traveldk.com

From via Maqueda take the Piazza Santa Quaranta Martiri up to the Chiesa del Gesù for a look at the wild Baroque decoration of the interior. Beyond the church, enter the streets taken over by Ballarò market (see Ballerò, Palermo) and spend some time weaving your way through the overloaded stalls. For a late breakfast stop at one of the stalls serving arancini (see Arancini) or fried aubergine (eggplant) sandwiches.

From Piazza Ballarò, pass through the old neighbourhood and by the Church of the Carmine with its colourful dome and take the via Case Nuove to via Maqueda. Head into La Kalsa on via Gorizia to via Garibaldi 43, where you can still see parts of the magnificent original structure of the Palazzo Aiutamicristo. Continue down to Santa Maria dello Spasimo where there may be contemporary art on view. Take the residential via della Vetreria to via Alloro, and tour the regional fine arts museum in Palazzo Abatellis.

Exit the museum and go south on via Alloro until the Piazza d’Aragona and take a right into via A. Paternostro to the Piazza San Francesco. Have lunch at the Antica Focacceria (see Antica Focacceria), sitting in the piazza under the Gothic façade of San Francesco, or in the marble and wrought-iron interior, where you can watch the chefs serving up Sicilian specialities. For dessert, there’s always good gelato to be found in the shop in the piazza.

Start your walk at Piazza Garibaldi, beginning at Corso Ruggiero, where the church of Santa Maria della Catena is built on top of the 5th-century BC town walls. Walking down the Corso, on the left at the corner of via Amendola is one of the only extant parts of Norman Cefalù, besides the cathedral, the Palazzo Osterio Magno. Pass the flower-filled piazzetta in front of the Chiesa del Purgatorio on your way to Piazza Duomo, which opens up to the right. Inside the cathedral (see Cathedral, Cefalù) admire the mosaics, but don’t miss the exterior view of the apse around the back. Sit out in the piazza at Bar Duomo with a cappuccino and enjoy the cathedral façade and the church bells marking the hour.

Continue down the Corso to the end, take a left on via Bordonaro and a right into Piazza Crispi with views of the Greek walls later absorbed by Spanish fortifications. Follow via Bordonaro down to Piazza Marina with the small port below. Off to the left, down the via Vittorio Emanuele, a staircase leads to lavatoi (washbasins), the sole remnant of Arab domination.

Before lunch, enjoy a wander around the “real” Cefalù, where fishermen repair boats and women pause from their laundry to chat.

Have lunch in the garden at L’Antica Corte (Cortile Pepe 7 0921 423 228) or pick up picnic supplies from Alimentari e Salumeria Gatta Gaetano (Corso Ruggero 152).

Take a late afternoon drive from Sciacca up to Caltabellotta . Skip the modern outskirts of town to wander around the narrow streets and piazzettas of Terravecchia, the old medieval centre. Terravecchia lies on a flat plain under the Chiesa Madre founded by Count Roger one year before he took Palermo (see Norman Palermo). It’s newly restored, so admire the entry portal with pointed arch and the bell tower which was originally an old Arabic fortification; inside see the Madonna of the Chain, St Benedict and Madonna and Child – all works by the artist Gagini.

To the north of the church take the little path up the rock to the ruins of the Castelvecchio, the old castle, from which you can look down on Caltabellotta and out over the valley.

On the other side of the plain, opposite the Chiesa Madre, find the tiny church of San Salvatore with its zig-zag decoration around the door. Use the steps carved out of the rock to climb up to the highest point of Monte Castello. Walk around the ruins of Count Roger’s castle, with its single Gothic doorway, and take in one of the most stunning views in Sicily. To the southwest see the coastline from Agrigento (see Agrigento and the Valle dei Templi) to Marsala .

Back in town, stroll from Piazza Umberto I to via Roma in the newer part of the village, where you can have an excellent dinner of mountain fare at the Trattoria Ferla (see Trattoria dei Templi, Agrigento).