CHARMING CEFALÙ IN NORTHERN SICILY

Last April, we spent about a week exploring three spots in Sicily - Taormina, Palermo and Cefalù. The three locations couldn’t have been different - while Taormina was molto turistico and Palermo was filled to the brim with culture, history and architecture, Cefalù was quaint, charming and, while I’m sure it gets very busy in the summer, for us in April, it seemed relatively undiscovered. It checked all of our favorite European village boxes - beautiful sea views, limited tourists, interesting history and colorful locals.

Cefalù is a small seaside village on the northern coast of Sicily. We arrived on the train from Taormina and were lucky enough to have our Airbnb host pick us up and drive us to our apartment. As we found out, only Cefalù residents are allowed to drive within the Old Town limits, however the train station is still within a 10-15 minute walk from the center of town (we easily walked back there when we were leaving town). On our first night, we stopped for an aperitivo at Enoteca Le Petit Tonneau, a wine bar/food shop with a small two-table balcony in back, perfect for catching the sunsets over the water. While there, we began talking to a married couple from California who had just gotten into town from Messina, where the wife’s family was originally fun.

Cefalù sunset

We love asking locals for restaurant recommendations, as they know better than anyone. Our Airbnb host, as well as the server at the wine shop, both recommended Ristorante La Brace, a cozy bistro-type spot in the center of town that is run by a mother and son. This turned out to be one of our favorite meals in Sicily - Kevin had a rigatoni pasta with a rich, red wine sauce and I had a special pasta with a tomato and gorgonzola sauce.

The next day happened to be our anniversary and since it was a Saturday, we decided to visit the weekly market and get ingredients to cook a special dinner that night to celebrate. Much like other Italian markets, there were several vendors selling various types of cheeses, cured meats, olives and vegetables. After the market, we headed to the main piazza where they were setting up for a festival that evening. We also visited the Cefalù Cathedral, one of the town’s main attractions. The construction of the cathedral began in 1131 and is a mixture of Norman and Sicilian Romanesque architecture. The cathedral is also one of nine in a collection of Arab-Norman churches in Sicily that form a Unesco World Heritage site. Before dinner, we took a stroll down to the beach and watched a few wedding parties taking photos.

Dinner that night was a success, and we enjoyed some wine on our small balcony as the sounds of the drummers at the festival filtered down the street. We wished we had longer to explore beautiful Cefalu, but we were off to Palermo in the morning.