Palermo Ferry

Palermo Passenger and Car Ferries

Palermo passenger and car ferry ticket prices, timetables, ticket reservations and information for ferries sailing from Palermo to Civitavecchia, Genoa, Livorno, Malta, Napoli, Salerno and Tunis.

Compare all available Palermo ferry ticket prices in real time and book the cheapest available Palermo car and passenger ferry tickets sailing to and from Palermo, Civitavecchia, Genoa, Livorno, Malta, Napoli, Salerno and Tunis with SNAV, Grandi Navi Veloci, Tirrenia Ferries or Grimaldi Ferry Lines ferries online with instant confirmation.

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Palermo Ferries
Ticket Prices & Reservations


Book Palermo Ferry Tickets
with SNAV, Grandi Navi Veloci, Tirrenia Ferries or Grimaldi Ferry Lines for ferries sailing from Palermo to Civitavecchia, Genoa, Livorno, Malta, Napoli, Salerno and Tunis online in advance to enjoy the cheapest available ferry ticket price.

The price you see is the price you pay. There are no hidden extras or surprises such as added fuel surcharges or booking fees and we do not charge you anything extra for paying with a Visa Electron card. The price we quote you for your selected Palermo passenger or car ferry ticket, onboard accommodation and vehicle type is all you will pay, and that's a promise.

To obtain a Palermo ferry ticket price and book your ferry ticket securely online please use the real time ferry booking form on the left. You are also able to add a hotel at your destination, or anywhere else, to your ferry ticket when completing your ferry ticket reservation.

 

More About Palermo

Palermo is a city of decay and of splendour and, provided you can handle its raw energy, deranged driving and chaos, it has plenty of appeal.

Unlike Florence or Rome, many of the city’s treasures are hidden, rather than scrubbed up for endless streams of tourists. Be prepared to explore this giant treasure-trove of palaces, castles and churches has a unique architectural fusion of Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Renaissance and baroque gems. Palermitans themselves have inherited the intriguing looks and social rituals of their multicultural past. Life here is full on: a very public, warm-hearted and noisy affair.

At one time an Arab emirate and seat of a Norman kingdom, Palermo became Europe’s grandest city in the 12th century but, in recent years, its fame (or notoriety) has originated mainly from headline-grabbing assassinations and political corruption. The Mafia still maintains a stranglehold on the city; many of the judges require 24-hour police surveillance and protection payoffs remain commonplace.

Palermo Bay

While some of the crumbling palazzi bombed in WWII are being restored, others remain dilapidated; turned into shabby apartments, the faded glory of their ornate façades is just visible behind strings of brightly coloured washing. The evocative history of the city remains very much part of the daily life of its inhabitants, and the dusty web of backstreet markets in the old quarter has a tangible Middle Eastern feel.

The flip side is the modern city, a mere 15-minute stroll away, parts of which could be neatly jigsawed and slotted into Paris with their grid system of wide avenues lined by seductive shops and handsome 19th-century apartments.

Historical Palermo

Founded by the Phoenicians, who named it Ziz, Palermo was settled in the eighth century BC as a port. Its development paralleled that of Solunto and Motia. Archeologists generally agree that the Phoenicians were compelled to develop these cities because they were forced out of eastern Sicily by the Greeks, but this civilization's presence in western Sicily seemed inevitable. The Greeks called the city Panormos, meaning "all port." The Latin name, still used in Catholic Church documents well into the nineteenth century, was Panormus.

The Phoenicians' descendants and successors, the Carthaginians, made Panormos a center of commerce, and it was their base port, in 480 BC, for the navy that was defeated in the Battle of Himera. In 276 BC, Panormos finally fell to the Greeks. The Punic Wars followed, and the city was part of the Roman Empire from 253 BC. Phoenician and Roman Palermo extended from the port area along what is now Corso Vittorio Emanuele to Corso Calatafimi in the area beyond the Royal Palace (viewed from a distance in this photo of the Monastery of Saint John of the Hermits).

The Paleo-Christian era left several early churches in the city. Its earliest faith was Orthodoxy. Following a brief Gothic occupation and occasional Vandal raids, Panormus was part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire from 535 until 831, when it fell to the invading Saracen Arabs ("Moors"), who turned many of the churches into mosques. Thus began the reign of the Aghlabid dynasty of what is now Tunisia. From 948, as Bal'harm, it was the capital of the Emirate of Sicily of the Kalbite dynasty, and it is from that date that Palermo may be considered to have been the royal capital of Sicily. (On our simplified map the three major Arab districts are shown in yellow.)

