What to do in Palermo when it rains?

If you are in Palermo for a few days and the weather is not good at all, you may think that your journey is ruined.

They told you that in Palermo the weather is always sunny, that rains are scarce and, instead, you are facing rainy days.

If you have been told that Palermo is chaotic, you'll see it is much more when it rains.

However, you should not be depressed, as you can visit the city in any case, perhaps by visiting places that you would overlook otherwise.

First of all, you should know that the wettest months are from January to March, however there are also few rainy days, usually at the end of September, in October, November and December.

It also happened that August proves to be rather rainy, but it is a rather unusual event.

What to do then?

Visit museums

There are numerous museums to visit. Do not miss the Archeological Museum, Mirto Palace, an ancient aristocratic palace, the Palatine Chapel inside Norman Palace, the Zisa Castle, the Chinese Palace.

If you like modern art you should see  the Contemporary Art Museum Riso Palace (Palazzo Riso).

Visit churches

Beginning with the Cathedral, there are numerous churches that deserve to be seen.

Do not forget Casa Professa, with the Serpotta's stuccos, but also the Capuchin catacombs.

Go to Theatre. Main theatres are Massimo and Politeama Theatres. They both are in the city centre. Visit them and also assist to a concert and opera if in program and you like it.

Go to a typical café or restaurant and taste local food and sweets. Try an expresso coffee, some cannoli or a cassata cake, or just eat arancine, sicilian pizza (sfincione), or if you are in a restaurant taste pasta with anchovies (pasta con le sarde).

Go to Mondello, the beach of Palermo, and watch the sea and the beach in the rain. You cannot swim, but Mondello is always charming.

Take refuge under arcades in Ruggero Settimo Street. It's just in the city centre and you can watch city life running from there and you can find nice shops and places where you can eat.

I can suggest you to use touristic buses to easily reach the places to visit. That's expecially good when it rains. However it also could be nice to use city buses to get into the real city life.

Be sure that rainy times don't last too long usually.

As you can see you have plenty of things to see and to do even with bad weather!