All articles about Aeolian Islands

About Aeolian Islands

The Aeolians are seven islands off the north coast, all volcanic, all UNESCO-listed, and they are best understood as their own trip rather than a day out from Sicily. Ferries take real time, they are cancelled by weather with no notice, and an itinerary that treats them as an afternoon excursion tends to produce a long day of boats and very little island.

Two of the volcanoes are still active in a way you can see. Stromboli erupts on a rhythm of minutes rather than years — boats leave in the evening specifically to watch it throw lava against the dark, which is the single most spectacular thing in the archipelago. Vulcano is the closest to the mainland, with a crater you can walk up in about an hour and fumaroles that make the whole harbour smell faintly of sulphur.

The others are quieter and quite different from each other. Lipari is the largest and the practical base, with the only real town and an archaeological museum that is far better than the setting suggests. Salina is the green one, with vineyards producing Malvasia and the best food in the group. Panarea is small, fashionable and expensive; Filicudi and Alicudi are where you go to have almost nothing happen.

Plan around the ferries rather than the islands. Hydrofoils run from Milazzo most frequently, service thins sharply outside summer, and August is both the busiest and the most expensive time to attempt it.