Page 419 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

the sights by following the signs for “centro” and then “Duomo”. The narrow streets

may seem challenging, but a fairly sensible one-way system runs along Via Mazzini to
Piazza Garibaldi and then dog-legs up Via Cavour to the Duomo – there’s a fair
amount of metered parking on the way, and free parking in Piazza Duomo itself.

Tourist information There’s a tourist office at Viale Generale Muscarà 47 (Mon–Fri
8am–2pm; 0935 680 201).

ACCOMMODATION

B&B Umberto 33 Via Umberto 33 0935 683 344 or 340 558 6002,
umberto33.com. A centrally located B&B on one of the old town’s main shopping and

strolling streets, with three handsome en-suite rooms. €60
Gangi Via Generale Ciancio 68–70 0935 682 737, hotelgangi.it. A three-star

hotel housed in a sympathetically restored old palazzo in the lower town, featuring
exposed stone walls, a cobbled courtyard and straightforward rooms. You can park
nearby as well. €70

Ostello del Borgo Largo San Giovanni 6 0935 687 019, ostellodelborgo.it. This
refurbished fourteenth-century Benedictine convent has both hostel beds (Hostelling
International card required) and sixteen other private rooms (singles, doubles and

family rooms, with en-suite bathrooms), all converted from former nuns’ cells and thus
fairly spartan but quiet and clean. Dorm beds €17; doubles €60

Park Hotel Paradiso Contrada Ramaldo 0935 680 841, parkhotelparadiso.it. It’s
out of the historic centre, 1km beyond the church of Sant’Andrea (signposted from
town), but if you want a resort-style stay this is the place. It’s a modern four-star with
echoing public spaces aimed at the convention-and-wedding market, but the rooms are

pretty spacious and well equipped, and there’s a pool, sauna, gym and formal
restaurant. €80

Suite d’Autore Via Monte 1 0935 688 553, suitedautore.it. Offbeat is hardly
the word: fabulously quirky accommodation in a redesigned old palazzo across from
the Duomo (rooms with views cost extra), where the themes come thick and fast
(“Strangeness”, “Magic and Irony”, “Fluidity”, etc) in fun-filled rooms that mix

contemporary design, stylish artefacts, retro objects, original art and photography. If
you’re especially taken by your Star Wars bedside table or Philippe Starck chair,
everything is also for sale. The top-floor bar, for breakfast and evening drinks, has
fabulous town and country views, and there’s free parking right outside in the square.
€100

EATING AND DRINKING