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

Lipari round-trip.

A 7-day yacht charter from Lipari around all seven Aeolian volcanic islands: Vulcano mud baths, Stromboli eruptions, Panarea, Salina and Filicudi.

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.

Portorosa
Day 1

Lipari → Portorosa

Twenty miles south to the mainland for a gentle first leg, full provisioning, and Etna smoking on the horizon at dusk.

Distance

32 NM

Sailing

~6.4h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

April – mid-October (peak May – Sep)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Lipari

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
Portorosa
1
Day 1

Lipari → Portorosa

Most crews use this first leg to find their feet. It's a straightforward twenty miles down to Portorosa, one of the bigger charter marinas on the Sicilian mainland, and the passage usually runs on a steady Maestrale off the northwest at ten to fifteen knots. Nothing to catch you out. Portorosa has proper services: fuel, water, a chandlery, so it's the sensible place to load the boat for the week ahead. Provision here rather than counting on the islands, where a jar of capers can cost what a meal does. Ashore, grab pasta alla Norma at one of the quayside trattorias and eat late. If the air is clear at sundown, Etna sits smoking fifty miles to the south. A taxi up to the ruins at Tindari fills an afternoon if you arrive early.

Things to do

Pasta alla Norma on the quay

Provision the boat before the islands

Taxi to the Tindari archaeological site

Watch Etna smoke from the pier

Mooring tip

Portorosa is stern-to on lazy lines, roughly €100-160 a night in peak. Well sheltered from the north, with a fuel berth at the entrance, so top up on the way in.

Vulcano
2
Day 2

Portorosa → Vulcano

Fifteen miles brings you onto the first proper Aeolian island, and you'll smell it before you see it. Vulcano still vents sulphur, and the standard overnight is Porto di Levante on the north side. The famous mud pool sits right at the foot of the harbour, though check locally whether it's open before you plan your afternoon around it. Better bet, in my book, is the walk up the Gran Cratere: about an hour of loose ash underfoot, and from the rim you look straight down into a steaming caldera with the whole archipelago laid out beyond. Snorkel the warm shallows near the Pool of Venus where thermal water bubbles up through the sand. Come evening, grilled swordfish at Trattoria Vulcano does the job. Moor on the far side from the vents and the smell fades.

Things to do

Hike the Gran Cratere rim (391 m)

Soak in the Laghetto di Fanghi mud

Snorkel the warm Pool of Venus vents

Grilled swordfish at Trattoria Vulcano

Mooring tip

Porto di Levante takes you stern-to at €60-100 a night, sheltered from the north. Berth on the harbour's far side, away from the fumaroles, or the sulphur will be in your cabin all night.

Filicudi
3
Day 3

Vulcano → Filicudi

This is the one that feels furthest from anywhere. Filicudi has maybe two hundred and fifty people, no real road to speak of, and donkeys still carrying loads up the village paths. Off the west coast stands La Canna, an eighty-five-metre volcanic needle punching straight out of deep water, and the snorkelling around its base is the best on the route. Take the tender into the Grotta del Bue Marino while the light's low and the cave glows. Ashore, the Bronze Age village at Capo Graziano is a short scramble worth the sweat for the view alone. Tie up at little Filicudi Porto on the east coast, or drop the hook off Pecorini a Mare and dinghy in for pasta con le sarde at a quayside taverna. Leave by nine if the forecast is building.

Things to do

Snorkel the base of La Canna spire

Tender into the Grotta del Bue Marino

Scramble to the Capo Graziano ruins

Pasta con le sarde at Pecorini

Mooring tip

Filicudi Porto is small and fills fast, stern-to at €60-90 a night with shelter from the north. If it's full, anchor off Pecorini a Mare on good sand in five to seven metres.

