Experience the best of Aeolian Islands

The Aeolian Islands rise from the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, seven volcanic islands listed by UNESCO for their geology: Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Panarea, Filicudi and Alicudi. Lipari is the largest and has the main town, with a walled hilltop castle, an archaeological museum of finds from the islands, and harbours packed with fishing boats.

Stromboli's crater erupts in small bursts many times a day and glows red at night, and rock thrown from the crater rolls down the Sciara del Fuoco, a steep scar on the flank, into the sea. Vulcano has sulphur fumaroles, mud pools and a crater walk. On Salina, two green volcanic cones are covered in vines and caper bushes, and parts of the film Il Postino were shot here. Panarea is small and chic, while Filicudi and Alicudi are quiet and steep, and Alicudi has no roads.

Capers, sweet Malvasia wine from Salina, fresh swordfish, tuna and pasta with tomatoes and aubergine fill the menus, with pane cunzato, bread dressed with tomato, capers and fish, a classic snack, and granita for breakfast. Hydrofoils and ferries link the islands to Milazzo and Sicily. Summer is hot and bright, spring and autumn are gentle, and winter brings rough seas.