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Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Sicily

Capo d'Orlando round-trip.

Sail seven days from Capo d'Orlando through Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Panarea and Lipari — the volcanic Aeolian Islands off Sicily's north coast.

The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the route summary below to see that day's stop, story and photos.

Vulcano Porto
Day 1

Capo d'Orlando → Vulcano Porto

An easy 20-mile hop north to Vulcano, where the sulphur fumaroles and a stiff climb up La Fossa set the tone for the week.

Distance

18 NM

Sailing

~3.6h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

April – mid-October (peak May – Sep)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Capo d'Orlando

Sailing area

Sicily

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7
Vulcano Porto
1
Day 1

Capo d'Orlando → Vulcano Porto

The first leg is deliberately gentle, about twenty miles of open water to loosen the crew and the rig before the real island-hopping starts. Vulcano rises ahead long before you smell it; the sulphur reaches you a mile or two out. Porto di Levante on the east side is where most charter boats tie up, close enough to walk everything. The mud pool by the harbour foot is the island's calling card, a warm sulphurous soak that clings to your skin and your swimwear for days. Just offshore, gas vents bubble up through the shallows and warm the sea around your ankles. If the crater trail is open, the climb up La Fossa takes roughly an hour and pays out a full view of the archipelago. We usually save it for late afternoon, when the light softens and the heat lifts.

Things to do

Soak in the Laghetto dei Fanghi mud pool

Climb La Fossa crater for the panorama

Snorkel the bubbling vents off Porto di Levante

Salt-cod stew at a Levante quayside trattoria

Mooring tip

Take a stern-to berth in Porto di Levante and pick a spot on the north side of the basin, upwind of the fumaroles, or the sulphur will follow you into the cockpit. It's well sheltered from the prevailing northerlies; expect roughly €60–100 a night in season.

Filicudi Porto
2
Day 2

Vulcano → Filicudi Porto

Filicudi trades nightlife for silence. A few hundred people live here, connected by mule tracks rather than roads, and the pace drops the moment you drop anchor. The landmark is La Canna, a slender volcanic needle rising better than eighty metres straight out of the sea a mile off the west coast; motor around it slowly and the crew will reach for their cameras. Below the waterline the rock walls fall away into clear blue, good snorkelling if the swell is down. The little port on the east side has a handful of berths and a couple of trattorie. For dinner ashore we prefer Pecorini a Mare on the south coast, a fishing hamlet of pastel houses where the sea-urchin pasta is worth the dinghy ride.

Things to do

Circle the La Canna sea stack under sail

Kayak into the Grotta del Bue Marino

Walk up to the Capo Graziano ruins

Ricci sea-urchin pasta at Pecorini a Mare

Mooring tip

Filicudi Porto has stern-to space for a dozen boats and holds well against the northerly; get in by early afternoon in July or you'll be waiting for a gap. If the port is full, Pecorini a Mare is a decent anchorage on sand in five to seven metres, though it's open to the south.

Santa Marina Salina
3
Day 3

Filicudi → Santa Marina Salina

After two barren islands, Salina comes as a shock of green. Two extinct cones frame the island, and the saddle between them holds vineyards, caper terraces and citrus, all fed by springs the other Aeolians lack. Santa Marina on the east coast is the usual base, a tidy town strung along one long street of wine bars and gelato counters. The sweet Malvasia here is the island's signature; a tasting at one of the hillside cellars makes an easy afternoon. Rent a scooter and cross to Pollara on the far side, a half-drowned crater where a slice of the village stands above a black-pebble bay. Older crew will recognise it as the backdrop to Il Postino. The swimming below the cliffs is some of the best on the route.

Things to do

Taste Malvasia at a Salina hillside cellar

Swim the black-pebble bay at Pollara

Buy Salina capers in Santa Marina

Granita and pane cunzato at Lingua

Mooring tip

Santa Marina Salina takes you stern-to on the town quay, sheltered from the north but rolly when the sirocco pushes swell onto the east coast. Book ahead in August; the quay is small and popular. Rinella, tucked under the south coast, is a calmer fallback if the wind swings east.

