CityBest late May – June, September

Palermo

A port city that never tidied itself up for visitors, with the best fried food in the Mediterranean sold from hatches.

Palermo's markets — Ballarò, Capo, Vucciria — are the city's kitchen, and they are loud, cheap and open early. Go before the cruise ships dock, eat standing up, and leave the restaurants for dinner.

Photo: Tango7174, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where to stay in Palermo

Stays shown via Stay22 — booking through the map supports the log.

Part of

Halloween

Halloween, Locally Observed

Eleven cities where the end of October is a real local custom rather than an imported one — a fire festival on Calton Hill, a cemetery vigil that runs all night, and ossuaries in Naples, Palermo and Paris you can walk through any week of the year.

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City

Buenos Aires

Recoleta's French-style mansions and a steakhouse culture that never adopted small portions.