Sicily and the Aeolian Islands in 10 days

Mainland Sicily, then a genuinely different landscape

Ten days lets you combine eastern Sicily’s cities with a real, unrushed stretch in the Aeolian Islands — three island stops rather than a single rushed day trip, since Lipari, Vulcano and Stromboli each deserve their own time rather than being ticked off from a fast-moving boat tour. Every leg to and from the islands depends on the sea; build in slack, and read this whole itinerary as a plan that can shift by a day if conditions don’t cooperate. If ten days feels like too much, Sicily in two weeks folds a shorter Aeolian stop into a fuller island loop instead.

Best for	Travellers with time for a genuine island detour, not just a day trip to Lipari
Getting around	Rental car on the mainland; hydrofoils between islands (no car needed there)
Total budget guide	Around 1,100-1,500 € per person for ten days, excluding flights
Car needed	Yes on the mainland; leave it in Milazzo while you’re on the islands

Day 1 — Catania

Morning and afternoon: Land in Catania and spend the day in the Baroque center — La Pescheria fish market (mornings only), Piazza Duomo, and Via Etnea. Book a private walking tour of Catania with a local.

Evening: Settle in for an early night — tomorrow starts the drive north.

Day 2 — Taormina

Morning: Drive to Taormina, about 50 minutes from Catania. Walk Corso Umberto and the ancient Greco-Roman theatre.

Afternoon: Take a guided Taormina and Isola Bella tour with a swim stop. Watch for Taormina’s ZTL — park below the old town and walk or shuttle up.

Evening: Overnight in Taormina.

Day 3 — Milazzo and the crossing to Lipari

Morning: Drive from Taormina to Milazzo, about an hour and a quarter, and park your rental car in a secure long-stay lot near the port — you won’t need it again until you return to the mainland.

Afternoon: Take the hydrofoil to Lipari, the Aeolian Islands’ largest and most developed island, roughly an hour depending on the specific route and stops. Book a Milazzo boat tour of the Capo Milazzo marine protected area the morning before your crossing if you have a few extra hours to spare.

Evening: Settle into Lipari town, the main port and the most convenient base for reaching Vulcano and Stromboli over the following days.

Day 4 — Lipari

Morning and afternoon: Lipari rewards a full unhurried day — the archaeological museum (one of the best collections of prehistoric and Greek Aeolian artifacts anywhere), the citadel’s fortified old town, and the island’s obsidian cliffs and black-and-white pumice quarry views on the northern coast.

Evening: Lipari’s harborfront restaurants specialize in fresh-caught fish and the local capers, a genuine Aeolian specialty grown in volcanic soil.

Day 5 — Vulcano

Morning: Take the short hydrofoil hop to Vulcano, around 20-30 minutes from Lipari. Vulcano’s crater hike is a moderate, roughly hour-long climb with sweeping views back across the archipelago from the rim — sulfur fumes are a constant reminder this is an active volcanic system, not a dormant backdrop.

Afternoon: Vulcano’s mud baths (fanghi), a shallow pool of warm, sulfurous volcanic mud, are the island’s other signature stop — genuinely smelly, and worth doing once for the novelty and the mineral-rich skin treatment reputation, though don’t expect a spa-level polish. The adjacent black-sand beaches are worth an hour of rinsing off and relaxing afterward.

Evening: Hydrofoil back to Lipari for the night.

Day 6 — Stromboli

Morning: Take the hydrofoil to Stromboli, the furthest of the three islands from Lipari and the one most dependent on calm seas — budget a longer crossing and expect delays are more common here than on the shorter inter-island hops.

Afternoon: Stromboli’s constantly active volcano erupts every ten to twenty minutes from its summit crater, visible even during the day as a plume, though the real spectacle is after dark. Book a full-day boat trip from Lipari taking in Panarea and Stromboli if you’d rather see the volcano from the water than commit to an overnight stay.

Evening: A boat trip along the Sciara del Fuoco (the “stream of fire,” a scarred slope where eruptive material slides directly into the sea) after dark is the single best way to watch Stromboli’s eruptions without a strenuous guided summit climb — our Stromboli by night guide covers this specifically.

Day 7 — Back to the mainland, on to Syracuse

Morning: Hydrofoil back to Milazzo, roughly 2-2.5 hours depending on the route, retrieve your car, and allow the whole morning for this transfer — don’t schedule anything tight against it.

Afternoon: Drive from Milazzo to Syracuse, a long haul of around 3 hours via the A18/A19 motorways. This is a travel day; don’t try to sightsee en route.

Evening: Settle into Ortigia, the small island old town connected to mainland Syracuse by two short bridges — note its ZTL zone and park in a mainland-side lot.

Day 8 — Syracuse and Ortigia

Morning: The Neapolis archaeological park holds the Greek theatre and the Ear of Dionysius limestone cave. Book a guided tour of Ortigia and the Neapolis archaeological park.

Afternoon: Walk Ortigia at a slower pace — the Fountain of Arethusa and the Piazza Duomo, built onto the columns of an ancient Greek temple.

Evening: A relaxed dinner near, but not directly on, Piazza Duomo.

Day 9 — Noto

Morning: Drive to Noto, about 40 minutes from Syracuse, the Val di Noto’s Baroque showpiece rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake.

Afternoon: Walk the Corso, ideally twice — once at midday and once in the late-afternoon light that changes the limestone’s color noticeably.

Evening: Drive back to Ortigia for a final night.

Day 10 — Departure

Morning: Depart from Catania, about an hour from Syracuse, allowing buffer time for the drive and airport procedures.

Practical notes

Leave your rental car in a secure long-stay lot in Milazzo rather than trying to bring it to the islands — none of the three islands on this itinerary need a car, and vehicle ferries to the Aeolians are slower, pricier and largely unnecessary for a visit of this length. Pack light for the island stretch specifically; cobbled port towns and narrow stairs favor a soft bag over a wheeled suitcase.