Palermo is located near natural areas and plateaus that hide many routes for all levels. All you have to do is take a look at the departures from the port of Civitavecchia (one of the largest on the peninsula), board your bike, and take note of the most popular itineraries to visit Palermo by bike.
The first site we want to tell you about is the Favorita Park, the second largest park in Italy after the Appian Way Park in Rome. It is an amazing park that reaches heights up to six hundred meters and also includes the promontory of Monte Pellegrino.
It connects Palermo from the north coast, where the most popular beach in Palermo is located: Mondello. It is a green lung of the city that once served as the private garden of King Ferdinand, where he would lose himself on horseback trails or go hunting.
From a reserve, it has transformed into a very green forest that allows long walks, trekking, hiking, and adventurous bike excursions for which you can start directly from the center of Palermo.
Il Monte Pecoraro overlooks Cinisi and is one of the highest in the Northwest of Sicily with its almost one thousand meters of height. On the summit, it is possible to also see the snow-capped peak of Etna when the sky is clear and blue… basically from that height you can glimpse almost the entire island!
The mountain is a combination of rocks, forest belts, and native vegetation of great value. Moreover, it is equipped with trekking and bike trails that, from time to time, will take you to marvelous and thrilling views.
If you are looking for an alternative and exciting path, you absolutely must try the one to the Ruins of the Abbey of San Giorgio. We are talking about a route of almost two kilometers that stretches over an elevation difference of about thirty meters and is considered easy to walk.
From the highest part of the inhabited center of Gratteri, near the castle, there is a dirt road that goes south and allows you to reach the iconic remains of the Abbey surrounded by oaks and bushes. These remains are the testimony of the reformed Augustinian settlements around 1100. The Abbey was founded by Duke Roger and is also an important testimony of the Norman and Byzantine past seen in the style that distinguishes it.
Continuing from the Abbey, it is also possible to continue towards the path that reaches Pizzo di Pilo and Rocca del Monaco on foot or bike routes that will take you to the delightful village of Collesano. Here you can stop for a snack and enjoy the warm hospitality of the locals.
Finally, we suggest you visit the Madonie, a mountainous area east of Palermo and just a stone’s throw from the coast overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. Here stands one of the main massifs, the Carbonara, which reaches almost two thousand meters in height and ranks second only to Etna among the tallest mountains on the island. With the establishment of the Madonie Park in 1989, the area has gained increasing interest from hikers, geology enthusiasts, and nature lovers.
The Park is renowned for its incredible biodiversity it offers to its visitors and extends over forty thousand hectares, home to more than 1400 different plant species. This richness is due to the sudden transition from high altitudes to the sea and thus encompasses many micro-ecosystems that coexist.
