Head to Vucciria during daylight hours, and the market's narrow streets are filled with vendors selling fresh vegetables, giant swordfish heads and piles of slippery sardines. That all changes as twilight descends, when it morphs into a lively local nightspot, packed with young people eating and drinking their way to midnight. Try pomegranate spritzes in the central Piazza Caracciolo for something different, or act like the locals and stick to beer. Drinks rarely cost more than around £2.50, and you can fill up on fried seafood, raw octopus and cheap bowls of pasta.

Unless you happen to be staying here, there's only one reason to visit the otherwise quite ordinary Hotel Ambasciatori on central Via Roma - its rooftop bar. Locals keep this sky-high spot a closely guarded secret, as it offers stunning panoramic views across the city's terracotta rooftops and across to the mountains west of Palermo, bathed in pink and purple light at sunset. Cocktails are chic, while aperitivo snacks have a loosely pan-Asian theme, but the sight of Via Roma's neoclassical architecture in the golden hour is what it's all about.

Peep through the heavy red-velvet curtains and the offbeat charm of this tiny space will instantly appeal: the city's creative crowd sip smoked negronis at the bar, while students linger over card games at the outdoor tables. The peeling green facade, wax-crusted candelabras and rickety vintage chairs haven't changed in years, and the platters of complimentary aperitivo (slices of doughy focaccia, bruschetta and aubergine-filled buns) are a tasty bonus. On summer nights, people spill onto the street into the small hours.