Mazara del Vallo (dead link: December 2020) is a medium-sized city in South-Western Sicily, most famous for being one of the leading fishing harbour of Italy and the centre where the Dancing Satyr is hosted. It is part of the province of Trapani.
The inhabitants usually speak both Italian and Sicilian. However, most of them (especially the oldest ones) are definitely not proficient in English. There is also a large Arab community, originally from Northern Africa.
Mazara del Vallo is connected to Palermo, and its airport, by the A29 highway (also known as Palermo-Mazara del Vallo). This highway, as many other in Sicily, is free.
Mazara del Vallo is linked by train, among the others, to two cities with an airport, Trapani (50 minutes) and Palermo (about 2 hr 45 min). It is frequently linked during the day to many interesting destination, such as Marsala (20 minutes) and Castelvetrano-Selinunte (25 minutes). Prices are fairly cheap.
Buses from Palermo are operated every hour until 21:00 or 22:00 by private company Autoservizi Salemi, and take about 2 hours. Bus connections from other cities, such as Agrigento, Sciacca and Trapani are less frequent.
Trapani-Birgi airport is 45 km away. Airport must be reached with local taxi (cost €20 per person), since there is no bus service.
Mazara's marina is run by a private association, called www.adina.it Adina. It's often used by sailing boat for wintering (for its price and see/wind protection).
Mazara has a particularly poor urban bus service, and bus stops are often even very hard to find. However, Mazara is also relatively easy to be visited without any kind of transportation, because of the dimensions of its downtown.
Mazara is a small but very active city. It is thus very easy to find oneself stuck in the traffic, especially in the downtown during the late afternoon and the 12:00-14:00 period.
During the summer period, a daily ferry boat link to the minor island of Pantelleria, powered by Tirrenia, is available.
During the summer period, the heart of Mazara moves from the downtown (Corso Umberto I, Piazza Mokarta, Piazza della Repubblica) to the Tonnarella beach, on the western side of the city.
As a relevant fishing centre, Mazara is also well known for its seafood-based cuisine. Fish is even commonly cheaper than other places in Italy.
The mazaresi, as well as the majority of Sicilians, have a good taste for wines: there are several local wine cellars and a number of wineshops in the city. However, in Mazara del Vallo is also located one of the few breweries of Sicily, Naxos.
This is the list of the hotels in Mazara del Vallo:
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division