33 Best Places to Shop in Sicily, Italy

The Argento family has been in the puppet business since the late 19th century, and the tradition is alive and well in the hands of Vincenzo, whom you can see at work in his tiny workshop, or laboratorio artistico, near the cathedral. Here you will find puppets in all stages of production, with plenty of examples for sale in all their finery. The family also puts on daily puppet shows in nearby Via Novelli.

A ghost of its former self, Vucciria—whose name translates to "voices" or "hubbub"—was once the most vibrant market in Palermo, memorably captured in Renato Guttuso's canvas of the same name (now exhibited in Palazzo Steri). It is now reduced to barely more than a single street and piazza. It takes on more of a street food/block party atmosphere at night, when no-name bars open to sell cheap cocktails to the crowds gathering around the smoking grills that are wheeled outside after dark.

As you would expect from a town renowned for its ceramic products, ceramics stores are ubiquitous in Sciacca, mostly filled to the rafters with attention-grabbing displays of exuberant plates, spoons, pine cones, moor's heads, jugs, and birds. In this store, though, you will find these same designs but imbued with the singular artistic vision of the young craftsman Giovanni Muscarnera.