Italy by Sea: A Cruise Traveler's Guide to Catania, Palermo & Portofino
A Mediterranean cruise itinerary is essentially a greatest-hits compilation of European history, culture, and coastline. And within that compilation, the Italian ports stand apart. Whether you are arriving in Sicily for the first time or returning to the Ligurian Riviera after years away, three ports in particular deserve a full day of dedicated exploration: Catania, Palermo, and Portofino.
Catania: Sicily's Most Underrated City
Catania does not always get the attention it deserves. Tourists tend to head straight for Taormina or Palermo, overlooking a city that has its own extraordinary character and a remarkable natural backdrop. Built largely from the black basalt lava of Mount Etna, Catania's baroque old town has a dark, volcanic beauty that is entirely unique.
Catania sightseeing starts at Piazza del Duomo — one of the most theatrical public squares in Italy — where the famous elephant fountain, crafted from lava stone, surveys the cathedral and the surrounding baroque palaces. The fish market nearby, La Pescheria, erupts into life each morning with an operatic energy that tells you everything about the local character.
Outside the city, the options are exceptional. Catania shore excursions that include Mount Etna offer a landscape unlike anything else in Europe — active craters, ancient lava fields, and views that stretch across the entire island on a clear day. Add in Taormina's Greek theatre and hillside medieval streets, and you have one of the most varied full-day itineraries in Sicily.
Palermo: A Thousand Years of Civilization in a Single City
If Catania is raw and volcanic, Palermo is gilded and complex. The Sicilian capital carries the weight of several thousand years of occupation — Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, Spanish — and the architecture reflects every chapter. Walking through the old town is an exercise in compressed history, where a Norman church stands beside a baroque fountain, itself built over an Arab-era market square.
The highlights of any Palermo shore excursion are well established: the Palatine Chapel with its glittering Byzantine mosaics, the Ballarò street market with its operatic vendors and extraordinary produce, and the Cathedral of Monreale, whose cloister ranks among the great artistic achievements of the medieval Mediterranean world.
Less visited but equally rewarding are the oratories of Giacomo Serpotta, whose stucco interiors represent some of the finest decorative art of the Italian baroque, and the seaside neighborhood of Mondello, where white sand and liberty-style architecture offer a gentler counterpoint to the city's intensity.
Palermo shore excursions benefit enormously from private transport — allowing access to the Monreale hilltop, the outer neighborhoods, and the best restaurants without the limitations of a fixed coach route.
Portofino: Small Village, Enormous Charm
Scale and grandeur are not the same thing. Portofino is proof. With a year-round population of just a few hundred people, it is one of Italy's smallest settlements — and one of its most iconic. The harbor, framed by colorful tall houses and overlooked by a medieval castle, has appeared in countless films, novels, and travel memoirs, and it rewards the real-life visit just as richly.
Portofino tourist attractions go well beyond the harbor square. The Church of San Giorgio, perched on the headland above the village, holds the relics of the town's patron saint and offers sweeping coastal views. The walk to San Fruttuoso Abbey — navigable on foot through the National Park or by boat along the coast — ends at one of the most atmospheric medieval buildings in northern Italy, surrounded by a pebble beach that rarely appears on tourist maps.
Things to do in Portofino also include the wider Riviera — a private car makes Santa Margherita Ligure, Camogli, and even the Cinque Terre accessible as part of a well-planned day.
One Country, Three Worlds
Sicily and the Italian Riviera are so different in character that it can be hard to believe they belong to the same nation. Yet both reward the same approach: slow down, go private, and let someone who knows the territory take you somewhere unexpected. Benvenuto Limos provides exactly that — private Italy tours and chauffeur service Italy-wide, with dedicated excursion packages from Catania, Palermo, and Portofino, tailored to your interests and delivered in genuine style.