The Arabs brought the lemon and the orange, cane sugar, and the cultivation of mulberry trees, dates, cotton and hard wheat. They introduced innovative irrigation systems and a novel system of aqueducts. Palermo became one of the Muslim world's most splendid cities, surpassed only by Baghdad.

In stark contrast to the Normans' conquest of England, the Sicilian conquest was long and difficult. Only in 1071, almost a decade after they had landed at Messina, did the Normans, led by Robert "Guiscard" de Hauteville, capture Palermo, and then after a five-month siege. Numbering perhaps as many as a hundred thousand, the residents (Palermitans) of this medieval metropolis were Muslims, Christians and Jews from every part of Sicily and every part of the Mediterranean. The island was the place where east met west, and north met south. In the decades to come, Palermo flourished as the wealthiest city of Europe, the victor in a subtle sibling rivalry with another newly-Norman city, London.

From the eleventh century onward, the history of Palermo is largely the history of Sicily. Despite brief periods of competition from Messina and then Catania, it was the seat of the island's government. By the nineteenth century, Palermo had become the place of residence of most of western Sicily's nobility. Its splendid palazzi are their legacy. If Milan seems to ignore the rest of Italy, if Rome presumes to be the national capital, Palermo exists in a realm neither could ever hope to occupy.

Its ancient and medieval historical district is larger than that of any other Italian city except Rome and maybe Naples. Southern Italy's entire historical legacy exists along a kilometer of Corso Calatafimi --a Phoenician-Carthaginian cemetery, Roman homes (in Piazza Vittoria), Norman palaces (the Cuba and Royal Palace) and Baroque churches. Perhaps no other street in Europe boasts a heritage so ancient and so varied.

There's no other Italian city quite like it. Palermo is an urban paradox. Life in this unique city can be challenging, though most Palermitans seem to have adapted well. Water is rationed; it is provided for a few hours every two or three days, just long enough to fill up the tanks in residents' homes. Air quality leaves something to be desired; in 2000 Via Roma registered the highest level of pollutants of any main street in a large Italian city. Traffic often comes to a complete halt for hours; Via Regione Siciliana, the city's main highway, is infamous for this, especially near the poorly-designed interchange at Via Da Vinci (and McDonalds and the Holiday Inn). Protests often block central streets; these "mini-revolutions" are invariably over by lunchtime. Despite such inconveniences, Palermo remains a jewel of the Mediterranean. No visit to Sicily is ever complete without a visit to Palermo, a city that permits one not just to know this island but to begin to understand it.

For Visitors to Palermo

As Sicily's largest and most cosmopolitan city, Palermo offers great dining as well as excellent shopping. Though there are good restaurants throughout Palermo, they're not easy to find. In general, we suggest that you try the ones on side streets instead of those near the port (on Via Amari and Via Cavour), which might be described as "tourist restaurants." (A number of Palermitan restaurants and wine bars are listed and reviewed on our special page dedicated to Palermo's Best Restaurants.)

Throughout Palermo, there are excellent pastry shops and "bars" that serve ice creams, pastries and, during Summer months, granita (flavored ices). If you want to sample these tempting delights in a leisurely setting, we suggest the charming outdoor cafés on Via Principe di Belmonte, which runs from Via Maqueda to Via Roma near the Politeama Theatre. Located in the city's best shopping district, Via Belmonte is closed to traffic, making it Palermo's answer to Rome's Piazza di Spagna or Via Condotti. The city doesn't only offer great cuisine and fascinating history. Palermo also has some very good shopping, and many of the better shops are conveniently located in the city's centre around Via Maqueda and Via Libertà, especially on the side streets, where you'll find shops that sell everything from antiques to Sicilian-made specialty goods like ceramic items and original jewelry.

 


Best available Palermo ferry ticket price guarantee

Best Palermo Ferry Ticket Price Guarantee

Best Price Guarantee - We always offer you our lowest available SNAV, Grandi Navi Veloci, Tirrenia Ferries or Grimaldi Ferry Lines passenger and car ferries ticket price to and from Palermo. There are no hidden extras or surprises such as added fuel surcharges or booking fees and we also we do not charge you anything extra for paying with a Visa Electron card. The price we quote for your selected Palermo ferry ticket, onboard accommodation and vehicle type is all you will pay, and that's a promise!

In the unlikely event you find the same all inclusive Palermo ferry ticket cheaper in the brochure of any other tour operator we promise that we will do our best to beat that price or offer you the choice of requesting a refund. To book Palermo car and passenger ferry tickets please click here.

 

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