Travel eastern Sicily by self-drive car and hydrofoil over ten to twelve nights, from Mount Etna and the Ionian coast to Lipari and Stromboli, in the shoulder months of May, June and September.
Eastern Sicily is shaped by volcanoes, and a Sicily volcanic landscape journey follows that thread from Mount Etna to the Aeolian Islands offshore. Etna rises to around 3,300 metres and is the highest active volcano in Europe, while Stromboli, to the north, has erupted in small, regular explosions for roughly two thousand years. For travellers who already know mainland Italy, this is a different kind of Italy, organised around terrain, sea and weather, with the Greek and Baroque towns of the coast as a counterpoint.
Etna is visited in layers. The cable car from Rifugio Sapienza climbs from about 1,900 to 2,500 metres, a 4×4 continues to around 2,900 metres, and the summit craters above are open only with an authorised guide and only when the volcano allows. We plan each Etna day with a second option, usually the Silvestri craters, which can be walked without a guide, or a long lunch at a winery on the lower slopes, where Nerello Mascalese grows on volcanic soil. Taormina, with its Greek theatre facing the mountain, is the most comfortable base on the coast.
The Aeolian Islands are reached from Milazzo, about two hours by road from the Etna area. On a self-drive journey the car stays at Milazzo, as the Liberty Lines hydrofoils carry foot passengers and reach Lipari in about an hour. Lipari is the practical base, with Vulcano a short crossing away and a crater walk that runs at set hours when the alert level is green. Stromboli is visited at dusk: walkers may climb to 290 metres unguided, guides lead groups to a viewpoint at 400 metres, and nothing higher is open, so many travellers watch from a boat below the Sciara del Fuoco instead.
May, June and September suit this journey. Walking days are comfortable, the sea is warm enough for swimming by September, and July and August bring heat and Italian holiday crowds to Lipari. Ten to twelve nights allows four around Etna and Taormina, four on the Aeolians, and time in Catania or Syracuse at either end. A closure on the mountain or a cancelled hydrofoil in rough weather can move a day. Palermo, Agrigento and the west are better kept for a second visit.
Travel rewards attention. Five for Fridays is our monthly letter from Ron: five things about the world worth knowing before you go – or before you decide where.
