Exploring the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily

Milazzo

Before we left Sicily we anchored in Milazzo, on the north side of Sicily. We had a stop there to avoid the wind before heading over to the Aeolian islands.

We wanted to do a hike up to the peninsula north of the town and took the dinghy ashore. We found a place to leave the dinghy, but it is not easy to get over the stone fence.

A long promenade along the seaside.

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A lot of steps up to the castle.

Nice decorated.

A small village on the west side of the peninsula.

Castillo de Milazzo. They say it is a beautiful castle, but we didn`t get inside.

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A green field on the western side of the peninsula. You can see the end of the peninsula.

A playground in front of the lighthouse.

A beautiful coastline with many cliffs.

And steps down to the northern tip.

The Venus pool where you can have a swim. Up to the right on the photo you can see a face. We didn`t knew about that before I was writing this post…

Beautiful nature! I guess it can be a bit crowdy here in the season. We went back to the gate to this park and took a bus back to town. It was a bit to walk and most of it along the road.

Here is our hike:

Here is a video from this hike:

Vulcano island

It was time to leave Sicily and we sailed up to Vulcano island. Vulcano island is one of the Aeolian islands and is known for its vulcanic activity.

Sometimes you are lucky, like I was this day. I was washing some clothes in the boat, and after I finished I throw the water into the sea. A little bit later I notised that my ring was gone!! I realized it felt into the water when I was washing and then into the sea… Luckily we had stern anchor so the boat was lying at the same position the whole time. Astor was diving and after the second attempt he found the ring!!

A beautiful place to anchor, with a nice view towards the vulcano. In the morning you could see the smoke.

We had a short walk to the village.

The harbour, where the ferries arrives many times per day.

You can also have a bath in a mud bath. The pools of hot mud, the evocative fumaroles and the warm waters on the cliff are a natural hydromassage with a unique view over a crystal-clear sea. You really feel you’re in a magical place: with hell on one side and heaven on the other.

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After a while we got company of Kristy and Steven from DASH, and Mirelle and Gary from LOKI and we hiked toegether up to the vulcano crater. In the summer time you need to follow the lights here. If it is red, you can`t go and you can get a fine if you get caught.

Up in the hill. It is pritty hard in the beginning because you are walking in sand.

Up the hill we are going!

As you can see here, we are walking in sand.

After a while we came to a firmer ground.

The view towards the village and the bay where we all were anchoring.

A small break to enjoy the view!

Almost on the top of the crater.

The highest peak is on the other side of the crater, at 481 masl. The last part to this peak is pritty easy.

The crater.

The view to the southern part of the island, and Etna culcano in the distance.

From the peak. You can see four other islands from here.

A stone has exploded once…

The last eruption was between 1888 to 1890 so we felt safe. In 2021 150 people were evacuated due to increased vulcanic activity and gases.

On the peak!

On the way down we could see the smoke. It is not allowed to walk close to the smoke, and it is not a good idea either.

Here is the track of this hike.

And here is a video from this hike:

We sailed further on to the next island, Lipari, and had one night in an anchorage on the west side. Had a beautiful sunset there.

In the morning we took a dinghy ride around and through all the rocks there.

Through this arch/rock you can see Vulcano island.

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The smoke in the crater.

Lipari island

We sailed to the other side of Lipari to explore the town of Lipari. We anchored to left of the town and took the dinghy into the harbour.

We walked up to the castle and got the view towards the harbour.

One of the buildings in the castle.

The roof in the church. It was so beautiful!!

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On the other side of the castle you will find the harbour where the ferries arrive.

A video from Lipari:

We sailed further on to the next island Salina and anchored outside the village of Rinella.

It is a nice trail from the bay were we anchored to the village of Rinella. Our plan for the day was to hike to an old vulcano, Monte Fossa delle Felci at 964 masl. That is much higher than I have been hiking before so I was afraid I shouldn`t make it.

From Rinella to Leni it is 300 highmeter with almost only stairs, before you are entering the village and there is roads between the houses. On the top of the village of Leni you will see the Valdichiesa Church, build ca year 1630. At this point we hiked 300 high meter, only 664 left. The trail to the vulcano starts from this church. We had 1/3 of a chocolate here.

It was stairs much of the way, but with many turns and paths somewhere it was an easy hike (but still many high meters…)

There is two craters on Salina and here we have the view to the other one. If you click on the photo you will see the path up to the summit. In the bottom of the valley you can see the church where the trail starts.

I needed many stops on the way up!

To the left you can see Rinella and almost the bay where we anchored.

2/3 part of the trail is finished and we had the next third part of the chocolate.

After a while we reach a gravel road, but it almost just crossed the road to continue the trail.

A grasshopper we met on the last part. I thougth the last part would be almost flat, but it was more steep than the rest!

But finally on the top and we were awarded with this view!

It was also a playground on the top!

We didn`t meet any on our way up, but at the summit we met a German couple, and they took a photo of us.

It was a beautiful view at the top, but it is hard to see the crater, it is overgrown now. You can see the vulcano Etna in the distance.

At the summit there were tables where you could have your lunch and enjoy the view.

On the way to the peak, or on the way down again, you have this place made from the municipality to have a break.

Back to the church! Here we had the last part of the chocolate. We had lunch at the peak and didn`t need the chocolate. Our legs was tired going downhill.

On the way down to Rinella we saw the smoke from Etna.

Here is the track. Totally 13,8 km, so it is a long hike.

Here is a video from this hike:

The next day we sailed back to Vulcano island to meet the family in AMICA, and DASH also manage to come back to the bay so we had a nice evening at the beach together.