Instead of Cefalù
Instead of Cefalù: coastal towns, hill towns and mountain towns within 2 hours
Cefalù has a Norman cathedral, a crescent beach and a rock behind it, and in August the beach is the reason the town cannot move.
The Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily and the Madonie behind it hold towns with the same Norman churches and an empty stretch of sand.
Coastal towns, hill towns and mountain towns in our catalogue within 2 hours of Cefalù by road, ranked by outside recognition. Cefalù itself and the other famous places are left out. 23 towns match; the 12 best-recognised are below.
Instead of Cefalù
Cefalù · 13,881 residents · Sicilia
- Petralia SopranaPalermo
Mountain town · Borgo dei Borghi
- From Cefalù
- 1h 3m by car
- Residents
- 2,968
- When to go
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- Montalbano EliconaMessina
Mountain town · Borgo dei Borghi
- From Cefalù
- 1h 53m by car
- Residents
- 2,038
- When to go
- May–Oct
- GangiPalermo
Mountain town · Borgo dei Borghi
- From Cefalù
- 1h 22m by car
- Residents
- 6,110
- When to go
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- Geraci SiculoPalermo
Mountain town · Borghi più belli d'Italia
- From Cefalù
- 56m by car
- Residents
- 1,702
- When to go
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- Petralia SottanaPalermo
Mountain town · Bandiera Arancione
- From Cefalù
- 1h 26m by car
- By train
- Reachable
- Residents
- 2,475
- When to go
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
The 5 best-recognised of the 23 towns that match. Drive times measured by road from Cefalù. More of them follow below.
Petralia Soprana
Province: Palermo · 1,147 m
The highest village in the Madonie at 1,147 meters, RAI Borgo dei Borghi 2018 winner, sitting above 80 kilometers of salt tunnels.
Montalbano Elicona
Province: Messina · 907 m
A Nebrodi castle town at 907 meters, Frederick III of Aragon's summer residence and gateway to the Argimusco megalithic plateau.
Gangi
Province: Palermo · 1,011 m
A Madonie hill town stacked in concentric rings at 1,011 meters, RAI's Borgo dei Borghi 2014 and the launching pad for the one-euro-house programme.
Geraci Siculo
Province: Palermo · 1,077 m
A Madonie ridge village at 1,077 meters, capital of the Ventimiglia marquisate from 1258 and the first marquisate granted in Sicily.
Petralia Sottana
Province: Palermo · 1,000 m
A Madonie village at 1,000 meters, the only Bandiera Arancione in Sicily, and the headquarters of the Parco delle Madonie.
San Marco d'Alunzio
Province: Messina · 540 m
A hilltop borgo at 540 meters in pink Aluntina marble, founded by the Greeks and later Robert Guiscard's first Sicilian base.
Troina
Province: Enna · 1,121 m
At 1,121 meters on the Nebrodi ridge, the first capital and first bishopric the Normans set up in Sicily after taking it from the Arabs.
Calascibetta
Province: Enna · 691 m
A promontory town at 691 meters facing Enna across a ravine, founded in the ninth century as a Muslim camp to besiege Byzantine Henna.
Monreale
Province: Palermo · 310 m
Above the Conca d'Oro at 310 meters, the cathedral William II built between 1174 and 1182 holds 6,340 square meters of Norman mosaics.
Sperlinga
Province: Enna · 750 m
A sandstone borgo at 750 meters in the Nebrodi foothills where a Norman castle and dwellings are carved into the rock as one continuous mass.
Novara di Sicilia
Province: Messina · 650 m
A stone village at 650 meters where the Peloritani meet the Nebrodi, with a UNESCO-listed cheese race tumbling down the main street at Carnival.
Sutera
Province: Caltanissetta · 600 m
A medieval village clinging to the base of a 800-meter monolith in the Nisseno interior, with an Arab quarter and a sanctuary on the summit.
Drive times measured by road from Cefalù. A town with no time shown is one the router could not reach, usually because it is served by ferry. How this data is built.