Stromboli
4
Day 4

Filicudi → Stromboli

Thirty-two miles, the longest passage of the week, so we usually slip the lines early and make Stromboli by mid-afternoon. It's worth the miles. The cone throws up an eruption every fifteen or twenty minutes, day and night, and on the northwest flank the Sciara del Fuoco carries the glowing rock all the way down to the water. The trick is timing: potter through the afternoon at the Scari quay on the south side, then motor round and anchor off the Sciara as the light goes. From the deck you watch the whole thing in the dark, no crowds, drink in hand. Earlier, walk up to the four-hundred-metre viewpoint, which needs no guide, and stop at L'Osservatorio for a cannolo with the volcano filling the window. The white cubes of car-free Ginostra reward a nose around too.

Things to do

Anchor off the Sciara del Fuoco at dusk

Cannolo at L'Osservatorio, volcano in view

Walk up to the 400 m viewpoint

Wander car-free Ginostra's white lanes

Mooring tip

You cannot lie overnight off the Sciara del Fuoco, so anchor there only for the show, on rock in eight to twelve metres, then move. For sleep, the Scari quay is stern-to at €40-60 in settled weather.

Panarea
5
Day 5

Stromboli → Panarea

Panarea is tiny and knows its own worth. This is where Milan comes to sun itself in August, so book the marina ahead and expect the prices to match the postcards. Off the south coast, Cala Junco is a near-perfect horseshoe under the Bronze Age huts of Punta Milazzese, and it shelves gently onto sand at four to six metres for a lazy swim stop. A mile east, drop over the side at Lisca Bianca and you'll swim through columns of fumarole gas rising off the seabed like champagne. Ashore at San Pietro, the studios turn out hand-painted ceramics worth carrying home, and when the sun's down the Raya bar cranks up on its cliff terrace. It's a short, gentle sail, so linger over the snorkelling and arrive with the afternoon still ahead of you.

Things to do

Swim into Cala Junco below the ruins

Snorkel the champagne bubbles at Lisca Bianca

Sundowner on the Raya bar terrace

Hand-painted ceramics from San Pietro studios

Mooring tip

Marina San Pietro is stern-to and pricey in peak, €100-160 a night, sheltered from the north. Book well ahead in August, or day-anchor in Cala Junco on sand at four to six metres and skip the crowds.

Salina
6
Day 6

Panarea → Salina

After a week of ash and bare rock, Salina comes as a green surprise. Two old volcanic cones rise over vineyards and caper terraces, and this is the only island in the chain with water enough to farm properly. Tie up at Santa Marina on the east coast. The local Malvasia is a sweet amber wine you should taste at source, and Hauner is the name to look for. Down in the hamlet of Lingua, Da Alfredo has been serving granita di gelsi, made with mulberries, to a queue of regulars for decades; order it with a warm brioche and don't rush. Fit crews can grind up Monte Fossa delle Felci, nearly a thousand metres, for a four-hour round trip. On the far side, the cliffside village of Pollara stood in for the setting of Il Postino back in the nineties.

Things to do

Taste Malvasia delle Lipari at Hauner

Granita di gelsi at Da Alfredo in Lingua

Walk the Pollara cliffs from Il Postino

Climb Monte Fossa delle Felci (962 m)

Mooring tip

Santa Marina Salina is stern-to at €60-100 a night with good northerly shelter. If the marina is full, Rinella on the south coast is a quieter fallback with room to anchor.

Lipari
7
Day 7

Salina → Lipari

The last leg is barely an hour, so there's no need to rush breakfast. On the way back to Lipari, swing by the old pumice quarries on the north coast off Canneto and Acquacalda, where the spoil from a century of mining has turned the cliffs chalk-white and the shallows an improbable turquoise. Slide in for a final swim before the crowds. Lipari town itself is the busy hub of the islands, and Marina Lunga is where you'll hand the boat back, so refuel at the fuel berth on the way in and confirm your slot the day before. With time ashore, the Archaeological Museum up in the castle is genuinely good, the Norman cathedral sits at the top of the old lanes, and a limoncello down on Marina Corta is a fair way to close the week.

Things to do

Swim the white pumice quarries off Canneto

Aeolian Archaeological Museum in the castle

Walk to the Norman cathedral lanes

Limoncello on Marina Corta

Mooring tip

Marina Lunga is stern-to at €70-120 a night in peak and has the island's fuel berth at the entrance, so top up before you tie up. Confirm the handover slot 24 hours ahead.

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