Few travel moments rival that first encounter with a new city — the instant when its sounds, scents and pulse begin to unfold ...

Palermo has just been named Italy's new Capital of Culture. Photo: Massimo Frasson/Flickr Palermo is Italy's Capital of Culture for 2018, and there are plenty of reasons to visit the Sicilian city.

Sicily, an island off its southern coast, is very much a part of Italy. Yet it remains a land unto itself and distinctly different from the mainland. Centuries of exposure to traders and conquerors — ...