Top Bars to Try in Palermo, Sicily
Over 2,700 years old, Palermo is a city brimming with cultural splendour, its long history showing itself in palaces, churches, Byzantine mosaics and bustling markets. After exploring all that, you’ll be ready for an aperitivo at one of these top bars.
Across Italy, everyone – young and old – puts in an appearance at the evening passeggiata (stroll). In the largest city on Sicily, Palermo, that sunset ritual often ends at a local bar for an aperitivo spritz and a board of cured meats and cheese. Luckily, there are endless options to choose from, whether you’re after cocktails in shabby-chic concept bars or a slow glass of red in an ancient, palm-lined square, looking out over baroque churches, domes and gothic palaces. Here are the top bars to try in Palermo.
1. Bocum
Bar, Cocktail Bar, Italian
Bocum’s prime location, just a block away from the waterfront, gives a clue as to why this place is always buzzing. But you’ll be glad you stumbled across this sophisticated, candlelit place, with daily food specials scrawled on blackboards mounted on the stone walls. The cocktail menu is extensive and features innovative and unusual combinations concocted by capable mixologists, alongside the obvious classics.
2. Botteghe Colletti
Bar, Italian
The paint’s a little faded above the door, but the rough stone walls, wooden-beam ceilings and mismatched art-deco-style decor add bags of rustic character to this cosy bar. It’s conveniently tucked away on a side street in the Old Town, close to the port. When it’s full inside, as is often the case, the crowd spills out onto the pavement to drink until the early hours of the morning.
4. Cantavespri Vini e Vinili
Bar, Pop-up restaurant, Nightclub, Wine
Wine and vinyl perfectly combine at this concept nightclub and bar. Enter the 16th-century Palazzo Lucchesi Palli, a palace in the historic centre, and take a moment to check out the mural on the wall by Palestinian artist Emily Jacir. Inside, Cantavespri serves up live music alongside its aperitivos and generously poured cocktails to start the night with a bang. After midnight, live DJs take over, and clubbers dance until dawn.
5. Enoteca Buonivini
Bar, Wine
Sicilians have been growing grapes for 6,000 years, and the tradition of viticulture continues to thrive. And, if you’re passionate about wine, there’s no better place for getting stuck into the local flavours than Enoteca Buonivini. You can sample a wide range of local wines, including dry cattarrato whites and robust reds grown on the slopes of Mount Etna. Enjoy a glass or two in the courtyard, with a charcuterie board and some artisan cheese.
6. Luppolo l’Ottavo Nano
Pub, Pub Grub
7. Ferramenta
Bar, Gastropub, Pub Grub
Ferramenta started life as a hardware store. Located beside the Church of San Domenico, its tables spill out into Piazza Giovanni Meli and are the ideal place to people-watch away an afternoon, while you nurse an Aperol spritz or a glass of vino. It also has a great reputation as a gastropub, so it’s worth sticking around for dinner.
8. Qvivi
Bar, Pub Grub
Grab a bite to eat at one of the best restaurants in Palermo before testing the nightlife. Be sure to have a great hotel to rest your head afterwards, as you’ll have much to see and do around the city the very next day.
This is an updated rewrite of an article originally by Luca Pinelli.
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