Is Marsala in Sicily worth visiting?

Marsala is a coastal city in the province of Trapani, in western Sicily. It’s famous for Marsala wine, salt produced from its salt pans and ancient ruins. Here’s why Marsala is worth visiting.

How to get to Marsala

Getting to Marsala depends, of course, on where you’re coming from. Marsala has a train station, however if you’re coming from another part of Sicily, this may not be your best option as the routes are not always direct.

The closest airport is Trapani-Birgi Airport, which is only 14 km from Marsala, however it mainly only serves domestic flights and some other European cities, but not the UK. If you’re flying in to Palermo Airport then the quickest option to reach Marsala is by car or taxi. It will take around an hour and 20 minutes, but a taxi is very expensive – around €160 – €180. There is the option to get the train, however the route isn’t that regular and it takes over 2 hours. We got the bus from the airport to Marsala with Autoservizi Salemi, which took about an hour and 45 mins and cost €11 per person.

Of course, if you’re planning on hiring a car for Marsala then the best option is to hire it from the airport and drive.

Where to stay in Marsala

We stayed in the stunning Dome Hotel, right by the Cathedral so it’s very central with attractions, bars and restaurants in walking distance. If I remember correctly, it was the former stables of a wealthy family. Now, it’s a boutique hotel with just 15 rooms. Our room had an inner terrace with real lemon trees!

The hotel is lovely and modern whilst paying respect to its history and tradition. I loved the artwork that was on display throughout the hotel and the room was large and spacious. There is also a rooftop pool and bar with views over the seven domes of Marsala’s churches.

What to do in Marsala

There is so much to see and do in Marsala itself, as well as the neighbouring towns. Sadly we didn’t get to do everything we wanted to do as we were only there for four nights and just didn’t have enough time to fit it all in. So, I’m doing something I don’t normally do and that’s including things we wanted to do but didn’t. And the reason I’m including them is to hopefully help you decide if you want to do them and then plan your trip accordingly.

So, here’s what to do in Marsala.

Visit the churches

Marsala is home to some amazing historic churches, including of course the beautiful cathedral – duomo di San Tommaso di Canterbury – which faces onto Piazza della Repubblica.

My favourite church was the Chiesa del Purgatorio (Church of Purgatory), which is around the corner from the cathedral. It’s no longer a church but a music venue. The facade is in the Baroque style, which is really beautiful, but it was the inside that took my breath away! The 18th century frescoes inside are just absolutely stunning. If you want to go inside however, the church is only open during certain days and times so be sure to check first. It’s also free to visit.

Chill at the beach

I’ll be honest. The beaches in Marsala are nice, but not amazing. If you’re looking for a purely beach holiday, I wouldn’t recommend Marsala. For a fabulous beach holiday in Sicily, try San Vito lo Capo, Cefalù or Castellammare del Golfo.

So why are the beaches in Marsala not that great? Unfortunately they have posidonia, which is a seagrass that is fairly abundant and a bit smelly. As it’s a living organism, they are not allowed to get rid of it so sometimes, depending on the tide and wind etc, there may be quite a lot of it on the beaches. And there was a lot when we visited!

Take a boat trip to Favignana

If you fancy a day trip to an island with the most amazing water you’ve ever seen, head to Favignana. There are plenty of companies offering day trips to suit different budgets. You can even just get the ferry if you like – although you will miss a lot of the amazing swimming spots that are only accessible by boat.

Our hotel, Dome Hotel, recommended Egadi Boat which we booked. It was more pricey than some of the other tours – at €85 per person – but it’s because they limit the numbers to 12 people. For your money you get a whole day out, lunch (sandwiches, pizzetta and wine), bottled water throughout the day, snorkeling masks and then later before you head back to Marsala they serve aperitivo, which consisted of wine, panelle and crisps. And of course you get to experience all the best swimming spots! Our captain, Gino, has been doing this job for 13 years so he is an absolute pro.

What we really loved about the tour was that we got to spend 90 mins in the town itself. Having actually stayed in Favignana twice before, it was lovely to see it again and we could take our time as we’d been before. So we chose to spend some of that time just sitting and enjoying a delicious granita! Favignana is famous for tuna and there was even time to visit the Tonnara for those who wanted to.

We absolutely loved our day on the boat! I highly recommend this as a day trip from Marsala – especially if you’ve never been to the beautiful island of Favignana.

