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The museum’s collection reveals the original Neolithic settlement and includes obsidian knives and fabulous Greek vases.

Under the castle rock, this is where the hydro-foils and smaller craft dock . It’s always bustling with visitors and locals hawking rooms for rent and boat excursions.

The biggest industry on Lipari, alongside tourism, is the thriving pumice industry. Pumice is so plentiful you’ll find little bits of it washing up onto the beaches, bobbing in the water and on sale in shops. Thanks to pumice dust on the seabed, the water refracts gorgeous colours, from turquoise to bright emerald.

The beach at Pollara has black volcanic sand and a dark blue sea. The water is great for snorkelling, with sea urchins and octopuses.

This stone bridge swoops down from the cliff and rests in the water, creating a natural rock bridge . You can get to the breath taking Perciato via land or sea and then swim around the rocks.

Although it’s a spent volcano, Vulcano still has constant sulphur emissions seeping out of the main crater, and all over the island the vapour rises out of the craggy ground. It turns the earth lurid yellows and reds and forms the fanghi (mudbaths) and hot bubbles in the sea.

This is the famed product of the islands. White grapes are cultivated, harvested late and left to shrivel on cane mats before fermentation.

Stromboli volcano has been active for more than two millennia, spewing sparks and red-hot rocks into the air, although you can only see them at night. Excursions are popular and available from the other islands.

This is the smallest island of the archipelago and the most exclusive. Chic Panarea is known for its coves, clear water, rocky islets and nightlife. It also has an archaeological site: a Bronze Age settlement on the Punta Milazzese.

Tiny Alicudi and Filicudi are the westernmost and least developed islands of the archipelago. Many visitors and locals call these the prettiest of the Aeolian Islands, with their natural beauty, sparse population, lack of cars and whitewashed houses with breezy terraces.