From Rihanna and Lady Gaga to fashion magnate Giorgio Armani and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, the Aeolian Islands, aka the ‘Pearls of the Mediterranean’, have a history of attracting the world’s most elegant A-listers, as well as Europe’s intellectuals, who have long bolted to these evocative Italian isles, seeking solace in their lava stone houses, electric-blue ocean and dramatic volcanic landscape.
With summer on the horizon, here’s your guide to the world’s chicest archipelago.
Panarea
The jetset head to Panarea — the smallest, prettiest island has knockout beaches and terraces itching for a late-night boogie. Those buying their island bolthole here diligently ensured this gem didn’t suffer the same fate as Santorini or Mykonos, with an unwritten code that cubic houses remain framed by bougainvillea and its residents keep to the low-key charm brief. The itinerary here is simple: lazy brioche col tuppo and granita breakfasts, drowsy afternoons on the back of a boat at Cala Bianca or sauntering between San Pietro’s tiny boutiques and aperitivo hour watching the sunset burn the horizon.
Eat: Courtesy of Panarea’s siren call to the yachties and loafer-and-linen set, this Aeolian punches well above its weight on restaurants (most located in San Pietro). An evening at Cusiritati (cusiritati.it) is like dining at a stylish Milanese’s Aeolian villa. Sun-kissed arrivals swan in for nonna’s traditional Aeolian dishes with a twist: burrata with prawns and beetroot sauce, pacchero alla norma and red snapper fillet cooked in almond milk — all presented like little works of art. Da Pina (ristorantedapina.com) may not sit in quite the same category but it’s a favourite among the politicos, film stars and royals for its stuffed squid, cuttlefish and spaghetti alla vongole that spread across lava stone tables. At Hycesia, owner Andrea will do the wine maths, lunging for bottles from an impressive cellar to pair with just-caught seafood and spaghetti carbonara. Stock up on arancini and pastries for ‘gozzo’ (boat) trips and island picnics at Via San Pietro’s family-owned bakery Il Forno, and, on your return, channel Panarea’s penchant for a party at Bridge Sushi Bar.
Stay: Aeolian legend Hotel Raya (hotelraya.it) offers the very definition of a room-with-a-view while toeing the bohemian-chic line that the island is best known for. Guests can head into the blue on dives or sailing expeditions, or simply wallow in the hotel’s Slim Aarons pool. Equally simple-but-swanky Hotel La Piazza (hotelpiazza.it) draws in the Hermès-heeled crowds. They lose track of time in the exotic gardens, the hammam or the glorious saltwater pool — honouring aperitivo hour views over Caletta Bay with exquisite morsels of island antipasti and Malvasian wine.
Lipari
As both the largest Aeolian and closest island to Sicily, Lipari is positively lively compared to its further-flung counterparts. Its pastel-hued town is a stellar base for island-hopping, with its well-connected port. Away from the town lies great swathes of dry scrub and wild herbs for walkers to stomp through, traipsing windswept highlands before descending dinky rocky steps for its lava sand beaches.
Eat: For a laid-back lunch Enopaninoteca Gilberto e Vera lies in the warren of narrow streets surrounding Lipari Castle and pairs mouth-watering paninis with local wines a few steps from Lipari Castle. The island headliners include Sangre Rojo (sangrerojo.it), whose hillside perch overlooking Filicudi and Alicudi give it aperitivo caché before plates of swordfish steak and stuffed aubergine roll in, and the glass-encased Filippino — one to dress up for, with chefs creatively showcasing Sicilian classics and the island’s coastal plunder. Right in the historic centre, Giardino di Lipari (ilgiardinodilipari.com) serves up island herb-infused cocktails and local wine in a fairy-lit garden.
Stay: The Aeolian Charme collection has the hotel stronghold over Lipari and of all its four properties, Hotel Mea (hotelmealipari.com) is the most elegant and foodie-focused. Its pools and Mediterranean-Moorish rooms gaze over the bay of Marina Lunga while its restaurant Chimera serves plates of Sicilian classics.
Stromboli
Surging from the deep blue, Stromboli, ‘The Lighthouse of the Mediterranean’, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Guided hikes up its steep gradient to the very top take around six hours and have been tweaked since the volcano’s major 2019 eruption. Visitors hopping off the ferry from Milazzo or one of the other Aeolians can meander to the black sands of Grotta di Eolo or clamber through Stromboli’s narrow mule streets, for views of the castaway islet, Strombolicchio.
Eat: While the pasta is fresh and delightfully unfussy, Osservatorio is more about the view — as the only restaurant on the island within eyeshot of Stromboli’s fiery spurts. It’s worth climbing 15 minutes uphill from the port for Ristorante Punta Lena’s mussel and seafood risotto washed down with Sicilian whites, as well as its trippy views over the black sands below. Trattoria Ai Gechi also serves up spanking fresh seafood pasta.
Stay: Il Gabbiano Relais (ilgabbianostromboli.it) is the place to drop your hiking bags and boots on Stromboli. Just five-minutes from the beach, this boho-chic ‘apart-hotel offers the best of both worlds, with kitchenettes and hotel service. The volcano acts as a dramatic backdrop for the enticing, plant-lined pool.
Vulcano
The lingering whiff of sulphur is what typically strikes as visitors first step onto Vulcano, psyched for hikes, kayaking tours around the island and mountain biking escapades through vineyards and olive groves. Adventure-packed days are well rewarded at the island’s bubbling edges, where walkers stew in the crystal-clear acque calde (warm thermal waters) and soak in the minerals at the Laghetto dei Fanghi mud baths. Porto di Levante is lined with cafes serving strong coffee and granita (Sicilian sweet ice).
