Today we went to Trapani on the west coast of Sicily, and our main goal was to buy an internet sim card, but we also got to see an incredibly beautiful city! We managed to of course arrive in the afternoon when everything was closed (siesta), and that way we had time to walk around the Old Town instead.
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Old town of Trapani
What sets the Old Town of Trapani apart from thousands of other old towns in Europe is that it feels very powerful. The houses are old, but at the same time large and incredibly grand. Incidentally, I think you can fly here from Sweden and yes, we actually heard a bunch of Swedes in the city. We also heard a lot of Americans who arrived with the large cruise ship that was in the harbour.
How did it go with the swimming cards? Well, really well! When we finally waited out siestan (by walking in the city and reading in the motorhome) we managed to buy a sim card each. We got 20 GIG for 290 SEK/piece from the company TIM. So now we hope to be able to blog even when we freecamp!
Attractions in Trapani
Trapani is a beautiful and powerful city to stroll around. One of the most impressive sights is the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, built in 1421.
The Dante Alighieri promenade is also very popular. The beaches run along the promenade, with the old town to one side and the beautiful Egadi Islands to the other.
Excursions from Trapani
Starting from Trapani, it is possible to make various excursions. For example, you can visit various islands off the coast. You can also head up into the mountains for sights and views.
Egadi Islands
If you wish, you can make excursions to the Egadi Islands, namely Favignana, Levanzo and Marettino.
Island of Pantelleria
Another exciting excursion would be a trip to the island of Pantelleria. There is a route to this fairytale island, and it is from Trapani. The island is located between Sicily and Tunisia, in the middle of the sea. The island has been visited by Madonna and Armani has a house here. What a fascinating place!
Erice
To visit Erice, located in the mountains, take the cable car or bus 750 metres from Trapani. This is a very old town with two medieval towers. "Venus" and "Pepoli".
You can also go up to the Porta Castellammare - the three churches of St Maria Maddalena, St Ippolito and Santa Maria Maggiore and get a breathtaking view of the Bonagia Bay and the entire Mediterranean Sea.
Continuing to travel south
After our successful trip to Trapani, we followed the road southwards, close to the coast. We got to see the salt extraction business here, between Trapani and Marsala. You can see the small salt ponds where the sea salt is extracted and all the salt piles, as well as all the mills out in the water. We are having a fricamp here tonight, overlooking the salt ponds and the salt. Slowly it feels like we are starting to find the right place here in Sicily!
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BP says:
Oh yes - the Siesta thing. Did you think there was a difference between Spain and Italy or;-)
Trapani seems to be as beautiful as ever. Hope you managed to explore the city more than the nearest electronics store.
Oh what a great free camping site you have found! That's called sea salt and it costs a lot here in Sweden - so just stock up I guess. A little extra work when you get home maybe. I buy, I promise;-)
28 July 2015 - 23:30
Steve says:
There you go, now I'm trying to be anonymous too. Sloppy of me.
Great photos in the Old Town where the background varies between a beautiful old building and a modern cruise ship. There's a bit of history in this photo duo.
I'm glad that the swimming cards were resolved and that you're starting to get along with Sicily.
29 July 2015 - 7:03
Nils-Åke Hansson says:
I'm glad it worked out with the SIM card. So we get fresh stories from your trip. Take some salt home and sell it, some people told us. Of course it will be organic, I said.
Stay well
Nisse
29 July 2015 - 8:14
Rolle o Carina says:
Perfect it worked out with the Sim Card!
Then we'll keep on travelling 🙂
Have fun and enjoy 🙂
29 July 2015 - 8:43
admin says:
BP, we should have learnt that with siesta, but it's kind of hopeless... haha. 13-16:30 is like the middle of the day, often when you have finished, finished driving, etc. I have a hard time with this siesta invention... 😉.
Steve, nice that you are not anonymous anymore! 😉 Yes, we hope we will get along with Sicily. Heat and high season are a bit challenging after all 😉 .
