Savoring Palermo: In The Markets and Beyond

Experience the vibrant markets of Palermo, filled with fresh produce, street food, and local delicacies. Indulge in crispy fried seafood, homemade caponata, and grilled swordfish. Don’t miss the sea urchin shucking experience!

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Teatro Politeama Garibaldi - The start of our Palermo tour, more than 10 full tastings in three different markets, explorations of local neighborhoods and visits to historic sites, this tour takes in iconic Palermo as well as lesser-known hidden gems.
  • Capo Street Market - At the lively Capo market, we will have a street snack of fried fish and stuffed sardine rolls. In the shadow of a Norman-era Church, where Byzantine and Arab influences come together, we will sample one of the city’s best arancina and panelle.
  • Teatro dell’Opera dei Pupi - Visit to the workshop of one of Palermo’s last puppeteers to see how he brings Sicilian history to life through his craft.
  • Mercato Ballaro - In the Ballarò market, we’ll go from stall to stall as local shoppers do, learning about Sicilian agriculture and sampling local pistachios and other nuts, candied fruits and fresh seasonal fruit juice. No visit to Ballarò would be complete without a bite of stigghiola, grilled lamb intestines, a humble but delicious snack.
  • Mercato Ballaro - At Vucciria Market, we will have for a glass of minerally white wine from Mount Etna, to accompany a snack of octopus at a local taverna.
  • Antica Gelateria Patricola - The tour ends in the Sicilian fashion, with an artisanal gelato, the sweet finish that unites this city.
What's Included
  • Bottled water included
  • Snacks provided
  • Tea and coffee available
Additional Information

The markets of Palermo are sure to captivate you: bright, sunlit alleyways overflowing with vibrant lemons, incredibly smooth ricotta, plentiful capers, and, of course, unique street food. Trade cries echo from the stalls of the Ballarò market as sellers vie for the attention of gastronomes with tables brimming with fresh octopus and sizzling grills filled with offal. Numerous stalls offer a paper cone filled with crunchy fried seafood. Alternatively, indulge in a plate of homemade eggplant caponata dappled with pine nuts and raisins. Should the sight of a thick slab of grilled swordfish not pique your interest, fret not, there could very well be a man on an overturned pail prying open fresh sea urchins just a few steps away.

Location
Teatro Politeama Garibaldi
Via Filippo Turati
We will meet you on the front steps of Teatro Politeama
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(29 Ratings)
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Debgw6281lg
Jul 8, 2024
Palermo Food Tour - Fantastic Experience - Francesca was a fantastic guide - sharing stories of food from her life and sharing unique places to experience this type of food for ourselves. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jason_a
Jul 6, 2024
Must do. - The tour was simply fantastic. Experiencing the tastes of Palermo and so much more- this will definitely be hard to beat.
Review provided by Viator
Lynne
Jun 19, 2024
You won’t leave hungry! - The tour was led by an excellent guide named Anna Maria. She was full of great information and anecdotes about Palermo and its history. We went to two markets and several restaurants. All were outstanding. My favorites were the watermelon custard filled-Pastry and the anchovy panzerotti. Highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
757leigha
Jun 11, 2024
The perfect way to see the city and experience the best foods it has to offer. - 1st time for us to join a Culinary Backstreet tour, but what a brilliant way to see the city, warts and all. An experience not to be missed and we will certainly look out for Culinary Backstreet tours in future. A big shout out for our guide for the day who made the day fun and informative.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
220allene
May 31, 2024
Excellent Food, Markets, and Fun! - Maria Luisa was a wealth of knowledge about Palermo, its languages, its history, its art, its residents, and its food. You will NOT go hungry on this walk. It was great to see both the Capo Market and the Ballaro market, and eat our way through a bit. We also got to try plenty of food off the markets, including some of what Palermo is famous for, like the spleen sandwich, grilled intestine, arancine, sfincione (tomato, onion, and cheese pizza, and seven-layer cake. Off the beaten path, we particularly enjoyed the non-food stop at the marionette theatre. This was such a neat, unique experience that we went back for a show that night. We wouldn't have found this without Maria Luisa. Thank you, Maria Luisa, for a great experience - both in eating and getting to know Palermo a little bit!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christina456
May 28, 2024
Delicious Palermo - My sister and I loved this tour. We paid more than we would normally pay for a tour but we were not disappointed, it was definitely worth it. Palermo is well known for its street food culture and this was a wonderful way to learn about the city and its food. Enrica was a wonderful guide, very knowledgeable and personable. There were 8 of us in the group and we ate A LOT of food. We also love that Culinary Backstreets supports local enterprises.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Akbeaumont
May 23, 2024
If you can only do one thing in Palermo - it should be this! - This is my second Culinary Backstreets tour and my obsession with this company grows the more tours I do! Francesca’s passion and enthusiasm for Palermo was contagious as she took us to all the hidden gems of the city. What was so special is during this tour you don’t feel like a tourist - Francesca quickly makes you feel like part of her family, introducing you to locals and taking you to the same spots she came to with her grandmother. Her ability to take us on a gastronomical journey whilst also giving us cultural and historical information and a quick Italian lesson is a testament to her skills as an incredible guide. We tried such an array of local delicacies - most that you’d never read about in a guide book. Whilst you could find cheaper food tours, there is no doubt nothing will come close to this one.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elizabethog6849en
May 19, 2024
A great experience - The tour was Wonderful. Our guide, Paula was from Palermo and extemely knowledgable abut the city. She was also extremely personable and fun. She took us to 5th generational food shops we would never have known about. We ate our way through the fabulous markets and food shops and met some lovely people from England on the tour. The tour was a treat and a great learning experience! Thank you Paula
Review provided by Tripadvisor
876vivg
May 19, 2024
A must do in Palermo - An excellent experience, our guide Paola was just superb. Tasting all the genuine Palermo was fantastic with a very good insight into the history of the city as well.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daytrip53952277073
May 11, 2024
Francesca the Best! - Just finished a great day of being introduced to the sights and flavors of Palermo with a great guide, Francesca. Her enthusiasm and love for Palermo was contagious. From our start with coffee and pastries to our end with ice cream (don’t worry, it wasn’t just sweets, there were plenty of other flavors in between) she made it informative and fun. Consider yourself fortunate to get her as your guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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1 Adult
September 2024
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