Erice and Trapani

Erice is a medieval town above Trapani. Most of what we see of the town today, including the Castello di Venere, was built in the 12th Century by the Normans. It is a picturesque village with cobblestone streets, imposing walls, towers, lookout points, and tourists- lots of them. It was the first place I’ve been where the tourists annoyed me. This is an actual town where people live and the walking crowds felt like Disneyland in certain areas. I felt badly for the locals trying to navigate the crowds in their cars to and from their homes. It is an Instagram “influencer” paradise. There is a cable car you can take from Trapani to the top, but I luckily came from another direction and ended up parking on top (given the crowds I think this is better). I arrived a little after 10 AM and the parking was easy. Download the EasyPark app before you go (you can pay other ways but this is best).  I paid 5 Euro for 4 hours and felt like that was a good amount of time to explore the town. The area including Erice was originally settled by the Phoenicians over 2000 years ago, and was prized for its salt pans. I’ll admit, I wasn’t very excited about watching water evaporate to make sea salt, but now understand why everyone said it was worth the visit.  Will upload more photos later today