I spent the majority of this summer staying close to home, but when the stars aligned for an end-of-summer Sicily trip with a few close friends, I jumped at the chance to make it happen. After waffling between a few island destinations around Sicily and mainland Italy, we finally landed on the Aeolians. They’re a cluster of seven volcanic islands just off the northern coast of Sicily. It’s a place that had long occupied a space in my brain (the archipelago was the subject of my very first travel feature that launched WWW Travels on the site, after all!), so it felt very full circle to be heading there to see it for myself after all the research I’d done years ago.
While Sicily has become a go-to vacation spot among Americans, this specific corner of the region has remained quite hidden and under the radar among the international set. As I came to learn from the locals, that’s for a good reason. The location alone is a deterrent—it took us over 30 hours of travel time to get from NYC—which means that the demographic is largely tourists from other parts of Italy, giving the islands a very local “if you know, you know” type of feel. Even when you arrive, they’re still not the easiest to get around in. Several islands don’t even have cars (on Panarea, golf carts replace taxis), and even if you do manage to rent a car as we did on Lipari, prepare for some of the most narrow, winding stone roads you’ve ever encountered.
The islands aren’t necessarily for the traveler who likes all of their creature comforts, but for those who do manage to make the trek, the sweeping sea views, unique volcanic sand beaches, and incredible local wine production more than make up for it.
The itinerary: With a full 10 days carved out to explore—12 if you count travel days—we flew into Catania and took all manner of planes, buses, and boats to get there. Once we arrived, though, we didn’t stay still for very long and instead ping-ponged between the islands of Salina, Panarea, and Lipari to be able to maximize all that the region had to offer. I’m so glad we moved around as much as we did despite all the packing and unpacking because each island has such a different personality and landscape than the last. Here, read my travel diary from the Aeolian Islands in Sicily, complete with the hotels I checked into, the restaurants I dined at, and, of course, all the outfits I managed to squeeze into my Away Bigger Carry-On.
My travel outfit:
Éterne
Francis Cashmere Sweater
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