Best Food Tours of Palermo

The architecture with its mix of Arabic, Norman and Romanesque styles and cultural tradition are two of Palermo's main attractions, but the island's capital also stands out for its Sicilian food, so taking a gastronomic tour is one of the best ways to discover the flavors and traditions of one of the most important cities in southern Italy.

Some of the best things to see and do in Palermo to discover its gastronomy include taking a walk through the streets to learn about the delicacies on offer, taking a Sicilian cooking class with tasting, browsing the city's street markets, taking a tour of the gelato and pastry shops, and participating in a private tasting of local wine and cheese.

Palermo is considered one of the capitals of street food, so one of the best alternatives to discover its flavors is to participate in a gastronomic walking tour of the main Sicilian stalls. During these small group tours, which last approximately 3 to 4 hours, you will be able to visit the most characteristic sites of the city and do up to 7 tastings.

On these tours you will taste panelle, which are delicious chickpea fritters, arancines, which are fried rice balls, and other local delicacies on a tour that will also take you past the Teatro Massimo, which is one of the largest in Europe, the picturesque Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi and local drinking stalls.

On these walking tours you will also learn about the history of the main neighborhoods of the Sicilian capital, get to know in depth the old town, which is one of the most beautiful in Italy with its crossroads of architectural styles, walk around the perimeter of the Cathedral of Palermo and finish the visit before sunset in a central point of the city.

Interesting details

• Price of these excursions... They have an approximate initial cost of 59 euros per person, including the assistance of the local expert guide and tastings.
• Duration of these tours... Approximately 3 to 4 hours.
• Advantages of these excursions... You will get to know the main sites of Palermo through its flavors.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... Does not include sweet food options.

Street markets are a tradition in the Sicilian capital and there are at least three main ones in the most representative neighborhoods of the city, which are as important as the best museums in Pal ermo or the most visited buildings such as the Cathedral. On these gastronomic tours you can tour them and have a tasting.

These tours will take you through the Capo market, which has a history related to the Sicilian mafia and one of the most beautiful structures, because it is the typical Sicilian market, hidden in the stone alleys and with stalls crowded with fruits and vegetables. In the processed food stalls you can taste the local delicacies.

Also visit Vucciria, which stands out as a flea market, because in addition to food you can buy artifacts of all kinds, antiques and participate in a barter market, which is one of the traditional Sicilian inherited from the times of crisis.

Finally, the tour will take you to the Ballaro market, which is a little further away from the epicenter of the city but is one of the main places of nightlife in the Sicilian capital. At every stop you will taste the tastings and be assisted by a local guide. Once the tour is over you can continue with your itinerary or return to the old town by public transport or on Palermo's hop on-hop off buses.

Interesting details

• Price of these excursions... They have an approximate initial cost of 45 euros per person, including the assistance of the local guide and tastings.
• Duration of these excursions... Approximately 3 half days.
• Advantages of these excursions... You will be able to see the main neighborhoods of the city and visit places visited daily by the locals.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... Usually the tours include tastings but sometimes there is not enough time to taste them at leisure.

Gastronomy, in Sicily, is not only a pleasure, but is also considered an art, so the best alternative to discover in depth the flavors of southern Italy is to take a cooking class experience with tasting, to learn first-hand the mysteries and secrets involved in Sicilian delicacies.

On these half-day excursions you can explore culinary traditions at the hand of a professional chef in a family-run cooking school. Over the course of an afternoon you can cook classic dishes and finish up to four courses, ending with a tasting of the products and then a celebratory meal, making it one of the best and most complete tours in Palermo.

The celebratory meal also includes a four-course dinner with wine, homemade liqueurs, a surprise dessert and coffee, so you will also discover the sweet flavors of Sicilian food, which is one of the most complete and tasty in the world.

Interesting details

• Price of these excursions... They have an approximate initial cost of 86 euros per person, including the courses with the professional chef and the tastings.
• Duration of these excursions... Approximately 5 to 6 hours.
• Advantages of these excursions... Not only will you be able to taste the flavors of Sicily but also learn how to cook the dishes.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... It does not include tours outside the school kitchen.

If you have a sweet tooth, then you can't miss a gastronomic excursion in Palermo that takes you through the best flavors of ice cream and local pastries. On these private tours of about 3 hours you will be able to do tastings in various Palermo ice cream parlors, cafes, pastry shops and markets.

The tour will take you around the Teatro Massimo, the Baroque Church of St. Dominic, the Palazzo dei Normanni, the Teatro Politeama and the Vucciria market, which is one of the main markets in the city and where Palermo's nightlife takes place, with music shows, parties and food and drink stalls.

Among the tastings you can try the sfincetta, which is a cake filled with ricotta, the setteveli cake, the best homemade ice cream and ristretto coffee, typical of the Sicilian capital. You can also choose to taste the local wine. Throughout the tour you will be assisted by an expert local guide.

