Italy · Sicily
The seven Aeolian Islands
Seven nights from Portorosa — Vulcano, Lipari, Salina, Panarea and Stromboli, ending in front of the Sciara del Fuoco.
7 nights · Round trip from Portorosa
The Aeolians are the rare archipelago tight enough that a week covers all of it properly, and the only cruising ground in the Mediterranean where a volcano erupts to a twenty-minute cycle every night of the year and you can lie at anchor watching it. The route below is built backwards from that: everything is arranged so the boat is off Stromboli at dusk.
The route, day by day
Day 1
Vulcano
Two to three hours from Portorosa, which makes it the natural first night. Sulphur mud, a crater walk at first light, and the smell that comes with both.
Day 2
Lipari
The largest island and the only proper town: a harbour that works, an archaeological museum built on obsidian and pottery, and somewhere to restock.
Day 3
Salina
The green one, terraced with capers and Malvasia, and the island that surprises almost everyone. Anchor at Pollara under the cliff.
Day 4
Panarea
Small and expensive in August, and worth the anchorage off Basiluzzo for snorkelling over submerged Roman remains. Go ashore in the evening or not at all.
Day 5
Stromboli
Timed to be off the Sciara del Fuoco at dusk — the black scar on the north-west flank where erupted material runs into the sea. This is what a chartered boat can do and a ferry cannot.
Day 6
Filicudi
West to the quiet half of the archipelago. Few residents, the Grotta del Bue Marino, and the sea stack at La Canna standing seventy metres out of the water.
Day 7
Alicudi
The farthest and emptiest — no cars, one path, and mules. Then the run back south to Portorosa.
Worth knowing
- Most nights are spent at anchor: there are berths at Lipari, Salina and Vulcano, they are few, and in August they are gone
- The western islands, Filicudi and Alicudi, are what make this a week rather than four days
- If the weather closes the west, the return runs back inside through Salina and Lipari — not a fallback, just a different week
- Catania and Palermo airports both serve Portorosa; allow one to two hours by road
- The Stromboli night wants a settled forecast, so the route is planned to allow it on more than one evening
Where this route goes
Yachts that sail this route
Itineraries
Sail this route
Tell us your dates and how many are coming, and we will say which yacht suits the week — including when a different route suits you better.