Sicily is Italy's largest and most populated region, and for centuries it was Rome's granary. Its position right in the centre of the Mediterranean made it the prize every empire wanted to conquer, which explains the unique architectural blend you'll see in every city on this route.
Northern Sicily in 4 days, without heading south
If you add one extra day to the short Palermo-and-Cefalù getaway, you can stretch the route all the way to Taormina, one of the prettiest corners of all Sicily, without needing to head down to Agrigento, Siracusa or Catania. Honest heads-up: this is no longer a relaxed weekend break, it's a proper road trip, with a solid stretch of motorway between Cefalù and the east coast. But if you want it to really show that you've been to Sicily, it's worth it.
How this route is designed: Palermo as your entry and exit point, Cefalù as a stop on the way east, and Taormina (with Naxos as your much more affordable base for sleeping) as the final reward before retracing your steps back.
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One Foot in Europe, One in Africa
Day-by-Day Route Summary
A route through the north of the island that stretches the short getaway a little further: from Palermo to Taormina along the coast, returning to the same airport.
Day 1: Palermo
- Pick up your rental car
- Piazza Politeama and Teatro Massimo
- Cathedral, Mercato del Capo and granita
- Dinner and a night out at the bars
Day 2: Cefalù and Heading East
- Norman wall and cathedral in Cefalù
- Lunch by the sea
- Drive east
- Arrival in Giardini Naxos
Day 3: Taormina and Naxos
- Naxos Archaeological Park
- Teatro Antico with views of Etna
- Taormina's Giardino Pubblico
- Night in Giardini Naxos
Day 4: Back to Palermo
- Drive back north
- Quick stop in Monreale (optional)
- Lunch before the airport
- Flight back home
Interactive Route Map
Legend
- 📸 Point of Interest
- ⭐️ Must-See
- 🏛️ Archaeology / Temples
- 🍴 Recommended Restaurant
- 🍸 Bar District
- 🏨 Accommodation
Daily Itinerary
- Day 1: Palermo
- Day 2: Cefalù and the road east
- Day 3: Taormina and Naxos
- Day 4: Back to Palermo
⚠️ Mapa no configurado en el JSON
💡 Practical Tips for Your Trip
The rental car: your best friend and your worst enemy
Renting a car is mandatory for a route like this: without one, Cefalù or Taormina are simply not doable in 4 days. Pick it up as soon as you land in Palermo and don't let go of it until the last day.
⚠️ Brace yourself: secondary roads are limited to 60-80 km/h, many are full of curves and potholes, and respect for the highway code is... open to interpretation.
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Compare before you book
Compare prices on EconomyBookings to avoid the abusive deposits some local companies charge right at the airport counter.
The long stretch: Cefalù - Taormina
Be realistic about timing: between Cefalù and the Taormina/Naxos area there's easily 2h30-3h of motorway driving. It's not a rough drive (the A20 runs practically right along the coast, with really beautiful views), but factor that time in when planning day 2, and don't linger too long in Cefalù in the afternoon.
Currency, cards and roaming
Since it's Italy, everything works exactly like at home: you pay in euros, your card works without exchange fees, and your EU roaming data plan works at no extra cost.
Where to sleep in Taormina
Taormina, especially in summer, gets very expensive to sleep in. Giardini Naxos, the beach town right at the foot of the hill, has much less charm of its own, but it's a short walk or drive away and saves you a good chunk of your budget without giving up anything during the day.
Day 1: Palermo, top to bottom
As soon as you land at Falcone-Borsellino Airport, pick up your rental car and head straight to Piazza Politeama, right in the centre. Drop your bags and get walking without much of a plan, letting the facades guide you.
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Where to stay
We stayed at Mamamia al Politeama, right on the square. The location is about as perfect as it gets: step out the door and you're already in the heart of Palermo.
Start at Piazza Politeama itself, presided over by the neoclassical portico of Teatro Politeama, then make your way down to Teatro Massimo, Palermo's true temple of opera.
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The Godfather III Setting
Teatro Massimo is Europe's third-largest opera house, behind only Paris and Vienna. Its 27-step staircase is the one Francis Ford Coppola used for the final scene of The Godfather III, where Michael Corleone's daughter is killed. Coppola could only film the exterior: the theatre had been closed for renovations for over a decade, so the interior had to be recreated at Cinecittà Studios in Rome.
Keep wandering through baroque churches and the bustle of Mercato del Capo, one of Palermo's historic markets, where vendors call out their produce in an impenetrable Sicilian dialect. Finish up in front of Palermo Cathedral, a building that sums up the island's entire history on its own: it was a mosque, and before that, a Byzantine church.
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A Column with Verses from the Quran
Palermo Cathedral was built in 1184 on top of a mosque, and to this day one of the entrance columns still bears carved verses from the Quran. It's one of the most cited symbols of Sicilian Arab-Norman art, a UNESCO World Heritage site: the unashamed fusion of cultures that anywhere else would have been considered enemies.
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A must-stop: granita at Q-Tuppo
Mid-afternoon, make time for a proper Sicilian granita at Q-Tuppo, Granite Messinesi (Corso Calatafimi, 9). Try the pistachio one: it's one of the best we've had on the whole island.
For dinner, head to Pizzeria Frida, then let yourself get carried away through the historic centre towards Palermo's bar district.
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Palermo's bar district
The spots we liked best, all within a short walk of each other, were Bàsoli and Botanico Bar as a starting point, followed by Cantavespri, Extra Hop, Monkey Pub, Castigamatti and Spina Bar to keep the night going.
