If anyone is considering extending their time in Sicily, a visit to the Aeolian islands is highly recommended (sometimes referred to as the Lipari Islands). There are 8 main Aeolian islands and not everyone can/wants to visit all of them. And then comes a moment of decision – which ones to pick? Well, we chose to visit Stromboli and Vulcano and did not regret it.
How to reach the Aeolian Islands?
And here we come with two options – the fancy one and the regular one. The regular one is to traverse to the port Milazzo and take a fast ferry that transits between the islands. You can purchase tickets online in advance, or at the ticket office before departure. There will be departure schedules in every island’s port, so no worries, you won’t get confused.
Alternatively, there is the fancy option… a helicopter. Wait, what? Yes, a helicopter. I’m quite a penny pincher, so my husband knew that there is no way I would agree to spend money on a helicopter ride. So, he organized everything secretly and I didn’t know anything until the last minute.
He told me, we’ll need to get on a ferry from Milazzo. Well, that sounded right. Usually, I work as a copilot in our team but that morning he told me that he doesn’t need my help since he knows the way. “Oh do you?” – I thought and got a little bit offended. I’m not super good at orientating myself in a city but good enough to follow navigation instructions.
I started to be suspicious just when we started to drive UP the hill. Ports are supposed to be DOWN the hill, near the water. This much my common sense lets me understand. And even then I thought that he just lost his way and his manhood doesn’t let him admit his mistake. I got nervous because our ferry had to depart in a half an hour. Finally, we arrived in a parking lot and I saw the helicopter and then I finally understood the deal.
The deal was: take a helicopter to Stromboli and get dropped off. Spend a night in Stromboli, then take a ferry to Vulcano the following morning. After that island, take another ferry back to Milazzo. A driver will wait for us in Milazzo and takes us back to our car. Dear spouses, here is an example of how to surprise your significant others. You’re welcome. By the way, on the flight to Stromboli, the helicopter purposely passes near the Etna volcano, so you can admire it from a different perspective.
Stromboli
The reason we chose to visit Stromboli, is for the physical challenge. On this small island, there is an active volcano that erupts approximately every 20 minutes. Many tourist agencies offer guided daytime or evening tours to observe this firey show. It’s strictly prohibited to traverse the volcano on your own. You can always climb the first 500 meters above sea level for free but if you’ll try to continue the hike unaccompanied, you will receive a fine, from the authorities, that like to catch illegal hikers.
We picked the “Stromboli adventures” agency based on other customer reviews. Our hike was scheduled for late afternoon, and take around 6 hours: 3 hours up the hill, 1 hour on the top, and 2 hours back down. We did not have suitable hiking equipment so we rented everything (head flashlight, boots) in the town. The tourist agency provided us with helmets, just in case we would start rolling down the hill and would like to protect our valuable melons. When the group was ready, we started our hike.
There were 15 people in our group and it was diverse in terms of age. Although there were no kids on this hike, there were several senior people. I particularly remember a Dutch couple that was fairing much better than my husband and me. To be fair, I’ve never thought I was a weak person. I do not run marathons, but climbing was never an issue for me. Until this time.
I was literally gasping and stopping to catch my breath. The thing is, even if the elevation of the Stromboli volcano is barely 1 kilometer, it is very steep. Pretty much like climbing steps over and over again. Do yourself a favor, and don’t try this if you have a serious health condition. I remember that there was a moment when I was actually thinking just to turn around and shamefully go back. Luckily, I gathered myself and didn’t quit because what was waiting for us at the top of the volcano was priceless.
By the time we reached the top, it was almost dark. Although there were several other groups on the top of the volcano, everyone could pick a nice spot to watch the show. We didn’t need to wait long. After 10 minutes, Stromboli started her first act. Of course, don’t expect that it will erupt precisely every 20 minutes like a Swiss watch. Even if you will see it going off once, it’s a memory for a lifetime.
Usually, you can hear a lot of murmuring and distractions in highly touristic places, but that time, in that place, it was an exception to the rule. We spent exactly an hour sitting there in silence. It was magical. We could have stayed longer but it was time to go. We lined up like a group of glow-warms, with our flashlights on our heads, and set off. Going back to the town downwards was really easy and it took even less than 2 hours. Once again, a memory for a lifetime.
Vulcano
The next morning, we awoke with, heavily sore legs. Every time I wanted to start complaining, I remembered that crazy-fit old Dutch couple and needed to swallow my groans. Luckily, on that day, we were about to get our mud SPA on Vulcano island. We knew that there are more things to see there besides the thermal baths. Beautiful beaches, some of them black in color, diving, etc. But we knew that we want to spend all of our time just in the thermal mud baths. Especially because we needed to take a ferry back to Milazzo on the same evening.
Luckily, there were not a lot of tourists enjoying these natural gifts. Probably because we were there at the end of May and, officially, the tourist season had yet to begin. Don’t get me wrong – it was still very warm, and in the end, thermal baths have a tendency to be hot. Of course, swimming in the sea was a bit chilly, but still doable. I would like to give you a piece of advice. DO NOT bring your best swimsuit there. After rolling in the mud, you will need to part with it. Everything stinks bad, really bad there (like a rotten egg). Even after a couple of washes, I still couldn’t wash out that terrible smell. But hey, that was a good reason to buy a new swimsuit for our next vacation.
The Aeolian Islands in a nutshell
There are 8 main islands in this archipelago and if you have some spare time, visit at least some of them. They can be easily reached from Milazzo seaport or in a helicopter. Stromboli island is famous for the active volcano that you can witness first-hand! Be prepared for an uneasy hike. Finally, Vulcano is famous for its stinky mud baths.
