Lipari Island

Lipari is the largest and most developed of the group of volcanic islands called the Aeolian Islands. In addition to the two active volcanoes, each of the islands has signs of volcanic activity in the form of thermal springs.


We spent the night here with the goal of further visiting the Stromboli volcano. Since we arrived with our car, we took the hotel with large parking closest to the port - Hotel Aktea (booking.com).


The island is small, but you can’t get around on foot. We started from the observation deck near the weather station (N 38 26.741 E 14 56.870). It offers the best view of the Vulcano island, where we really wanted to get, but could not because of the storm.


If you walk a little along the rocks, then you can see the panorama of the west coast.


The next observation point is Belvedere Quattrocchi (N 38 27.895 E 14 55.782), though we did not stop there. Then we reached the other end of the island and a nice place near the old church in the village of Quattropani (N 38 30.892 E 14 55.097). The sanctuary was built in 1588 and the viewpoint offers a good view of the island of Salina.






The next point is the village of Acquacalda (N 38 31.163 E 14 56.422), here you can have a lunch in the restaurant or just take a walk along the sea. It is even better to go to the next village of Canneto (N 38 29.442 E 14 57.750), since it is bigger and more developed.




More viewpoints which we did not visit:

Forgia vecchia (N 38 29.263 E 14 57.213), parking N 38 29.254 E 14 57.067, then 200 meters on foot.

Church of Chiesa Esaltazione della S. Croce (N 38 28.975 E 14 58.594), parking N 38 28.833 E 14 57.924, then 1300 meters on foot.

The highest point of the island, on top of the Lipari volcano (N 38 29.134 E 14 56.072)

Monte Guardia (N 38 27.370 E 14 56.755), parking here N 38 27.497 E 14 56.653 or here N 38 26.883 E 14 57.055, then walk up the mountain. There is a trail on google maps.

Of course, we walked in the island's capital, Lipari, where the legacy of many nations remained: Greeks, Romans, Normans. The most interesting object here is a large castle, which offer picturesque views of the whole town.


In the Middle Ages, the island was constantly captured, no one wanted to live here. In 1556, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V gave the order to populate the island. For protection a castle was built on the site of the old Greek acropolis. True, until the 19th century when piracy was eradicated, few people settled outside it.




The city hall and the view of the port.




In addition to the fortress, there are several pretty streets.










We had dinner in a small port (N 38 27.892 E 14 57.405). Very picturesque place, especially in the evening.






Getting there: Options to get to Lipari

From Milazzo
https://www.libertylines.it/en/ - speed boats and ferries
https://carontetourist.it/en/siremar - speed boats and ferries

From Naples
https://www.snav.it/en/ - speed boats in the summer, daily
https://carontetourist.it/en/siremar - night ferries several times a week

From Palermo
https://www.libertylines.it/en/ - speed boats in the summer