Great place. One part (park) is free and it is divided by great gates from this Botanic Garden…read more Both are nice and should be visited. Free park first and then paid. In free park you'll see the old entrance to Botanical Gardens with great statues. It was too many plants for me. Way too much, but some of them left me with an open jaw. The tree with spikes all over it! I call it three hedgehog. There are toilets. Great place for romantic walkaround. Ticket €5! This is oldest botanic garden in Europe! 200 years old.

I dropped by here almost by accident when I was exploring the city, it was only €5 for entrance so…read moreI thought heck why not take some time to explore it and try out my new macro lens I bought for my digital camera. The gardens history can be traced back to 1779 making it the oldest garden in Europe and now covers 10 hectares, the gardens has certainly been run down which is a shame. The garden has a number of Australian plants which always makes you a little homesick such as the Moreton Bay Fig. There is also a free garden next door that you can also explore, if the weather is good or far too hot I would suggest dropping by the gardens to cool down as there is plenty of cover to escape the heat and plenty of paths to explore.

This lovely park is located not far from the Cattedrale di Palermo and the Norman Palace along Via…read moreVittorio Emanuele. Paved paths, a fountain at the center and lots of greenery. Many of the trees are palm trees because of course, Palermo is on the Mediterranean Sea and even in January there will be green. In the Summer, I would imagine that this would be quite the spot to hang out and get out of the bright sun. But for us in winter, it was just a pleasant spot to pass through on our way to lunch. [Review 12823 overall, 138 of 2020.]

Fantastic to swim laps, and exercise for 10 euro per day. Friendly staff, lap pool well managed…read more Moved into appropriate lane after he saw me swim. Really cool place.

They just hung up as soon as they heard that I speak English. Just wanted to workout there but they…read moreseem to have no interest in foreigners. Kinda sad

Sat one early morning, drinking my second cup of coffee, overlooking the English Garden. Prepared…read moremyself for a visit to the Villa Trabia, a few minutes away, having some expectations, as always. Went out, crossed the street, walked up to the gate of the villa. Not so much to expect, so far. No tourists, just a few locals having their morning run. Birds, though, plenty of them, singing and opening their wings in the breeze. Just a few steps and you experience a unique atmosphere. Once this garden had 2700 species. Today only 150 remains. But past and present can´t be separated - it´s all there. The grandeur, the greatness, is still present. Nothing is perfect, the decline can be seen everywhere, but beauty remains and the romantic impression is without sentimentality. The Villa Trabia holds an art library. A sweet lady showed me around. The house filled with students reading, listening to music, watching film videos - studying art, right in the eye of art itself. Sat down on a bench underneath a very big tree, talked to an engaged gardener, telling me the names of the trees. Flowers from one of them covered the ground. Left the Villa Trabia through another gate? Yes, I did. But not really. Still inside.

They have a slide and swings and monkey bars. Tons of green space. Romantic benches. People playing…read moresoccer. Watch out for some broken parts of the playground.

We lucked out with our visit to the Piazza Marina as there was a huge Sunday "flea market" thing…read moregoing on. On tables and on the street and on the pavements, dozens of people selling all sorts of stuff. Cutlery, pictures, LPs and records, glassware, decorative items, stamps, portraits and even a vendor with coffee and pastries. My friend negotiated with a guy who was selling Italian Lira notes. Italy has since converted to the Euro currency so these are increasingly rare. And this was my one regret from this trip. He had two notes and I decided not to purchase the other. I really wish I'd bought it. An Italian lira note, bought in Italy. Ugh, why didn't I buy it! When there isn't a market going on here (the other six days of the week), it is a lovely green plaza surrounded by churches and homes. [Review 12835 overall, 150 of 2020.]

We had a wonderful day on Mondello Beach at the Lido Valdesi. We took a taxi from he historic area…read moreof Palermo where we were staying. It worked out perfectly. We visited a great coffee shop named Touring Bar as we arrived prior to settling in at the beach. Delicious croissants and cappuccino! Later we enjoyed a delicious lunch right on the private beach at Valdesi. Excellent food and service. I recommend this private lido as the chairs and umbrella were high quality and the bathrooms were easily accessible. It was also just a quick walk across the street for excellent gelato!

This beach is accessible from Palermo by city bus. It's a nice beach with beautiful blue water, but…read morethe facilities are lacking. There are no public toilets. The beach is free, but there is only a thin strip of sand open to the public, so it is very crowded. You can pay a lot of money for access to private beach areas with chairs and umbrellas, but those areas are not next to the water.

Summer theatre in Palermo! A most beautiful garden surrounds the open air stage in western part of…read morethe city. Here you can spend some time before and after the performance, having a coffee or a glass of wine. Hard to believe you can find something like it in the rest of the world. As always in Palermo history is connected to present time and often to an idea of the future. Impressing indeed!