Interesting details

• Price of these excursions... They have an approximate initial cost of 61 euros per person, including the assistance of the local guide and the tastings.
• Duration of these excursions... Approximately 3 hours.
• Advantages of these excursions... It is the best alternative to taste the sweet flavors of the city.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... It does not include an in-depth tour of the rest of the city's markets.

If you want to really get to know the Sicilian spirit you must also get to know the partying of the city and for that you need to tour Palermo at night. On these small group tours of the capital's best street food stalls you can not only sample the main dishes but also enjoy the nightlife, especially at the Vucciria market.

These excursions usually include a walk through the historic center of the city, four or five-step tastings with a variety of savory and sweet dishes and also a visit to the Vucciria market, which at night lights up the city's party with its bars, restaurants and drink stalls that are frequented by young people, especially if you plan to visit Palermo in summer.

Please note that these excursions include the tasting of alcoholic beverages and may extend into the wee hours of the morning, so it may be incompatible if you plan to visit Palermo with children.

Interesting details

• Price of these excursions... They have an approximate initial cost of 59 euros per person, including the assistance of the local guide and the tastings.
• Duration of these excursions... Approximately 4 hours.
• Advantages of these excursions... You will be able to know not only the local gastronomy but also the night activity of the city.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... They are usually not suitable for minors.

Some of the main attractions of Sicily you can get to know during the best excursions from Palermo, but you don't need to leave the capital to get to know the regional flavors of the island, because you can discover them on these private Sicilian wine and cheese tasting tours.

These excursions offer a short walk through the historic center and a tasting in the quiet room of a local winery, where you can sample five types of premium Sicilian cheese, breads and crackers from Palermitan bakeries and a run of about 6 important wines representative of the island's varieties, such as Nero d'Avola and Cataratto.

If you plan to visit Palermo in August or during the summer months you will be able to enjoy the best time for local wines, but excursions of this type are available all year round and will also give you an insight into the centuries-old tradition of Sicilian wine.

These excursions usually last about 2.5 hours, so they are compatible with a short visit to the city. If that is your case, here is a list of activities you can do to discover Palermo in 4 days.

Details of interest

• Price of these excursions... They have an approximate initial cost of 126 euros per person, including the assistance of a local sommelier, the tastings and the wine tasting.
• Duration of these excursions... Approximately 2 hours and a half.
• Advantages of these excursions... One of the most sophisticated gastronomic tours in Palermo.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... It can be expensive and lasts a short time.

If you plan to travel in a group and want a private dining experience you can opt for these Italian pizza cooking tours, which consist of taking a class with a local pizza master, who will give you the secrets of real Sicilian pizza making and tell you some interesting facts, such as the reasons for the gangsters' fascination with pizza, a fact that is hard to learn even on the best mafia tours of Palermo.

The master pizza maker will also tell you and your group about the history of pizza, the choice of ingredients from the original tradition, the flour to use and the different types. Then you will be able to cook muzzarella pizzas, the traditional Neapolitan Margherita and the sfincione, which is the Sicilian pizza.

The experience will end with a tasting of the pizzas prepared with beverages of your choice, which may include Sicilian wines. In addition, these excursions usually include a certificate for the course, which accredits participants as master pizza makers upon completion of the tour.

Details of interest

• Price of these excursions... They have an initial cost of approximately 55 euros per person, including the assistance of the master pizza maker, materials and tastings.
• Duration of these excursions... Approximately 3 hours.
• Advantages of these excursions... It is an ideal interactive excursion if you plan to travel in a group.
• Disadvantages of these excursions... It does not include other dishes, it is an excursion completely focused on pizza.

You can either book the tours in advance online or book the tours once you are in town, although if you plan to visit the city in summer they might sell out or increase in price at the last minute, something that usually does not happen if you visit Palermo in winter

In any case, to secure your space on the tours and lock in the price of the activities, I advise you to book in advance and organize a tour to get the most out of your visit to each site.

On a gastronomic tour you will mainly discover the flavors of the local food, but you will also get to know in an interactive way some of the most representative attractions of the city. You will also get to know the rhythm of the Sicilian capital in the markets and the reasons why it is considered one of the cities characterized by street food.

On excursions that include cooking classes you can also learn some of the secrets of the local cuisine and interact with master pizza makers, professional chefs and sommeliers.

If you decide in advance which excursion you want to do, I advise you to make a reservation before your visit. This way you will be able to secure your place, avoid last minute increases and also organize the dates of your trip to get the most out of your visit and make your tour more effective.

Also note that most of the tours last between 3 and 4 hours, so you can do them even if you have planned an express visit to the Sicilian capital. If that is your case, here are some plans that could help you to get to know Palermo in 2 days.

Gastronomy is one of the main attractions of Sicily, so if you visit Palermo you can not miss a tour of this type, because you can not only discover the flavors but also the secrets of Sicilian cuisine and the stories behind every dish and every gastronomic space of the city.

In addition, most of the gastronomic tours in Palermo also include a tour of the main buildings of the city, making it an ideal alternative to discover these sites and their stories in a fun and different way than the traditional guided tours.