Instead of Taormina: Cefalù, Norman Sicily Gazing Over the Madonie

Taormina is Sicily's balcony: the Greek Theatre, Etna as backdrop, the sea below. But it is also one of the island's most expensive cities, with Capri-level prices and crowds that in summer make Corso Umberto impassable. Cefalù, on Sicily's north coast, offers a different but equally extraordinary beauty — more popular in character and easier on the wallet.

Cefalù's Cathedral is one of the masterpieces of Norman art in Sicily: commissioned by Roger II in 1131, it has two massive towers dominating the borgo, and an interior where the Christ Pantocrator — with the golden apse mosaic — looks down with an expression of superhuman serenity. It is one of the finest Byzantine mosaics in the Mediterranean, and you will see it without the crowds of Monreale Cathedral.

The old borgo is a web of medieval lanes descending toward the marina: the Medieval Wash-house — a series of stone basins fed by a spring welling from the rock — is one of Sicily's most evocative places. The water is cool and clear; washerwomen came here until the 1960s.

The Rocca di Cefalù — the limestone promontory looming over the borgo — can be climbed on foot in forty minutes along a steep but safe path. At the top, the ruins of the Temple of Diana (actually a prehistoric megalithic structure) and the medieval walls offer a view reaching from the Madonie mountains to the Aeolian Islands.

Cefalù's beach is one of the few urban beaches in Sicily: golden sand steps away from the Cathedral, with crystal-clear water that early in the morning is entirely yours. It fills up in summer, but ten minutes by car is enough to reach deserted coves along the coast.

Eating in Cefalù is a complete Sicilian experience: pasta con le sarde and wild fennel, swordfish involtini, arancini, cannoli, granita with brioche. Prices are those of real Sicily, not tourist Sicily.

Cefalù is reached from Palermo in an hour by regional train (frequent service), from Palermo airport in an hour and a half. It is the perfect base for exploring the Madonie — the natural park with the mountain borghi of Geraci Siculo, Petralia Soprana and Polizzi Generosa — and the coast between Tusa and Santo Stefano di Camastra.

Practical guides

• Getting to Cefalù: train, car, plane and bus
• Two Days in Cefalù: Under the Norman Sky of Sicily
• Where to Stay in Cefalù: A Neighbourhood-by-Neighbourhood Guide to Sicily's Norman Jewel
• Where to Eat in Cefalù: Sicilian Flavours Between Rock and Sea