VULCANO, ITALY

Go for volcano crater walks, hot-mud baths and Sicilian-style food

It’s hard to go off the beaten track in Italy, but amid the black sands, volcanic outcrops and steaming craters on Vulcano you might be on a different planet altogether. Just 24km north of Sicily, adrift in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Vulcano is one of the lesserknown Aeolian Islands – benefiting from flying under the radar in terms of tourism, while still sharing the cuisine and climate that make Sicily such a popular destination.

It’s said the Romans thought the island’s volcano was the chimney at fire god Vulcan’s forge. The crater continues to loom large, vast and smoking – rewarding anyone who ascends it with panoramic views of the Aeolian archipelago. The geographic marvels are responsible for a raft of unique activities across the island: mud-bathing, black-sand scrubs and underwater fumaroles that create Jacuzzi-like spurts in natural swimming spots. What’s more, the enriched soil yields bumper harvests that inspire the island’s cuisine. There are rare malvasia grapes, which make a flinty, aromatic white wine, and pane cunzatu (open-faced sandwiches), which are treated as something of an art form – piled-high with island produce: tomatoes, mozzarella, capers, tuna fillets, fresh herbs, white truffle oil.

Over at Il Cappero in Therasia Resort, Sicilian-born chef Giuseppe Biuso has created a Michelin-starred tasting menu to show the evolution of Sicilian food and wine culture – and it’s one compelling and delicious story that is still being written.