36 Hours in Palermo, Italy

Start with Palermo’s most exciting cultural newcomer, Palazzo Butera. The private art museum opened in 2021 in a grandiose aristocratic residence, built mainly over the 18th and 19th centuries, that was recently renovated. Next to the city’s port, the complex shows the collection of Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi, an Italian couple that amassed the works over some five decades. Within sumptuous rooms, some with painted ceilings and elaborate moldings, are Tiffany lamps, 19th-century Orientalist paintings, Fabergé silver sculptures, Art Nouveau glassware, Gilbert and George photomontages, post-apocalyptic installations by Tetsumi Kudo, and haunting canvases incorporating bones and husks from Claudio Costa, all provocatively jumbled together. Entry, 10 euros, or about $11.

A passeggiata, or sunset stroll, in Palermo is a social ritual, as well as an opportunity for an open-air concert or aperitivo. Start at Quattro Canti, the lively intersection of Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda. There, a quartet of 17th-century stone facades chiseled with statues and built-in fountains form a de facto amphitheater for street musicians, who perform everything from Amy Winehouse to opera arias. Heading north up Via Maqueda, you pass clothing boutiques, souvenir shops, gelato parlors and numerous aperitivo bars. Maqueda Bistrot restaurant boasts a wall of Sicilian wines, which you can buy and drink at their outdoor tables for a €7 additional charge. For a classic Palermo snack, Cannoli & Co. invites you to choose your shell size, cream flavor, and fruit or nut fillings (from €2.80).

Entering DOBA Restaurant and Terrace is like being admitted into a speakeasy. Find the discreet door, push the button on the intercom, give your name, and take the elevator to the top floor. There, a stunning 360-degree panorama of Palermo reveals bell towers, church domes and the largest opera house in Italy: the 19th-century Teatro Massimo across the street. The chef Domenico Basile returned to his native Palermo after years in New York, Paris and beyond to oversee this months-old restaurant. Dishes include a savory riff on French toast (topped with beef tartare, smoked-cheese mousse and shaved truffles) and tagliatelle entwined with raisins, mullet and roasted cherry tomatoes. The experience is enhanced by Mr. Basile circulating among tables with smiles and stories. Three-course dinner for two, without drinks, about €130.

Dal Barone’s red neon sign draws droves of natural wine acolytes to its tiny space on Via Alessandro Paternostro in the teeming Kalsa district, an area that was leveled by Allied bombing in World War II but has come alive with restaurants and bars over the last decade. By early evening, drinkers have taken over the sidewalks, toasting Sicilian wines from Dal Barone’s roughly 20-page menu. The bacchanal continues nearby at Ojda. Fashion boutique and cafe by day, the minimalist space becomes a bar with a solid Sicilian natural wine selection and a large front patio by night.

A symphony of architectural styles surrounds Piazza Bellini, a stony, sun-baked square in Palermo’s historic core. The 12th-century Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio church, identifiable by its rectangular tower, contains kaleidoscopic patterns of inlaid stone on its floor and richly painted religious scenes on the ceiling. But the main attractions are the dazzling Byzantine-style mosaics of angels and saints adorning the walls and cupola. Next door, atop the Church of San Cataldo (entry, €2.50), three red domes exemplify the Arab-Norman style, which emerged in the 11th century after conquerors with roots in Northern Europe deposed Sicily’s Arab rulers. Across the square, the Santa Caterina d'Alessandria church (entry, €3), built mainly in the 16th century, bursts with intricately sculpted Baroque reliefs and statues.

During the day, Kalsa becomes a hotbed of homegrown design and fashion. The white, gallery-like MU Creative Space sells works by the Palermo artist Cetti Davì, who mixes Japanese styles and local materials, such as Sicilian silk, in floral-print kimonos, white egg-shaped ceramic cups and more. At Junkle, discarded maritime materials like sails undergo a literal sea change, reborn as bags, backpacks, laptop cases and even dresses. For an elegant summer wardrobe, the designer Valentina Margiotta’s Vali Boutique glows with radiant 1960s-inspired taffeta skirts and shimmery aquamarine silk jumpsuits executed by Palermo tailors. A list of local independent creators can be found on the Associazione Liberi Artigiani-Artisti Balarm website.

If it has a shell, scales, fins or gills, it might well be on the menu at L’Acerba Osteria Dinamica. Near the Mercato del Capo market, this fun and friendly seafood haven occupies a courtyard filled with vintage couches, tables and chairs. Thin salty slices of grilled sardines are balanced by sweet slivers of caramelized onion and a drizzle of orange coulis, while tuna steak gets a tropical tweak from soy-mango sauce and charred orange peels. Also worthy of mention: a filling spaghetti with zucchini leaves, tender anchovy and crisp breadcrumbs. Just leave room for the deconstructed cannolo. A three-course meal for two, without drinks, costs around €80.

Archestrato di Gela is Palermo’s fast-rising pizza star, thanks to an impressive three-slice rating (the highest) last year by Italy’s prestigious Gambero Rosso food guide. On a leafy side street off Via della Libertà, the city’s main luxury shopping boulevard, the cozy and contemporary pizzeria stands out for its candle-lit front porch and menu with dozens of combinations. Carnivores can happily sink their incisors into the Piano Notaro (€15), which has salty Sicilian pork sausage, slivers of red onion stewed in wine and caciocavallo cheese (denser and chewier than molten mozzarella). Vegetarians might prefer the Piano Mendola (€12), a concoction of tomato sauce, tiny tomatoes and a sprinkling of caciocavallo. Italian craft beers fill the drinks list.

Consider a Sunday stroll around the Piazza Marina, especially if your souvenir list includes old chandeliers, cut-glass decanters and oil paintings of uncertain provenance. The square’s weekly flea market, which operates alongside the 14th-century Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri — a high-walled fortified palace that once served as a prison — is notable for collectibles, from coins to postcards to Barbie dolls. Vinyl aficionados will enjoy Tony Records, whose expertly curated collection runs from John Coltrane to Kraftwerk, while sci-fi and steampunk fans will appreciate the fantastical metal sculptures of Salvatore Vella’s Saweldart stand. In his hands, old machine and auto parts are repurposed into strange creatures.

Mentioned in texts from as far back as the Middle Ages, Mercato di Ballarò is Palermo’s oldest, liveliest and most multicultural market. It centers around Via Ballarò, where shops and makeshift bars sell a Sicilian cornucopia: swordfish heads, red shrimp, pistachios, nougat, spices, beef cuts, olives and more. Street food also abounds, from fried fish to cow spleen sandwiches, a Sicilian specialty. Forno Storico Pietro Marino serves textbook takes on Palermo classics like arancina (a buttery, deep-fried rice ball with ham and cheese; €4) and white sfincione (a focaccia-like pizza topped with white cheeses; €4). Barconi features gelato flavors by Antonio Cappadonia — an award-winning Sicilian gelato master — that include milky-sweet fior di latte and salty-creamy peanut. Better still, your cup or cone (€3) funds the establishment’s mission: employing migrants and refugees.