Pandemic holidays — Sicily in 2020: Part 1 — Palermo

I went to Sicily with my partner from the start of August to the start of September 2020. This was after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic had subsided, so things had opened back up, and the Italian tourist industry was figuring out how to cope with the new conditions. In general, there weren’t many inconveniences caused by the pandemic, but I would probably suggest that in hindsight, it’s better not to go to Sicily in the heat of August, when a lot of Italians take their summer holidays too.

We went to Palermo and Catania for about a week each (would have liked to stay more in Palermo, and less in Catania) and then went to the seaside town of San Leone near Agrigento for two weeks while working remotely on our respective jobs. I really wanted to see the temples at Agrigento, which I did, but San Leone itself was a bit boring, and really there’s nowhere as good to work as in your own house, where the wi-fi is usually better than in an Airbnb.

Anyway, this post is about the highlights of our trip, and what I’d recommend to other people who want to visit Sicily.

Some of the places mentioned below are marked on my map above.

We stayed in the Albergheria district near the Palazzo Reale-Orleans metro station, which you can get to straight from Palermo airport by train. The area includes the old seat of government when Sicily was ruled in turn by Arabs and then…