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Selinute trip planner
A vacation guide to the seaside ancient Greek temples of Selinute, Sicily
Marinella di Selinute
tel. +39-0924-46-277
Open daily 9am–5pm (to 4pm in winter)
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Selinute tourism information:
www.trapaniwelcome.it
Hotels in Selinute
www.booking.com
www.venere.com
www.hostelworld.com
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Founded by Greeks in the 7th century BC, Selinute was named after the selinon, or wild celery, that still grows in abundance alongside wild capers. Although relatively short-lived as an ancient capital, Selinute got rich quick, built the temples to prove it, and then was defeated by Carthage and faded into malaria-borne obscurity until the 16th century so that little modernity has corrupted the gorgeous archaeological site.
Today the few re -rected rows of columns stand against the bright green grass and the deep blues of the sky and the sea, perched picturesquely on a pair of plateaus overlooking the Mediterranean between two small rivers.
Selinute's modern support town is Marinella, a fishing village–cum–modest beach resort that has in the past decade boomed from a single road with a few hotels to a thriving little town filling the area east of the site.
Planning FAQ
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How to get to Selinute: Selinute is 98km (59 miles) southeast of Erice, 90km (54 miles) northwest of Agrigento. The gateway to Selinute is Castelvetrano, a lackluster city about 23km (14 miles) inland from the ruins. The site of Selinute itself is located outside the tourist village of Marinella—essentially just a strip of hotels and restaurants along the beach; it's not even a mile long.
- How to get to Castelvetrano by train: There are 13 trains daily (7 Sunday) from Trapani (68–83 min.); 5–7 trains daily (one direct, the others entailing an iffy change at "Alcamo Diramazione" with just a three-minute window to transfer) from Palermo (2 hr. 45 min.).
- How to get to Castelvetrano by bus: AST (tel. 0924/47-392 in Castelvetrano), which runs 3 daily buses from Trapani (95 min.). Lumia lines (tel. 0922-20-414) makes the same run 4 times Monday to Saturday, none on Sunday. Lumia will also carry you here from Agrigento three times daily (2–2.5 hr.) and lets you off near the hospital on Via Marinella (wait for the bus to the ruins across from the "Bar Selinus"). Salemi (tel. 0923-981-120) has a direct bus from Palermo to Castelvetrano 8 times Monday to Saturday, two on Sunday (2 hr.).
- Getting to Selinute from Castelvetrano: From Castelvetrano's train station, 6 buses (4 on Sunday) make the 20-minute run to Marinella/Selinute, dropping you off across from the site entrance. Purchase tickets on the bus. The last bus back to Castelvetrano is at 8pm Monday to Friday, 2:30pm weekends.
By car, just take Via Marinella out of Castelvetrano, which becomes the SS115, branching left into SS115d.
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Tourist Information: There’s a visitor information cabin (tel. +39-0924-46-251, www.selinunte.cc) at the parking lot/site entrance which hands out a good site plan. It's open Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm, Sunday 9am to noon and 3pm to 6pm.
- A festival: In summertime, there is a series of nighttime performances amid the ruins, usually at Temple E. These can range from Classical plays like Oedipus Rex to southern U.S. gospel, and productions of Chorus Line to modern dance. Call tel. 0924-904-555 for information and tickets.
Related pages
- The sights of Selinute
- Hotels in Selinute
- Restaurants in Selinute
- Selinute homepage
- More sights in Western Sicily
- More ancient Greek sights in Sicily: Selinute, Siracusa, Segesta, Taormina
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This material was last updated October 2009. All information was accurate at the time.
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