Travel Guide Mondello

It is one of the most beautiful beaches in Sicily, 11 km north of Palermo. It is located between two mountains, the Gallo and Pellegrino mountains, which beautifully frame the bay. It is a chic seaside resort, a Sicilian Deauville, a city of gardens and elegant resorts, lined with beautiful and rich Liberty houses. You can stay in Mondello, which has many hotels, rather than in Palermo if you are allergic to narrow city centers.The bourgeois and aristocratic class of Palermo at the beginning of the 20th century settled here, far from the miserable slums of the historic center and its stifling streets. However, until the eighteenth century, it was only insalubrious swamps. It was Prince Francesco Lanza di Scalea who, in 1891, had the land drained. In the old fishing village, there was a tonnara. Today, a circular tower can be seen, a vestige of the old castle. The beach is beautiful and blond, the water translucent, turquoise and warm, the sandbank allows to walk far into the lagoon. But, in summer, to put a corner of towel there is a feat, as it is so crowded. The incessant passage of salesmen shouting and brushing your towel while trying to sell you pareos, massages, jewelry, etc., is tiring. It's a good idea to opt for one of the private lido's equipped with cabins, deck chairs and umbrellas, which are not free. The feet in the water, the old Kursaal Art Nouveau thermal baths built in 1912 on stilts are like a UFO in the bay.After Mondello, don't forget to visit Sferracavallo, another seaside resort very popular with Palermitans on weekends. Here again, it is not the monuments that attract, but the beaches and their translucent water. This unpretentious little town has restaurants that serve excellent fish dishes. 300 meters from the coast, the small islet Isola delle Femmine, the women's island, takes its name from a legend according to which the tower built on the island was a women's prison. Today it is a nature reserve.