Eat: Foodies make annual pilgrimages to one Michelin star Il Cappero (ilcapperoristorante.it), perched on a rocky promontory on the northwest of the island. They come not just for the refined-yet-simple tasting menus but for the spine-tingling views as the sunset splits a horizon dotted by the other Aeolians. I Tenerumi at Therasia Resort & Spa (therasiaresort.it) is another Michelin-starred Vulcano haunt, whose experimental vegetarian tasting courses (composed from organic garden veg) are paired with botanical-infused cocktails.
Stay: Staggering down the edges of Vulcano, Therasia Resort & Spa (therasiaresort.it) embodies that white-washed Mediterranean simplicity. Tiled rooms choreographed around the pool, blink out over the sea, from terraces or balconies.
Salina
The greenest of the Aeolians, Salina is sprinkled with Malvasian vineyards, sugarcube houses and capers. Everything — the antiques shops, the craggy beaches, the warren of mule tracks — falls under the menacing gaze of two (extinct) volcanic peaks. Days can be spent pottering in the three main towns, Santa Marina, Malfa or Leni, or sampling the Malvasian wine from the vineyards like Capofar that surround Malfa. Pollara Beach is the most famous, as the location for the Italian classic Il Postino.
Eat: If island itineraries permit only one night on Salina, book a table on Hotel Signum’s (hotelsignum.it) bougainvillea-framed restaurant for creative riffs on Salina’s freshest bounty. Photogenic plates of breaded scabbardfish or seafood spaghetti drizzled in creamy sauce spill out from Martina Caruso’s one-starred Michelin kitchen. La Pinnata del Monsú has whiffs of a Greek taverna, with deliciously simple menus and decor.
Stay: Family-owned Hotel Signum (hotelsignum.it) flips its guests into a slower dimension of wrought-iron day beds and porous rooms with antique desks and linen curtains swelling in the breeze. This reimagined fishing village converges around a pool — its balconies and terraces are like theatre seats for views of the Tyrrhenian and a smoking Stromboli after dusk. Principe di Salina hits the same stylish-but-unflashy sweet spot in Malfa where white parasols, day beds and olive trees dot the pool.
Filicudi
This lesser-explored island feels like a well-guarded secret with its gin-clear waters, deep grottoes and sleepy fishing villages. The coast is indented with coves and caves, such as Pecorini Mare and Grotta del Blue Marino.
Eat: White, cubic Da Nino Sul Mare’s (filicudieolie.it)windows and edges are framed in thick cobalt blue, while its makeshift terrace overlooking the coast serves seafood reeled from Filicudi’s deep waters. Perched along the seafront, Pensione La Sirena (lasirenafilicudi.com)cools off its guests and lunchtime visitors under a pretty pergola.
Stay: Restaurant-with-rooms La Canna serves up knockout views of sunrise and Stromboli’s volcanic spurts from its lofty perch as well as grilled fish, handmade pasta and salads. Seaview rooms are the ones to book, with large terraces for uninterrupted glasses of Etna Bianco, and comfortable beds to sink into after a hard day on the beach.
Alicudi
If Filicudi is the shy Aeolian, Alicudi is its more elusive, more wild and complex little sister – drifting some 17 miles west from any semblance of a shop, wheels and modern-induced cortisol. With a population of only 100 or so islanders, Alicudi is where to come for long hikes through gorse, wild heather and canary-yellow cactus flowers with rewarding dips in the unsullied beaches, all lapped by inky blue waters. Hiking routes (mule tracks) trace the eastern side of the island, past little white and pastel houses, all cascading down the steep, cone-perfect volcano and peering out to sea. With no cashpoint, no cars and only a handful of restaurants (more kitchens-with-a-spare-chair), ensure you come to Alicudi well equipped with water, snacks, sun cream, cash, hat, and expect to have any bags lugged on the back of a mule. Pack a snorkel for Bazzina beach (accessible only by boat) with its shallow, translucent waters or edge over from Alicudi Port to its nearby pebble beach where anchored boats swing gently like docile synchronised swimmers.
Eat: Options are limited here, with hikers known to be invited back to fishermen’s homes for supper (just ask, everyone knows everyone here). No nonsense coffee, granita and something stronger can be found at the Golden Noir Café as you hop off the ferry onto the dock. Ristorante Ericusa is the island’s only bona fide restaurant, where plates of lobster, scorpion fish and fresh squid line a terrace spanning the front of the hotel. Bed in from aperitivo hour Negronis through to limoncello or sherry nightcaps, or chug back to Filicudi for more options.
Stay: As the only hotel on the island, you’d imagine Hotel Ericusa (alicudihotel.it)to occupy a weather-beaten fishing hut with irreverently rustic interiors, but somehow, a large, white pillared seafront hotel, that could have drifted over from the Amalfi cliffs, has made it to Alicudi in one piece. The Amalfi parallels end abruptly at the basic rooms and curiously tiled bathrooms but guests aren’t drawn here for pillow menus and Instagrammable corners – they’re here to reacquaint themselves with the elements, the tide’s rhythms and a delicious silence, interrupted only by the odd snorting mule or olive tree rustle. A lesser known spot to untie dusty walking boots is Alicudi Secret Retreat, perched high along the volcano slopes like a figment of the novelist’s imagination, with elaborate tiles and swirly wrought iron beds a flicker of Sicily’s golden age amid the rustic, hand-plastered walls, and with views that will remain etched in the memories of who clambered like new-age pilgrims up the unforgiving slopes.
