The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
WHY IT’S SPECIAL
The seven islands are refreshingly different in character. You could see them all in a week, but 10 days is better. Most spectacular is Stromboli, a volcanic cone rising straight up out of the sea, which ejects fiery fountains of ash and lava every 20 minutes or so.
The best way to witness the pyrotechnics is on a night climb (magmatrek.it) – but when the volcanic action really hots up and access to the volcano is banned, retreat across the water to twin-peaked
Salina where there are few better experiences than watching eruptions in the moonlight from the infinity pool of the Signum hotel (hotelsignum.it).
Salina is the greenest island, with excellent walking and some great little places to eat and drink, including a branch of Franco Manca (francomanca. co.uk) and Bar Alfredo (0039 090 9843075), famous throughout Italy for its fruit and nut granitas. Exquisite Panarea is an A-lister party island in summer, a soul-cleansing paradise the rest of the year. Lipari has a white pumice beach, black obsidian cliffs and an extraordinary archaeological collection of Dionysian theatre masks and pastel-painted Greek vases. Vulcano’s volcano is easily scaled – but to get away from it all, rent a house on Alicudi, population 105, where the only means of transport is a donkey.
YOU’LL NEVER FORGET
On Salina, the evening walks and barbecues at a remote mountain refuge in an olive grove (0039 333 655 2800) – the Aeolians’ best-kept secret.
INSIDER TIP
Get away from it all at La Sirena (pensionelasirena.it), a cool hotelrestaurant on remote Filicudi.
HOW TO DO IT
Milazzo is Sicily’s hopping-off point for the Aeolians. Hopping between the islands on the hydrofoils (libertylines. it) is easy. Hire a bike or a scooter; don’t bring a car. Salina and Lipari have good bus services. Panarea and Stromboli have electric golf-car taxis.
For more dream trips, see telegraph.co.uk/ 1000dreamtrips
Tiny Ortigia is packed with Baroque palaces and Greek temples – as well as cool bars and places to swim.
WHY IT’S SPECIAL
Ortigia is the historical island centre of Syracuse and is connected to the mainland by two short bridges. So you have all the magic of an island – with that sense of being in a place apart – combined with the advantages of a substantial town. There is no more beautiful square in Sicily than Ortigia’s Piazza Duomo, dominated by a cathedral built within the visible skeleton of an ancient Greek temple.
The rest of Ortigia is made for strolling – the slower the better. You cannot get lost – keep on walking along its winding little backstreets in any direction and eventually you hit the sea. Most visitors miss the
Graziella quarter tucked behind the colourful morning market – the only area of Ortigia that is yet to be gentrified. It’s a labyrinth of tiny dead-end alleyways and minuscule courtyards, its street plan unchanged since the days when
Sicily was under Islamic rule.
There is swimming year-round from a small scruffy beach and platforms on the rocks, though for real swims it’s better to drive or catch bus 23 to the Plemmirio nature reserve. There a path runs for two miles along a craggy coast, passing a couple of sandy beaches and a series of rocky spits and coves. Snorkelling from the rocks is unforgettable, straight into the big blue with only fish for company.
YOU’LL NEVER FORGET
The underground labyrinth of tunnels and caverns accessed via the church of San Filippo. There’s a Jewish ritual bath, some Second World War graffiti and an underground chamber where the bodies of wealthy citizens were once left to mummify.
INSIDER TIP
For Aperol spritzes, head to beautiful, old-fashioned wine bar Solaria (Via Roma 86), or Cortile Verga (Via della Maestranza 33), set in a Baroque courtyard.
HOW TO DO IT
Fly to Catania. Hire a car or take the bus (interbus.it) that runs hourly from the airport to Syracuse (an hour and 20 minutes). The Hotel Gutkowski is a fabulous little artsy place to stay.