My wife and I are doing our first trip around Sicily. We have been throughout Italy many times but this is our first time on the island. We spent some time in Palermo, Messina, Taormina and Catania and want to do the islands as well as Erice and Marsala.
Is each island worth doing? We've done Cinque Terre for instance and some villages were better visits than others. Thoughts?
Each of the Aeolian Islands has unique characteristics. I can only speak for Stromboli and Vulcano. Stromboli is famous for being the most active volcano in the world. You can hike to an observation point to watch the eruptions at night. Vulcano has a dormant volcano that you can hike up to as well to look down into the crater. The sulfur 'steam' coming out of the ground in the area gives it an alien landscape vibe. On Stromboli, the restaurant 'Punta Lena' is highly recommended. Travel to each island is via ferry or hydrofoil from Napoli, Reggio Calabria, Messina, etc. Check schedules for seasonal variations. Timing is important because, except for the most remote ones, Alicudi and Filicudi, all the islands are major tourist destinations, and the population swells to 10x or more. I always visited in late spring or early summer. Very few crowds and pleasant weather during that time. In the off-season (winter), the sea can turn rough, causing the cancellation of dockings. On the other hand, you can have some of the smaller islands almost to yourself for a different experience. Hope this helps.
It will depend on how much time you have. Lipari is the main one, with the biggest town. We stayed there once and did a day long boat trip that included Panarea and Stromboli (you can see it erupting as the sun sets, which is quite an amazing site). Vulcano and Salina are also popular ones to stay on, while Filicudi and Alicudi are more remote. The ferry we took to Lipari stopped in Vulcano and I do remember there being a strong sulphur smell, which isn't terribly surprising considering the name of the island. If you want to visit all, it might be easiest to stay on Lipari and do boat trips.
Thanks everybody for your replies!
So we have a pretty open-ended schedule and are just going to where we felt led to go so our schedule isn't too strict.
Yes I meant the Aeolian islands. I only mentioned Marsala and Erice because we want to see the main towns in Sicily accessible by public transport as well as and we've already seen about four of them. On another note I have heard mixed reviews on whether or not Trapani is worth seeing.
I can speak only to Salina, where we have been several times in the past few years. The island is one of my favorite places in Italy, but I would not go on a day trip; much better to spend a few days. We prefer to stay in or near the village of Malfa. I am happy to offer more information if you do decide to stay there....
If we return, we will stay on both Salina and on Vulcano.
I wouldn’t try to do every island just for the sake of ticking them off. We did that kind of thing once and in Sicily I think it works better to pick 2 or 3 that match the vibe you want. Around Marsala, Favignana is the easiest yes for me, really pretty and simple for a day or overnight, and Levanzo is nice if you want something tiny and quiet. Marettimo feels more worth it only if you like hiking and slower places. I’d definitely keep Erice too, it feels very different from the rest. We used https://www.ferryhopper.com/en/destinations/italy/favignana for routes, plus https://www.visitsicily.info/en/ and https://wearepalermo.com/news/what-you-should-know-about-favignana/ for ideas.
