Palermo easy to get around without a tour booked?

[bianks]

we are heading to Palermo in August with kids 

we are thinking of booking a tour to Cefalu which goes for just a few hours 

after that we thought we could casually stroll Palermo on foot without a tour - is it far from the ship port? - i.e. would we be able to do so easily, without a tour booked? 

[edinburgher]

is it far from the ship port? - i.e. would we be able to do so easily, without a tour booked? 

 

I gave this reply in response to a fairly recent thread .  It may not answer your question exactly but would give you an approximate idea of timng.  the OP in this instance mentioned a ship transfer. but had been more interested in going to a beach from the drop off point..

 

the cruise transfer pretty much drops off in Palermo which gives the option of exploring or going to the beach.

 

My reply:

 

I don't actually understand that, unless the cruise port has changed location since our visit.  Maybe a new one has been built?   We docked centrally, with the more modern city pretty much across the street from the dock.

 

 The port area was busy with taxis, one of the little tourist trains and HOHOs also on offer.  I am pretty sure there was also a Tourist Info office just across the stret as we picked up a map from there. .It was either there in a building or it was from a kiosk beside the taxis, HOHOs etc.  it was very busy there.We were exploring on foot and had even found a YouTube video which showed cruise pax following a suggested route from the port to the old town main sights.  We did that, with our first stop being Four Corners, followed by the Monumental Fountain Square.  Our other sighseeing highlights were easily reached from there and in close proximity to each other.   The longest walk was from the port to four corners.  It was a good 20 or more minutes fairly fast walking.

 

Perhaps the transfer bus goes as far as the Cathedral which we did not reach as we already had a full schedule?

 

You could read all past threads which mention Palermo by inserting PALERMO in the search box under your user name then hitting the little spy glass and all results will appear.  Note that you would only need to be on the general Italy Ports forum to do this and NOT on any individual thread.

Edited March 16, 2023 by edinburgher

[euro cruiser]

We just walked from the port up to the Duomo and Palazzo Reale area, then back through the mercato di Ballarò.  It was about three miles in total and we got a cab back from the market because we were pretty beat by then.  While we did not have kids with us, I did have one 80-something and one partially disabled family member.

[bianks]

I know excursions can cost a lot, would the HOHO offer the drive out to Cefalu? or bus or taxis or not even bother? 

[euro cruiser]

Cefalu would be about an hour by taxi, a bit more by bus.  You could take the train.

 

Palermo Centrale is a little less than two miles from the port.  From there to Cefalu by train takes 45-50 minutes and there's one train per hour in each direction.   Fare is euro 6,80 each way.