Trapani Travel Guide

Careful! The 'Via del Sale' road to Trapani on Sicily's north-west coast holds an unexpected danger for those behind the wheel. Along this picturesque drive it's all too easy to forget to watch the road, with eyes glued to the marvellous seaside panorama instead. In fact, this fascinating stretch of coast provides insight into a common and everyday household item, marine salt. The landscape is dominated by imposing mills and white salt pans extracting their precious resource through the force of sea and wind.
If you feel a little light-headed from the brilliance of the scene, the town of Trapani itself has plenty of options to help you come back down to earth. For example, try some great local food like a typical dish of fried ricotta cassata.
After both salty visions and tasty food, it's time to decide whether to dawdle down Corso Vittorio Emanuele for a light shopping crusade or else jump straight into exploring the historic laneways and cultural sites of the town where it's impossible not the feel the presence of 'people with African eyes', the Maghrebis. The Maghrebis once made Trapani one of the richest and most prosperous towns of Sicily and their influence still is evident in some of Trapani's important customs and clothing.

What to see and do
Sanctuary of the Annunciation, Santuario dell'Annunziata
Regional Museum of Pepoli
The street of Via Garibaldi and its 18th century buildings
Eat a couscous dish and the pizza Rianata (although not in the same evening!)
Cable car ride to the top of Mount Erice
The Museum of Salt and the Saline
Ligny's tower, Torre di Ligny and the Museum of Prehistory
A trip to the Phoenician island of Mozia and the island of Levanzo
Dive into the splendid water of Cornino Bay and walk the Mount Cofano nature reserve
Enjoy the sunset from the Nature Reserve of Stagnone.

Events at Trapani
April
The 'Processione dei Misteri', or Procession of Mysteries, is amongst the oldest and most long lasting of Italy's religious celebrations. Spanish in origin and dating back 400 years, it begins at 2pm on Good Friday and lasts a full 24 hours, winding its way through the principal streets of the town. The event was specially entrusted to local woodworking maestros who, united in guild groups, carved figurative statues in wood using gospel texts as inspiration and recounting the Passion of the Christ. The carved wood is used for the faces, hands and feet of the figures and gives a unique life to each character. While most of these characters are sacred, one is said to represent the assistant to Trapani's town executioner and during the procession these figures are swung back and forth to give a further animated effect.
August
Couscous Day, held in the first week of August, celebrates Trapani's culinary traditions, largely influenced by the town's Arabic history. Organised food stalls line the Viale delle Sirene street in the zone of Torre di Ligny and visitors can compare the couscous recipes of Trapani's best restaurateurs. Every year the event attracts tourists and locals alike to taste this food's traditional forms, enriched by fresh fish or spicy meat, vegetables and legumes and drawn from original North African dishes, as well as fantastic variations and experimental plates in the name of exploring future possibilities of this famous semolina wheat.

Trapani's Typical Food and Drink
Tuna ragù
Cooking Trapani style can't help but make use of the local seafood and tuna is top of the charts. In the tuna fishing process Trapani's residents also use the ancient methods handed down by the town's past Arabic rulers. Tuna ragù is a classic ragù where meat is substituted by a large, single cut of tuna, bought fresh and sliced by the local market fish vendors.
Marsala
This sweet fortified wine, fancied by the English royal family and traded by English merchants in the 1700s, is produced at Marsala in the area of Trapani. Marsala wine, together with the Passito di Pantelleria, is perfect to accompany your choice of typical local sweets: small cassatas fried and flavoured with orange juice or the Marsala wine itself, almond desserts from the trees of Erice or else Christmas treats of Berber origin.

Spotlight on The Grotto of the Genoese of Levanzo
Reachable by jeep during winter and boat during summer, the Grotto of the Genovese is a historical document of humankind that offsets the natural beauty of the island of Levanzo, the smallest of the Aegadian islands and considered a white rock paradise girt by sea. The interior of the grotto is decorated with Palaeolithic 'graffiti' which depicts animals and human figures as well as Neolithic rock art that includes a tuna fish and dolphin, the earliest representations of fish to be found in Europe.

How to arrive at Trapani
Trapani is on the northwest coast of Sicily, fronting the Aegadian Islands and at the base of Mount Erice. The largest city close by and the main entrance way to Trapani is Palermo, about an hour and a half away.
By Plane: The small airport of Trapani-Birgi is only 16km away and used by many of Europe's low cost airlines. More flight options are available through Palermo's international Falcone Borsellino airport.
By Car: The Autostrada (freeway) A29 runs from Palermo to Mazara del Vallo. After about 50 minutes take the Trapani exit, following the State road SS113 and the provincial roads SP35 and SP29.
By Boat: There are boats to and from Trapani that depart from Cagliari (on Sardinia) and Tunisia (in Africa) as well as Naples and the Sicilian islands of Aegadi and Pantelleria.
Other: A number of private bus companies run from Palermo and the province of Agrigento as well as from both airports. During summer an urban bus service operates around Trapani and offers visitors the chance to take in panoramic routes. There is a railway station at Trapani near the town centre and port and the shortest rail variation is the option that runs from Palermo through the station of Alcamo.