Day 2: Cefalù and the road east
Leave Palermo with the car already loaded and stop in Cefalù, under an hour away along the coastal motorway. It's one of those towns that looks like it's been pulled straight out of a postcard: fishermen's houses pressed right up against the sea, a wall that drops straight into the water and, watching over it all from above, the rock known as La Rocca.
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A Promise Kept in Stone
According to local legend, King Roger II ordered the construction of Cefalù Cathedral in 1131 as a vow of gratitude after surviving a violent storm off the coast, choosing to build it here instead of in Palermo, the capital of his kingdom. Inside awaits one of Sicily's most impressive Byzantine mosaics: a Christ Pantocrator with an intense gaze, a perfect summary of medieval Sicily.
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Where to eat in Cefalù
You have two safe bets: Ristorante Primi Piatti, with excellent lasagna and pasta, or Pasta e Pasti (Via Roma, 17), with a clam pasta worth remembering.
Don't give Cefalù more than half a day: you've got a solid stretch of motorway still ahead of you. By mid-afternoon, get moving east along the A20, which runs practically right along the coast with beautiful views of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
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Budget your time carefully
Between Cefalù and the Taormina/Naxos area there's about 2h30-3h of motorway driving. Leave with margin to arrive in daylight and catch the last light in Giardini Naxos.
Sleep in Giardini Naxos, the beach town right at the foot of Taormina: it doesn't have the charm of the historic centre up above, but the prices are far more reasonable.
Day 3: Taormina and Naxos, with Etna as a witness
Dedicate the entire day to Taormina and Naxos. Start with the Parco Archeologico di Naxos, at the tip of the Schisò peninsula: ruins that are far less visited than the rest of the island, but with a huge history behind them.
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Sicily's First Greek Colony
Naxos was the first Greek colony founded in Sicily, in 734 BC, by Chalcidian settlers from the Greek island of Euboea. The city met an abrupt end: it was razed by Dionysius I of Syracuse as punishment for allying with Athens, and its surviving inhabitants took refuge on the nearby mountain, founding what we know today as Taormina.
Afterwards, head up to Taormina itself, perched on the hill, to visit its crown jewel: the Teatro Antico, with Etna rising right behind the stage.
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The Theatre with the Best Views in the Mediterranean
Built in the 3rd century BC during the Hellenistic period and almost entirely rebuilt by the Romans, it's Sicily's second-largest theatre after Siracusa's, with capacity for around 5,400 spectators. But what makes it truly unique is the backdrop: from the tiered seats, carved directly into the hillside, you can see Naxos Bay, the Ionian coast and Etna framing the stage like a permanent curtain. Back in 1787, even Goethe wrote about how overwhelming he found this view.
To close out the day, stroll through Taormina's Giardino Pubblico, a garden far more unusual than it first appears.
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The Garden of a British Noblewoman on the Run
The garden was created by Lady Florence Trevelyan, a Scottish aristocrat related to Queen Victoria who settled in Taormina in 1884 following a court scandal: she was accused of having an affair with the then Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. She filled the garden with exotic plants and eccentric oriental-style structures, nicknamed "the beehives" for their shape. In 1923 the garden was opened to the public, and it's still free to visit today.
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Where to get the best gelato
For your sweet treat of the afternoon, Gelatomania was our gelato stop in Taormina, and it did not disappoint.
If you have some spare time and the will for it, Etna is very close from here. Just make sure to read our Mount Etna excursion guide first: going it alone with no guide, a simple roadside viewpoint falls well short of what it costs to get there.
Day 4: Back to Palermo
The drive back from Taormina to Palermo Airport is around three hours on the motorway. Leave with plenty of time to spare: you don't want to have the same scare we did with the traffic entering Sicily's big cities.
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Is it worth stopping in Monreale?
If you're very tight on time, skip it without a second thought: it's not a stop worth going far out of your way for. But if you have an hour to spare before the airport, Monreale is literally on the way, just 20 minutes from central Palermo, so there's no harm taking a look.
If you decide to stop, don't spend more than a couple of hours: the Duomo di Monreale and its Byzantine mosaics are the whole reason for the detour.
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The Dream That Became a Cathedral
According to legend, King William II of Sicily dreamed in 1171 that the Virgin Mary appeared to him and revealed the location, beneath a carob tree, of a treasure hidden by his father. With that fortune, William ordered the construction of Monreale Cathedral, completed in a record time of just ten years. Inside await over 6,000 square metres of Byzantine mosaics covered in gold leaf, among which one stands out for being far from coincidental: Christ crowning William II himself, right above the royal throne.
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Where to eat in Monreale
We went to Trinacria Food & Drink, an unpretentious bar in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, right across from the duomo.
And with that, straight to the airport to head home with Ryanair. Four days from north to north, with Taormina and Etna as your witnesses, and never once setting foot in the south of the island: that's for next time.
💰 Estimated Budget
An approximate breakdown per person for 4 days. Sicily's big advantage over other destinations: since it's Italy, there are no currency exchange surprises or odd fees.
✈️ Transport
€125- Ryanair flights, round trip: €60
- Car rental (4 days): €38
- Fuel and parking: €27
🏡 Accommodation
€85- Apartments and hotels (3 nights): €85
🍴 Food
€95- Meals, dinners and breakfasts: €95
🎟️ Activities and Tickets
€50- Cathedral and theatre tickets: €15
- Drinks and going out: €30
- Souvenirs and postcards: €5
Final Cost Per Person
€355
One extra day of route with Taormina included, but still a very affordable trip. Percentage breakdown of the €355 total:
Featured Activities
If you'd rather book some things from home, here's a Palermo free tour with excellent reviews and the best activities on the island:
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