Go wine tasting with the experts

Marsala is famous for Marsala wine and is home to many wineries. Before our holiday we were contemplating booking a wine tasting at Donnafugata, as we had done one at their estate in Pantelleria and it was fabulous. But… we didn’t end up booking it, thinking we’d just wait until we arrived. Well that was a big mistake as they had no availability for weeks! Neither did any of the other wineries, like Cantine Florio which has been around since 1833 and is one of the oldest wineries in Sicily.

So my top tip is… book in advance if you don’t want to miss out on wine tasting in Marsala. Of course you can drink Marsala wine pretty much everywhere – you just won’t get an expert tasting or very exclusive wines.

Have aperitivo overlooking the salt pans

A unique experience in Marsala is enjoying aperitivo overlooking the salt pans. There are a few places to choose from but we opted to book Mamma Caura, which overlooks the Ettore and Infersa salt pan and the 16th century mill. We could actually see workers shoveling salt into big piles while we were enjoying our drinks, which is not something you see every day! It’s very popular though so I highly recommend booking it in advance. Also, note that it’s located about a 15 to 20 minute drive from the city centre.

For more recommendations of where to eat and drink in Marsala, check out this post.

Enjoy a guided tour of the salt pans

Interested in learning more about the salt pans of Marsala? Why not book a 1 hour guided tour, which includes a visit to the 16th century windmill. Or, if you feel like a more hands-on experience, you can book the guided tour that includes harvesting the salt!

Spend a day at Mazara del Vallo

We met a lovely couple, Ros and Bianca, on our boat trip to Favignana who were staying in nearby Mazara del Vallo and convinced us to visit it – and I’m so glad we did. We started with a swim at the beach, which was much nicer than the beach in Marsala. The water was crystal clear and no (or very little) posidonia. The coastline is called Tonnarella di Mazara and is just a short drive from the centre.

Then we explored the maze-like Kasbah, which is a very unique quarter of Mazara del Vallo and has buildings in a North African style, reflecting the city’s Arab heritage.

One of the highlights of visiting Mazara del Vallo was seeing the Chiesa di San Francesco D’Assisi. Apparently its origins date back to 250 AD when the crypts were built for the burial of Christians, as well as it being a place of worship. At Roger I of Sicily’s instruction it was rebuilt in 1093. The current church is from the renovations in the 17th century, hence its Baroque appearance.

I have seen many churches in my lifetime and this has to be one of the most magnificent I have ever seen! If you’d like to visit it, be sure to check the opening times. We (luckily, because we hadn’t checked the times) arrived 10 minutes before it was set to close for the afternoon. It’s free to visit and one of the volunteers even gave us a guided tour.

After visiting the church we headed to Trattoria delle Cozze for lunch, which was another recommendation from Ros. It’s a pretty old-school trattoria serving – as the name suggests – cozze (mussels).

The mussels were excellent and we enjoyed watching bowls and huge platters of them coming out the kitchen with plumes of steam rising off them. Of course, for our pasta we also chose one with mussels! The starter of the bowl of mussels came out really quickly but we did wait quite a long time for the pasta course. It was worth the wait though!

We absolutely loved our little day trip to Mazara del Vallo and would definitely recommend checking it out. If you don’t have a car, you can easily get the train. It takes around 30 mins from Marsala and costs less than €6 per person for a return journey.

Explore the archaeological excavations at Mozia Island

Now this is one of the things that we missed out doing and will have to go back to Marsala for! Mozia is an island located in the Stagnone di Marsala Nature Reserve that was an ancient Phoenician colony, dating back 2,500 years. It was a bustling trade community and ships would arrive to buy (or trade for) their wine, utensils and hand-dyed fabrics.

The island is also home to the Whitaker Museum, named after the English nobleman who discovered Mozia. In the museum you can see precious relics, which were found during the excavations. One of which is the Youth of Motya, a 5th-century BC Greek statue that was discovered in 1979.

There’s even a vineyard on the island that produces the Grillo grape and you can enjoy a glass at their bar.

Ferries to Mozia depart every 30 minutes, every day, all year long. A round trip for an adult costs €5 and takes just 12 minutes each way. Tickets to the museum can be purchased online or when you arrive.

So if you were considering whether Marsala is worth visiting or not, I hope this post has helped! We loved our stay in Marsala.

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