48 HOURS IN THE…
It’s a sad fact that anywhere nice that is easy to get to will be jammed with tourists making the most of the simple journey. And some gorgeous, out-of-the way places are just not worth travelling to for a long weekend, as the journey is so exhausting that by the time you arrive, you are ready for a lie down and then it’s practically time to turn tail and head back home again. The art of a long weekend is to find the balance between the two – alittle out of the way, off the tourist trail and the budget flight routes but not so remote that it is not worth the trip. Even better if the journey itself can take in some spectacular seafront countryside and see you splitting your travel between plane, road and blue sea. And I think I may have found just that in a long weekend in the Aeolian Islands.
Even the most committed Italophile may not have ventured to this little volcanic archipelago strung along the north coast of Sicily. But those that do will go back again and again. In total there are seven islands to explore, two of them with active volcanos, Stromboli and Vulcano. The island of Vulcano is the closest to the coast of Sicily, so this is a great place to begin a holiday. But in fact, let us begin it as you land at Catania airport in Sicily.