Palermo Warnings Or Dangers

Having lived in Japan, old Cliffie has experienced quite a few earth tremors. But he will never forget the first earthquake he felt, at 11 o'clock one Thursday morning, as he taught a class of teenage Sicilian girls. As he felt the floor tremble, he turned to look out of the fifth-floor window at the building across the street, which was gently swaying from side to side, with bits of the façade slowly peeling off and falling into the street. Sicily lies in the Mediterranean earthquake belt: its worst earthquake in the last century was in 1908, when more than 70000 people died in Messina.

Palermo is an interesting city to visit as long as you reasonabl on your guard. In the market places, keep wallets out of sight, and dont carry cameras in sight of others. Dont stand around looking at tourist maps(you're obviously a tourist and looking to be robbed).
Ladies --- if you've got to carry bags, use those you can put across your shoulder and dont carry money or credit cards in them. Put these somewhere else.
Watch out for kids hanging about on street corners, especially with motor scooters.

If you're going out at night, take a taxi.

This is not paranoia - Palermo can be a dangerous place.

When you walk in Palermo, please pay attention that your bag be on the side of the buildings, not of the street. If your bag is on the side they can easily reach, they are likely to be stolen away. So every way you cross the street, pay attention to move your bag from a shoulder to the other.

When looking into Palermo as a destination, I was a little put off by all the warnings about crime, pickpockets and general unsavoriness of the city. We spent 4 wonderful days there in April, 2006 and had no problems. It was a beautiful and exciting city full of friendly and helpful people. I'm sure that there is a problem for tourists, because people on the street continually gestured for us to be careful. I think, that common sense and basic alertness to one's surroundings should keep any traveller safe. Don't go out loaded with jewelry and a designer bag, looking like you have something worth stealing. Be sensitive when taking photos. Although I was fascinated by all the buildings still showing their WWII shelling, I didn't get my camera out and snap pictures. (I did take one when I noticed that no one would see me.) If a particulrar street or area looks ominous, or doesn't have other pedestrians, don't go there. Be friendly and smile at people. I think that the locals are your best allies. They don't want tourists molested in their town.

Just be aware - if you arrive during a Pan-European drought as we did, Sicily being an island feels it more than most. There were signs asking us to conserve water in the hotel lest the tank ran dry (fortunately this did not happen) but - you may see some fountains which have been mothballed til it rains, around Piazza Giulio Cesare, and this one in the Botanical Garden, not seen at their best

Hmmm. 'Tourist Information' in most countries I have visited is a service - at Palermo train station , I believe it is an APPEAL - like for witnesses to an accident, or for help tracing a missing person. TOURIST INFORMATION - CAN YOU HELP ? Perhaps you can advise on buses or trains or shops or local venues.?.. The fellow here can hit a kind of central locking and just lock people out. I asked the lady for directions and got a shrug and a sigh '...E complicato.." Thanks for that. Most uselss Tourist office since..Roma Termini - is it a train station thing?
Befriend the clerks at your hotel who will be more than helpful. I have added some transport details on my Palermo pages for Mondello, Cefalu and Monreale

That's the motto you need to adopt to survive on the roads in Palermo. Italians in general are notorious for their crazy driving, and Palermitans are no exception. Pedestrian crossings are almost meaningless. You need to head straight for the gaps and show no fear. Or failing that, hang around until somebody who looks like they know what they're doing starts to cross and run after them.

You will need:
(1) The calmness of the Dalai Lama
(2) Extremely fast reactions
(3) A good map of the city
(4) Someone who knows how to read it. Not the driver, as he will be busy avoiding collisions, and swearing a lot.

Allow 2 hours to find anything. Including the way out.