We went here via Panarea on the Comerci Navigazione M/n Stromboli Express e M/n Adriatic Princess 4. It was a full day cruise that left Tropea. Both Islands were great but the Stromboli volcano was amazing! While Mt Etna is massive, this one you can actually see lava! If you can afford it, its worth it! Just make sure to be at the departure time or you may be stuck on Stromboli or Panarea!

We took an 8 hour boat trip from Lipari to Panarera & Stromboli, with a night-time sea tour around Stromboli to see the intermittent eruptions. Brilliant!! The service from boat company Regina Eolie di Mava was excellent and very efficient - giving us over 2 and half hours of shore trips.

This was my first active volcano experience (besides Hawaii from afar), and it blew me away! I definitely plan to return, and to seek out other volcanoes as well. One of the most amazing things I have ever seen, and I've seen A LOT! Ideally, you should spend at least 2 nights on the island to maximize the chances of seeing the eruption in case the craters are obscured by clouds one night. I inquired with Magmatrek when I arrived at the end of October, and they were sold out that night, and only had 1 spot available for the next night (which I took). So, plan ahead. I think most reviews don't emphasize how amazing the volcano is even during the day! Seeing the rocks tumble down into the sea is mesmerizing. I wish I had arrived to the 290m viewpoint earlier, at least 1 hour before sunset! I would recommend doing both the hiking group tour to 400m *and* going up by yourself to 290m (or wherever you feel like stopping - there are other places you can stop at, like the Observatory, but the higher you go the better the views will be, although even the "worst" are unbelievable). This way, you can get the pros of both the group and independent experience. Pros of a tour: you get as close as possible (400m altitude), and you get some cool information along the way. Cons: you can't customize the experience; for example if you're seeking a quiet, contemplative experience like I was, that's not possible in a group of 20 people. If you want to arrive earlier or stay for longer, or hike faster/slower, you cannot do that, and for many this is a once in a lifetime experience that I would not recommend short-changing. Pros of going alone: the main advantage for me is that you can spend more time at the top (arrive earlier, and can stay as long as you want, provided you have snacks, drinks, and WARM windproof CLOTHES). But you can only get to 290m, which is still very impressive but measurably less so than the 400m. The 290m viewpoint is still not completely serene, but you have more freedom to move around, go higher or lower, stay longer, etc. If you value solitude, this is an unforgettable experience, especially since during a full moon you can walk down the volcano without a light for the most part. If I were to pick one experience vs. the other, I'm not sure which I would pick! They're both awesome in their own unique way. To get the advantages of both in one epic trip, I would definitely hire a private guide in order to arrive to 400m earlier in the day, and hopefully have the freedom to stay a bit longer than the other tour groups. That would give you the best experience possible, especially if enjoying this majestic natural experience in (relative) tranquility is important to you.

It’s a great small island with great choose of restaurants and spectacular stargazing opportunities and accessible volcano eruption viewing. We went on a footpath towards observatory and found that it was sufficient to see great show. We wanted to go an a trek but our timings didn’t work out. We also took a boat trip with Pasquale that took you to the village other side that has only 40 residents fot you to enjoy and then see the eruptions from the see. Be prepared to walk up and down hill or take a cart. We walked it all and it was fine. We went to the spiaggia terrazze di eolo beach just after the ficogrande beach which is more popular. We didn’t like the main one so went on and glad we did! The Spiaggia Terrazze Di Eolo beach was just amazing with beach access to restaurant with most amazing views! Would highly recommend. It was all in all great authentic experience, really nice and very very quiet (late May). We wish we could go on a trek but glad we ventured out on foot ourselves. It’s marked well enough. It was striking though how much this community is reliant on tourism. The remote village on the other side Ginostra (40 residents) had only one restaurant left open out of three and only served aperitivo (cheeses, olives and meet platter like snack with drink before main meal). Sane in the main village / lots of places shut. Sad really.. you can see it’s slowly fading away. I would hate seeing this to become hotel chain owned place as it is truly authentic at the moment and must be visited for the Vulcans and stargazing if not anything else. If you can, please visit and support as this community is still holding up as independent from commercial giants.