Cefalu – between La Rocca and the beach

Cefalu

Cefalu – Between La Rocca and the beach

We arrived in Cefalu with high expectations after a wonderful stay in Castellammare del Golfo, 90 miles away on the other side of Palermo.

We were not to be disappointed.

On arrival we were taken aback at how strikingly pretty and unique the town is. Set beneath an imposing rock, ‘La Rocca’, the medieval town cascades down from the stunning cathedral to the water’s edge.

The Norman cathedral (part of a UNESCO World Heritage site) was truly worth a visit to the town in its own right, with its gold mosaics, most notably its unforgettable Christ Pantocrator dominating the apse and reminiscent of the glory of the cathedral of Monreale just outside Palermo. Its twin towers dominate the skyline of the old town and just below that, as is so often the case in Sicily, we were able to grab an excellent lunch at the very casual but buzzing Fritto & Divino serving street food on its bench tables. We tried everything we could: fried calamari, arancini, fried vegetables washed down with a beer before carrying on to explore the old town some more.

 

And what a great beach it was. A mile of sand stretching out from the gates of the old town, much of it populated by beach clubs but all of it set against the spectacular backdrop of the medieval town. We stayed at the 3* Hotel Tourist at the further end of the beach. It was more peaceful there and we loved our little stretch of beach with the delight of arriving and our hotel bagnino setting up our sun loungers under our beach umbrella, two feet from the water’s edge. The hours just flew by on the beach, with its warm waters, perfect for lilo floating, it’s gorgeous views and the most idyllic position for sunset which we were torn between viewing on the beach or on our balcony.

We did a lot of beach time as do most visitors to Cefalu in the summer, some days we couldn’t tear ourselves away even for lunch and so got the local grocery store to make us ricotta and tomato panini which we ate on our sun loungers.

We loved our traditional hotel and its real Italian feel and clientele – the huge and attractive pool was a Mecca for people watching, it was like the characters of ‘My Brilliant friend’ had come to stay. We were there for the festival of the Madonna on 14 August and enjoyed the most entertaining of evenings with the sumptuous outdoor buffet being followed by all the waiters and management jumping and being thrown into the pool. I have never seen anything quite like it before.

 

Other evenings we headed into town following our hotel concierge’s recommendations and as always in Sicily we ate superbly. One evening we had possibly my favourite ever pizza at La Bottega Tivitti on the sea front. Another excellent, if more Sicilian meal, was at the small Tivitti restaurant high up in the old town, we simply couldn’t try all the places we wanted to. We always finished the evening with a gelato and limoncello stop at one of the many ice cream bars on the way home and walked it off with a star-lit stroll along the beach promenade to our hotel.

We climbed the rock La Rocca one morning – it took a good hour to get up the there and was quite a hike, but well worth the effort, the views down on the town, along the coast and out to the Aeolian Islands are very special and there are lots of fortifications to visit on the way. On another day we drove into the Madonnie National Park which runs southwards from the coast. As well as beautiful views and cooling woods there are many picturesque towns – Castelbuono was a hive of local activity and the menfolk gathered in the town square for a game of cards and a morning drink.

 

Our few days flew by and we were very sad to leave Cefalu’s rare mix of beautiful historic town and all out beach in summer. We stocked up at the deli on fresh ricotta and ricotta salata which they vacuum packed for us so that we could recreate a bit of that Sicilian magic fro out friends and family when we got home.

Cefalu is a superb base to explore North Sicily from all year round. It’s only an hour from Palermo (you can go by train if you wish), there are daily fast services to the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano) in summer and the stunning classical site of Agrigento is about two hours away. The Tourist is a great value 3* property right on the beach, Le Calette is a 4*/5* option the other side of town with rock/platform sea access, La Plumeria is a lovely converted townhouse right in the centre and in summer 2018 Club Med are opening their first 5*property in Cefalu at the far end of the beach.

Talk to us about holidays in Cefalu or anywhere in Sicily.

 

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