Lipari
The best-connected harbour in the archipelago: most guided tours toward Vulcano and Panarea start from here, and it is the easiest base if it is your first time.
Boats and tours from LipariA day at sea between Lipari, Vulcano and Stromboli: skippered boats, guided shared day trips, and dinghies you can drive yourself with no licence up to 40hp. Tell us what your trip looks like and we will help you pick the right one.
Plan your day on the water
Seven islands, each with its own character: coves that only open up from the water, sea stacks, steaming fumaroles, and a Stromboli that lights up after dark. The best way to experience them is by boat. Most visitors here do not hold an Italian boat licence, so the easy choice is a skippered boat or a guided tour: someone who knows the sea takes you to the right spots while you enjoy the ride.
Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi
From Lipari, from Milazzo and from Tropea on the mainland
Average price per person for a shared day tour
Where to go
Each one changes the shape of a day on the water. Pick the island you want to set off from, or the one you want to reach.
The best-connected harbour in the archipelago: most guided tours toward Vulcano and Panarea start from here, and it is the easiest base if it is your first time.
Boats and tours from Lipari
The first island you reach from Lipari: fumaroles, mud baths and the coves along the south shore, the shortest and most photographed stop of a day out.
Boats and tours around Vulcano
The greenest of the Aeolians, with its twin volcanoes and the bay of Pollara. An island to reach by sea, for the little coves you cannot see from the road.
Boats and tours around Salina
The smallest and most glamorous, ringed by the islets of Lisca Bianca and Basiluzzo. Crystal water and anchorages you can only enjoy from a boat.
Boats and tours around Panarea
The always-active volcano of the archipelago. After dark you watch the Sciara del Fuoco from the water: the most requested sunset trip, almost always with a skipper.
Stromboli by night tour
The two most distant and wildest islands, where time slows down. Filicudi's Grotta del Bue Marino is a spot you can only reach by boat.
Filicudi and Alicudi by boatHow you want to go out to sea
With a skipper, on a shared tour, or driving a small dinghy yourself: the rhythm of the day changes, and so does the budget. Here are the average market prices to give you a sense of it. They vary by season and availability.
Someone on board who knows the sea, the anchorages and the timing. The natural choice if you do not hold an Italian boat licence, and the one we recommend for Stromboli by night or for simply enjoying the ride without a worry.
Average market price, it varies by season and availability.
A seat on a shared trip, with the route and the guide already sorted. The simplest and cheapest way to see more than one island in a single day, with nothing to organise yourself.
Average market price, it varies by season and availability.
You drive, on your own, a dinghy within the power limit that needs no boat licence (up to 40hp under Italian rules, staying within a set distance from shore). The most independent way to spend a day among the coves of Vulcano and Lipari.
Average market price, it varies by season and availability.
We track prices across the Aeolian market regularly, so when a quote reaches you, you already know whether it is in line with what people actually pay. None of these figures are ours: they are average market prices, and they change with the season and availability.
See Aeolian Islands pricesThe questions everyone asks
Not always. Under Italian rules you can drive a small dinghy yourself, with no licence, as long as it stays within the engine power (up to 40hp) and the distance from shore set by law. For larger boats or for more demanding trips, such as Stromboli by night, you either need a licence or a skipper on board, which you can request together with the boat. Since most visitors do not hold the Italian licence, a skippered boat or a guided tour is usually the easiest choice.
It depends on the format. A shared day tour starts on average from 55 euro per person; a dinghy with no licence at Lipari from around 190 euro per day; a boat with a skipper from around 500 euro per day. These are average market prices and they vary by season and availability. On the prices page you will find the detail island by island.
There are three main departure points. Lipari, the best-connected harbour in the archipelago, puts the islands right on your doorstep. Milazzo, in Sicily, is handy if you arrive by car. Tropea, in Calabria, is the base for day tours from the mainland. Tell us where it suits you to leave from and we will point you to the best option.
The next step
We reply with a tailored proposal, no strings attached. All we need is the date, the island you want to leave from and how many of you there are.
Get a free quote