Trapani

Introducing Trapani

Arriving in Trapani through drab suburbs of concrete block apartments and a confusing one-way system can be enough to make anyone bolt from what is, sadly, one of the worst abuses of unchecked Mafia construction. Ensconced in the tightknit historic centre, however, the environment softens with atmospheric pedestrian streets and some lovely churches and baroque buildings. Once situated at the heart of a powerful trading network that stretched from Carthage to Venice, the sickle-shaped spit of land hugs the precious harbour, nowadays busy with a steady stream of tourists and traffic to and from Tunisia, Pantelleria and the Egadi Islands.