Nils-Åke, it's definitely easier to blog now that we have SIM cards!
Rolle o Carina, well now we should have no problem blogging! 🙂
29 July 2015 - 8:50
Maggan och Ingemar says:
When you are at Marsala, you should look for Marsala wine, which is said to be strong and good. We missed both buying and seeing how it is produced, but there should be wine tasting nearby.
http://www.vinjournalen.se/skola/marsala-vin-italiens-beromdaste-starkvin/
I'm glad you got your sim card...... so we can continue to follow you 🙂 .
Have a pleasant journey.
29 July 2015 - 9:15
Ladies Abroad says:
How nice that you have arrived in Sicily, I have been without wifi for a few days and only saw it now. Sicily is also one of my European favourites and I look forward to reading more. Trapani, which I haven't been to yet, looks very nice.
/Lena
29 July 2015 - 17:11
znogge says:
How beautiful it looks there and what a big ship you can see between the houses. But run-over dogs are not liked ...
29 July 2015 - 17:53
Madelene Fryklind says:
How nice it looks! Sicily is also very close to Africa so it probably takes some time to get used to "Africa-mode". Internet is a stress factor when travelling and changing countries! We eventually bought a wifi box from Vodafone and planned our shop visits for updates and new SIM cards very carefully. All so as not to lose our mood.... If you are travelling north towards Naples, I have a tip for magically good pizza! It is a small village with a small trattoria located right next to a small farm dairy with buffaloes - very fresh mozzarella! (Camping within walking distance of course!) Enjoy Sicily for us too (it's raining...).
29 July 2015 - 18:07
Ruth i Virginia says:
Really nice that you "took in" both Trapani and Marsala. We visited both places
under our Elderhostel. Tried the marsala wine, which was used in many ways.
We also had a boat trip to an island in the salt lagoons, where we had lunch.
Sicily is special!
29 July 2015 - 18:24
admin says:
Maggan and Ingemar, many thanks for the tip! Now we probably missed it too, but it sounded interesting! Maybe we can find it outside Marsala too?
Ladies Abroad, glad to hear you like Sicily! We have only been able to discover a little so far.
Znogge, they drive pretty fast...
Madeleine Fryklind, oh such a pizza experience is probably what we would need! I think we will take the east coast up through Italy, but I will let you know if we change our minds! 🙂
Ruth in Virginia, oh those boat trips to the offshore islands we saw! Could have been nice, but we settled for the coast and seeing the salt extraction.
29 July 2015 - 18:25
Steel city anna says:
What about the mafia 🙂 very beautiful city anyway! I think it's nice not to have internet when travelling. Is old-fashioned 🙂
29 July 2015 - 18:49
admin says:
Steel city Anna, it can certainly be nice to be without internet when travelling, but not if you are a travel blogger 😉 I don't know much about the mafia. I have heard that you should not ask about it 😉 The garbage management is lousy (garbage everywhere!) and I have heard (but do not know?) that the mafia is involved in the garbage management.
29 July 2015 - 21:15
Henny says:
Have also heard that the mafia is involved in the rubbish (he he he)
29 July 2015 - 21:19
Ditte says:
Nice that the calm and the more correct feeling is starting to appear. I only remember very little from Trapani where I spent a day during a cruise in the Mediterranean.
I'm glad you got a SIM card so we can take a closer look at Sicily.
Beautiful pictures!
30 July 2015 - 17:28
Anonymous says:
You can also take the time to visit Erice, which is a neighbouring municipality of Trapani and is located at an altitude of about 800 m. You can take the cable car up, or the local bus both up and down. We have on several occasions walked from Trapani to Erice (the cable car) and walked along the small steep streets and then walked the rugged terrain down the mountain back to Trapani - but then you have to have many litres of water and preferably an umbrella to protect against the sun.
30 January 2016 - 19:24