Guides · How to get there
The islands have no airport: you arrive by sea, almost always via Milazzo. Here are the departure harbours, the summer crossings, the useful airports and where to leave your car. For timetables and fares always check the operators' official websites.
In short: the simplest way is to take a hydrofoil or ferry from Milazzo, the harbour with the most departures to the archipelago. In summer there are also connections from Calabria, from Tropea and Cetraro. The useful airports are Catania, Palermo and Reggio Calabria, from where you continue overland to the harbour. The idea is simple: you arrive in Lipari, and from there you take the boat.
This is a logistics guide, not a timetable: sailings and fares change from season to season and should be checked on the operators' official websites before you leave. Here you will find the map of harbours and choices, the part that does not change from one year to the next.
There is one main harbour, then in summer the stops from Calabria are added.
The main harbour
It is the reference harbour for the Aeolians, the one with the most sailings all year round. From here depart the hydrofoils, fast and for passengers only, and the ferries, slower but also carrying vehicles. The companies running the service are Liberty Lines for the hydrofoils and Siremar for the ferries: both publish timetables and fares on their own websites, to check before you travel.
The summer stops
In summer, seasonal connections from the Calabrian coast are added, with departures from Tropea and from Cetraro: handy if you are arriving from the Tyrrhenian side of Calabria and want to avoid crossing the Strait. These sailings only run in the warm months on a reduced schedule, so here more than anywhere it is worth checking the active dates of the season in advance.
None of the Aeolian Islands has an airport: from the airport you always continue overland to the harbour, then by sea. There are three useful options.
If you arrive by car, keep in mind that it is of little use on the island: getting around is done on foot, by boat or with local transport. The practical choice is to leave the car in Milazzo and board as a passenger. Parking in Milazzo is a cost to factor in: near the harbour there are paid car parks and private facilities, with daily rates that rise in high season. Taking the car to the island by ferry is possible but rarely worthwhile for a short holiday: it costs more, and in summer the landing of vehicles is subject to restrictions.
Lipari is the hub of the archipelago. It is the island with the most incoming connections, the most rental operators and the best-organised harbour: it is from here that it makes sense to start a day at sea, even when the destination is another island. From Lipari you can reach Vulcano and the west coast on your own; for Panarea, Stromboli and the longer trips you choose a boat with a skipper or a guided tour, because the distances exceed what a day dinghy can handle.
In practice the sequence is always the same: mainland, hydrofoil, Lipari, boat. The other islands are the scenery; Lipari is the logistical base.
For timetables and fares. Sailings, prices and availability of hydrofoils and ferries are found on the official websites of the connection operators (Liberty Lines for the hydrofoils, Siremar for the ferries) and should be checked for the exact period of your trip: this guide points to the harbours and the choices, not the timetables, which change every season.
Once you land in Lipari, all that is left is the day itself. To work out which island to leave from, the guide on which island to choose. To find out when the sea really lets you out, the best time in when to go.
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