The Aeolian Islands Now

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To visit or walk on the Aeolian Islands is something you can do all year round. This time of the year - early June - it's idyllic.

You may or may not know that King Aeolus, the ruler of the winds, was the one who gave Ulysses, from the Odyssey, a bag of winds to blow him back safely to Ithaca. Unfortunately for him he fell asleep on the job and his crew opened up the bag, thinking it was full of gold, and in punishment, the whole fleet got blown back to the islands.

Not a lot has changed on these islands since Aeolus' days, where he spent most of his time feasting and banqueting with his wife and children. Today most people who visit spend their time relaxing in the small bars, sipping aperitifs and tasting the locally grown capers, gazing out to sea and watching the boats running backwards and forwards among the 7 islands: Alicudi, Filicudi, Salina, Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea and Stromboli. Or you can discover the footpaths that really take you off the beaten track and up these mostly extinct volcanoes to the top and enjoy the breathtaking views over the whole of the archipelago.

All the islands have walking trails but you don't have to walk to see them. When you get tired, you can get picked up along the road, in one of the deluxe vehicles, shown in the photo below, to save your weary feet.



But if you just want to chill out and not walk anywhere at all, you can pick up a varied selection of water transport that will ferry you back and forth between the islands where, once you are on terra ferma, you can stagger a few steps and plonk yourselves in the harbourside bars and just watch the world go by, doing nothing more energetic than lifting your glass from the table to your lips.

If, instead, you want to burn the candle at both ends, then Panarea is where all the glitterati are with their posh yachts during the high season but you will also find the paparazzi too, so if you don't mind ending up in some gossip magazine then this is probably the place for you. However, should you decide to visit this delightful little island now or later, and not in July or August, you will probably find the artistic crowd sitting with their easels painting the small offshore islands, the sunrises and sunsets and Stromboli puffing away in the distance, and you will also be able to enjoy the quiet and contemplate on how nature really did bless some parts of the world more than others.

And what about that clear, turquoise sea around these islands? This sea is just as warm and crystal clear, in the summer, as the Caribbean or the South Pacific, and the whole area is a marine park which means you can swim, snorkel, dive and look at everything but, fortunately, you cannot touch or take away anything. There are all types of marine life here including the odd shark which has made its way into the Med by mistake, but dolphins, octopus and all the other Mediterranean fish are plentiful too. You can even see areas around Panarea and Stromboli where the sea is bubbling hot due to the volcanic activity there, not to mention the famous sulpher mud baths on Vulcano where you can smear yourselves to your heart's content until all those wrinkles disappear, but you might smell like rotten eggs for a few days afterwards.

On Stromboli you can take a late afternoon hike up to the top to see the volcanic activity which is even more dramatic after dark. This can be done only with an official guide, however.

This is absolutely the true colour of the sea in Panarea right now!

We took the hydrofoil from Milazzo across to Salina, then island hopped on other boats. Out of season accommodation is quite easy to find but for July and August you really need to book ahead. In high season you can also reach the islands from Cefalù with a tourist excursion boat.



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