Cefalu

Cefalù takes 1 day to see: the 12th-century Norman cathedral with golden Byzantine mosaics in the apse, at the foot of a large rock (the Rocca) that towers over the town, in a morning walk, and the sandy town-center beach, unusual for a Sicilian historic core, in the afternoon. May-September is best for the beach. It's mid-priced by Italian standards. It was founded by the Greeks and later passed through Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Norman hands, a succession of cultures reflected in the mixed styles of its cathedral.