Stromboli
4
Day 4

Salina → Stromboli

Stromboli is the reason many crews book this route. The cone throws up bursts of glowing rock at short intervals, day and night, and the show is best from the water after dark. The action falls down the Sciara del Fuoco, a scar of black scree on the northwest flank that runs straight into the sea. Plan the day so you reach that side around sunset, then hold station offshore while the mountain does its thing overhead. It's genuinely loud. During the day, tie up at Scari on the northeast and wander the black lanes of the village, or dinghy round to Ginostra, a car-free cluster of white houses reached through what may be the smallest harbour in Italy. Summit hikes run guided only, and access shifts with the volcano's mood, so check locally before planning one.

Things to do

Watch the Sciara del Fuoco erupt after dark

Dinghy to car-free Ginostra village

Pizza with a volcano view at L'Osservatorio

Wander the black lanes of San Vincenzo

Mooring tip

There's no real marina on Stromboli. For the night show, anchor off the Sciara del Fuoco on rock and sand in eight to twelve metres and post an anchor watch, since it's an open roadstead. Only stay overnight in settled weather; if anything is forecast, take a berth at Scari or move on to Panarea.

Panarea
5
Day 5

Stromboli → Panarea

Panarea is the smallest of the seven and by far the most polished. In July its little harbour fills with tenders ferrying people between yachts and the whitewashed lanes of San Pietro, where the boutiques and bars stay busy past midnight. Don't let the glamour distract from the archaeology. Off the south coast, Cala Junco is a near-perfect cove backed by the stone footings of a Bronze Age village on the headland above, and the snorkelling over the seagrass is lovely. Push a mile northeast to Basiluzzo and you can drift over Roman remains lying just below the surface. We tend to anchor at Cala Junco for the swim and the quiet, then move round to San Pietro if the crew wants the evening out.

Things to do

Snorkel Cala Junco below the Bronze Age huts

Drift over the Roman ruins off Basiluzzo

Swim the reddish sand at Cala degli Zimmari

Late drink at San Pietro's cliffside bars

Mooring tip

San Pietro sits behind a field of pricey mooring buoys rather than a proper marina, and in peak season they book out and run steep. Reserve a buoy in advance or plan to anchor south at Cala Junco on sand in four to six metres and tender in. The whole east side is exposed if the wind backs to the east.

Lipari
6
Day 6

Panarea → Lipari

Lipari is the hub of the group, the biggest island and the one with proper shops, a real town and a bit of bustle after days of quiet anchorages. The old citadel sits on a rock above the harbour, and inside its walls the Aeolian archaeological museum is genuinely first-rate; give it a couple of hours for the painted Greek vases and the theatre masks pulled from the necropolis. Below the castle, the cobbled lanes lead down to Marina Corta and the Norman cathedral. Along the north coast the old pumice workings at Porticello leave the seabed pale and the water an odd, luminous turquoise, and swimming there feels faintly unreal. Provision well here before the run back to Sicily; this is the last decent supermarket on the route.

Things to do

Tour the Aeolian archaeological museum in the castle

Swim the white pumice shallows at Porticello

Climb to the Norman cathedral and citadel

Rabbit cunigghiu stew near Marina Corta

Mooring tip

Marina Lunga on the north side of town takes yachts stern-to and has a fuel berth by the entrance, which makes it the natural place to top up before the return leg. Rates climb toward €70–120 in high summer. It's sheltered from the northerly but takes a swell from the east, so lines and fenders earn their keep.

Tono
7
Day 7

Lipari → Tono - Capo d'Orlando

The last day is a straight reach back across to the Sicilian shore, roughly twenty miles with the islands falling away astern. Leave in good time and there's usually a window before the afternoon breeze fills in. We like to break the crossing with a swim in a sheltered bay along the coast, a last dip in cool water while someone rinses the salt off the deck. Aim to be alongside at Capo d'Orlando Marina by early afternoon, which leaves the evening for refuelling, a proper clean and packing without a rush. The town itself is worth a wander once the boat's squared away: a ruined castle on the headland, a long seafront promenade, and almond granita from the kiosks that is exactly what you want after a week in the sun. Confirm your handover slot the day before so the morning goes smoothly.

Things to do

Last swim in a bay along the coast

Almond granita from a Capo d'Orlando kiosk

Walk the headland to the ruined castle

Crew dinner on the Lungomare promenade

Mooring tip

Capo d'Orlando Marina berths you stern-to on lazy lines, with the fuel berth by the entrance, so refuel on the way in. Peak-season rates run around €70–110. Call ahead to confirm your handover time; arriving by early afternoon gives you room to fuel, wash down and settle up before dark.

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