to sell something and most will not take no for an answer without following you up the streets.

There were some hop on hop off tour buses alongside the ship that were charging €20 but were €10 if you just walked up a couple of streets, about 5 mins walk. We took the tourist train outside the ship, it was €10 and we enjoyed that trip especially when a man had Pharrell Williams Happy blasting out from his mobile strapped onto the back of his motor bike and then getting off and dancing at traffic lights.

The architecture is lovely but is very dilapidated, we were told it's a poor island and that people cannot afford to paint the buildings.

Take the city buses

This is what I have booked for June. I used this company out of Messina before and they were great ( I tend to use companies I know I've had good luck with as I don't like change lol). Here is what we are doing. I have posted on my roll call to get the van full to decrease costs ( which I do for all my tours thanks to CC)

sicilytaxiservice@hotmail.com. wrote:

The price for a minivan 1 / 8 people for a escursion MONREALE AND PALERMO CITY FULL DAY 8 HOURS) from Palermo port is 240,00 euro each minivan.

The price for a minivan 1 / 8 people for a escursion CEFALU AND PALERMO CITY FULL DAY 8 HOURS) from Palermo port is 320,00 euro each minivan.

The prices are for a minivanS 1 / 8 seats with air condition + english speaking driver /guide incluse fuel motorway tools and passengers insurance .

The driver will wait you directly to palermo port witha sign and you can pay cash at the end of service with a deposit by pay pal.

I need only your confirmation to reserve a minivans for your group.

I'm doing the CEFALU as it looks beautiful. I thought the price is good.

Hi

We're going to Palermo in April with the Epic and thinking about signing up for 4 hr Wine tour, we're in port from 0800 to 1700, will there be enough time to do this tour and then use the hop on hop off to explore the city ?