Lipari’s lively, colourful harbour is at the foot of a high cliff, where the old town centre used to be.
This island has always been the most important of the island group. It houses a museum where you can learn about the history of the islands and which is one of the most interesting in the Mediterranean region. If you visit the archaeological excavation sites between the solid town walls, you can trace the more than 5000 years of civilization that have taken place here.
A trip to the volcano is a must. There you can go exploring amidst the fossilized obsidian deposits and the white plains of pumice stone: two materials which have the same chemical structure but which look different due to the different ways the lava has cooled and hardened.
Between Canneto and Acquacalda, two bustling ports, and in the direction of Punta Castagna, winds the long, obsidian path, known as
Rocche Rosse (the red cliffs). Between the gorges at Pomiciazzo and Lami, a lunar landscape stretches up to Monte Chirica’s extinct crater. Beyond the crater, the gentle slopes of Campobianco lead down to the crystal clear water at Porticello beach. The view from Quattrocchi Heights over the monumental Perciato cliffs and the tall steep rocks that form the foreground for the Volcano’s gaseous, sulphurous steam is simply unsurpassable.
