Sicily · MUSEUMS
Sicily rewards a plan. These 6 museum visits are priced and timed so you can choose in a few minutes and get back to arguing about where to eat.
At Salina Culcasi near Trapani, a live guide leads you around the salt pans and through an old farmhouse museum with a mill dating to the 1400s. You can touch salt forming in the tanks and taste the family’s whole salt and flavored fleur de sel. The 75-minute tour is in English or Italian and includes a walk that requires basic fitness.
At the Culcasi salt pans in the WWF reserve near Trapani, an English-speaking guide leads you along the ponds to see how seawater becomes salt. You can handle the forming salt, then visit a museum in an old baglio and a 15th-century mill. The 75-minute private tour costs $21.77 per person, but you’ll need to arrange your own transport.
“Very interesting! Museum and walk was well worth it. I would go at another time of year to see the salt pads.”
Visit the Stanze al Genio in Palermo’s Palazzo Torre Pirajno, where more than 5,000 majolica tiles from the 15th to 19th centuries fill part of a private home. The visit is guided in Italian or English, with guides including Claudio, and lasts about an hour. You may have time to look around on your own after the tour.
“This was an amazing collection of tiles. It was an honor to have the opportunity to experience it. It was worth every penny!”
Walk through the Enchanted Castle’s garden at your own pace, among roughly 3,000 faces carved into stone and tree trunks. This one-hour museum visit offers a close look at the outdoor art of Filippo Bentivegna. Admission is included, and tickets cost $7.21 per person. The experience is offered in English.
“Balade sympa, originalité et expérience agréable, les horaires de réservation divergent par contre, le reste tout est parfait.,.,”
In Syracuse, watch a traditional Opera dei Pupi performance based on Frankish tales such as The Song of Roland and Orlando furioso. The 1.5-hour experience pairs the Italian-language show with a guided theatre and museum visit when that option is selected. Expect detailed puppets, music and lively battles. No guide names are provided.
“Eigenlijk was alles leuk, origineel. De gids wist een heleboel de vertellen, de poppen in het museum zijn uniek, het poppentheater geweldig!”
At Sicily’s Tecnoparco Archimede Museum, a scientific guide leads a private-group visit through life-size replicas and scale models of ancient inventions. Explore six areas, including Archimedes’ war machines, lifting devices, hydrostatics, burning mirrors, and water clocks. Tours are offered in Italian and English, with multilingual audio guides.
“Sono stati molto disponibili ad accoglierci quasi ad orario di chiusura. La nostra guida Martina è stata splendida, sorridente e preparata. Una ragazza a modo. È stata una visita molto istruttiva, si tocca con mano ciò che Archimede creò.”
Choose a volcano, a harbour or a kitchen.
