Dive into Sicily's Aeolian Islands archipelago

Located off the coast of Messina, surrounded by the Tyrrhenian sea, the seven Aeolian Islands, otherwise known as the Lipari islands, represent a true natural spectacle and are an integral part of the volcanic system still active today.

The name of this archipelago derives from the Greek god of the winds, Aeolus, and whoever finds themselves amongst the islands for the first time will fall captive to their seductive charm, surprised by the multiplicity of hidden caverns to discover and explore.

The local vegetation presents all that is most typical and beautiful of the Mediterranean and so the yellow of the ginestra flower blondes the islands' hills while thyme and rosemary perfume the air with their intense and unmistakably Sicilian odour. Typical olive groves and vineyards, carefully tended by local producers, spot the horizon as far as the eye can see.

Mountainous and jagged, the largest island of the group is Lipari, characteristically coloured by the bougainvillea, a climber plant brought to the island’s shore by the French explorer from whom the island takes its name. The seabed contains a world of discovery, with turbot, brilliant red starfish and the rare black coral sought after inhabitants of the Tyrrhenian waters.

Towards the south of theis holiday archipelago rises Vulcano, the island most noted for its intense magmatic activity. Two ancient volcanoes, now spent, give shape to the island of Salina, while the sister islands of Alicude and Filicude seem to vanish on misty days, reappearing all of a sudden before the eyes of curious observers. A true joy to observe are the turtles that occasionally swim by, drifting with the currents.

Panarea, the oldest as well as the smallest of the archipelago’s islands, is noted as the compass of the ancient navigators because it indicated their left limit, Sicily. Characterised by explosive volcanic activity, Stromboli island is the ardent heart of the Aeolian archipelago and the small village of Ginostra is the exclusive balcony from which, on the clearest days, visitors can make out the winding littoral of the Calabrian coast.