Vulcano trip planner

Visitor information: The seasonal tourist office (tel. +39-090-985-2028) is set up in a different spot every year, but signs will point it out. Its open only mid-June to mid-October, Monday to Saturday 8:30am to 1pm and 4:30 to 7pm.

The provincial website for Lipari and the Aeolian Islands is packed with good info: www.comunelipari.it. There also great info on the islands' Pro Loco site (www.eolieproloco.it) plus on www.lipari.com and the official (but buggy) www.aasteolie.191.it.

There are permanent tourist offices on Lipari at Corso V. Emanuele 202 (tel. +39-090-988-0095) and in Milazzo on Piazza Caio Duilio (tel. +39-090-922-2865).

For more info:
www.comunelipari.it
www.aasteolie.191.it
www.eolieproloco.it
www.lipari.com

www.booking.com
www.airbnb.com
www.bedandbreakfast.com
www.hostelworld.com

You could just alight from the ferry at Vulcano, spend a few hours at the fanghi, then hop another ferry to continue on to Lipari or elsewhere. Most visitors, of course, spend at least one night. (More tips on spending from one to four days exploring the Aeolian islands)

Remove all jewelry before you get in (so it will not get discolored) and don't get any mud in your eyes. (Note: That's not some joke about the old "here's mud in yer eye" toast; it's an actual warning. There are caustic chemicals in the mud that can burn your eyes.)

You can only get to Stromboli by boat—a hydrofoil (aliscafo) will be twice as fast, twice as expensive, and half as romantic as a ferry (traghetto).

• How to get to Vulcano from Lipari, Panarea, or Stromboli: Most boats island-hop, stopping at all the major islands (and sometimes at smaller Aeolian islands not detailed on this site). As you'll see below, most boats from any port are also going to stop at the three other Aeolian islands, so you can easily pick them any of them to get from elsewhere in the Aeolians to Vulcano.
• How to get to Vulcano from Milazzo: In winter, expect about half as many runs as listed here, and not always daily ferry service to Stromboli (hydrofoils, however, will run daily). (Read how to get to Milazzo here)
  
  
  • The hydrofoil from Milazzo—Siremar or Ustica Lines (see box above to right for contact info on all companies)—runs 7 times daily to Vulcano (40–60 min.) and Lipari (55–60 min.), 4 times daily to Panarea (1.5–2 hr.) and Stromboli (1–3 hr.).
  • The ferry from Milazzo—Siremar or N.G.I.—runs 9 times daily to Vulcano (85 min.) and Lipari (2 hr.), 1–2 times daily to Panarea (4–5 hr.) and Stromboli (6–7 hr.).
• How to get to Vulcano from Messina: Ustica Lines runs 5 hydrofoils daily to Lipari (1.5–3.5 hr.), 4 to Vulcano (2–3 hr.), and 3 each to Panarea (2–3.5 hr.) and Stromboli (1.5–3 hr.). [The hours look funny because while some island-hop, others are direct.]
• How to get to Vulcano from Naples: June to early September, there is a 2:30pm SNAV hydrofoil from Naples to Milazzo that stops at Stromboli (5 hr.), Panarea (5.5 hr.) Vulcano (6.5 hr.), and Lipari (7 hr.). In July and August there is a second run Saturdays leaving Naples at 9am (though it skips Vulcano).
  
  Siremar runs a 8pm ferry from Naples to Milazzo at least twice weekly that stops at Stromboli (9–10 hr.), Panarea (11–12 hr.), Lipari (13.5–15 hr.), and Vulcano (14.5–16 hr.). If you take the ferry, be on deck around 5am to watch Stromboli erupt as the sun rises.
• How to get to Vulcano from Cefalù: Ustica Lines runs one hydrofoil daily that leaves at 8:15am and stops at (among others) Lipari (just over 2 hr.), Vulcano (3.5 hr.), Panarea (just under 4 hr.), and Stromboli (4.5 hr.).
• How to get to Vulcano from Palermo: Ustica Lines runs 2 lines daily that stop in Lipari (4–4.5 hr.), Vulcano (4.5–5 hr.), Panarea (4.5–5 hr.), and Stromboli (5–6 hr.).

TK