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Aeolian Islands attractions
Aeolian Islands attractions
Vulcano is the first port of call for ferries from Milazzo. As well as the spectacular view of the narrow channel between this island and neighbouring Lipari, you're also greeted with the strange sight of a stack of sulphurous oozings, right by the harbour, with an accompanying smell! Disembarking, you can follow the road between the said stack and a huge red rock, sulphurous fumes hissing out of the side of the pavement, to one of the island's main attractions. Next to the beach, the locals have created a hollow in the volcanic clay that is filled with yellow mud. After bathing in the mud, you can swim in the sea and wash it all off. Swimming here is a very special experience, because the fumaroles extend right out into the sea, bubbling up hot gas and giving the sensation of being in a jacuzzi, in the blue Mediterranean!
The other main attraction on Vulcano is, you guessed it, the volcano! A steep climb from the town, you can walk to the summit of the island for a spectacular view of the other Aeolian Islands. If you have closed footwear, you can traverse the active vents on the north side of the main crater on your way to the top. Here, a great deal of steam and smelly gas is given off, and you can observe large sulphur crystals in the vents. Be careful not to burn your feet on the hot rocks and steam.
Lipari is relatively pedestrian in comparison with exotic Vulcano. Fortunately, it has less exotic prices, and the large main town has a nice old quarter and a decent quota of non-tourist shops. Among the attractions on Lipari is the pumice quarry, reached from the main town by an infrequent bus service. This is right by the sea, and has a nice rocky beach where, interestingly, many of the rocks tend to float off into the sea!
Stromboli is the most spectacular of the islands, as it's the only one that is currently volcanically active. In fact, its's the only volcano in the world that is known to have been continuously active throughout recorded history. The approach by ferry from Lipari takes one past the sheer sides of the island that rise towards the summit crater, which is permanently shrouded in clouds of its own making. Stromboli town has pretty narrow streets and, further from the centre, beautiful black sand beaches in rocky coves. The must-see attraction is the night-time climb up to the crater. The going is tough (you will be climbing approximately 850m) but you will see an amazing sunset and the eruptions are incredible. The trip is rounded off by running down the volcanic ash slopes, in the dark!
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Aeolian Islands Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.