Lipari gets written about as the boring one, and that is unfair and also useful.
It is the largest of the seven, it has the most people, the most beds and the most boats, and because of that it reads as the practical choice rather than the romantic one. Which it is. It is also the island with the best museum in the archipelago, a citadel that has been fortified continuously since the Bronze Age, and a coastline of white pumice that turns the sea an unreal colour.
You will probably stay here. Here is what to do with it. The wider planning is in my complete guide to the Aeolian Islands.
The shape of the island
A rough oval, about nine kilometres by five, with the main town on the east coast facing Sicily.
Lipari town has two harbours: Marina Lunga, the working one where the hydrofoils and ferries come in, and Marina Corta, the small pretty one on the other side of the citadel rock. Between and above them sits the old fortified town.
North of town the coast runs up to Canneto and the pumice coast. West and south the island is quieter, with a scenic road, viewpoints and a few small settlements.
A bus service loops the island and is cheap and adequate. A scooter is better if you want to stop where you like.
The citadel on the rock
The single best thing on the island, and it is free to walk into.
A steep rock rises directly above the small harbour, and it has been fortified more or less continuously since the Bronze Age. What you can see standing at once, which is the remarkable part: Greek walls in massive squared blocks, a Norman cathedral, and the Spanish bastions added after the corsair Barbarossa sacked the island in 1544 and carried off most of its people.
Three thousand years of people deciding this was the defensible spot, all visible from the same paving.
Go up in the morning or the late afternoon. It is exposed and there is no shade on the walls.
The museum, which nobody plans for
Inside the citadel is the archaeological museum, and it is genuinely good in a way that surprises people who came for a beach.
It sets out the excavated sequence of the islands building by building, but the thing to see is the collection of Greek theatrical masks and figurines taken from tombs here: small terracotta faces, tragedy and comedy, in numbers found nowhere else in the world. Alongside them, amphorae raised from wrecks on the seabed around the archipelago.
Two hours, air conditioned, and it recalibrates the whole trip. If it rains, this is the day.
The pumice coast
North of town, past Canneto, the hillside turns white.
Lipari was quarried for pumice for a very long time, and the workings above the shore have left the slope and the seabed pale. The result is a beach of grey-white gravel where the water goes an intense milky turquoise, because the light is bouncing off pumice dust rather than dark volcanic sand.
The quarries themselves closed and the industrial buildings are derelict, which some people find atmospheric and others find bleak. Either way, do not climb on the workings. They are unstable and unsupervised.
Canneto itself is a small village a few kilometres north of town with the island’s most accessible beach: pebbled, clear, reachable by bus. It is where locals go and it is a good, unglamorous afternoon.
Obsidian, and why the island was rich
Two volcanic stones sit in your hand very differently, and holding both explains the island’s whole history.
Pumice is frothed volcanic glass, full of gas bubbles, so light it floats.
Obsidian is the same material cooled fast without the froth: dense black glass that fractures to an edge sharper than surgical steel.
In the neolithic that edge was the best cutting tool available anywhere, and Lipari had it. Blades from this island have been found across the western Mediterranean. A small island with no metal and not much water became wealthy on the back of a stone, and stayed wealthy for centuries.
You can still find obsidian on the ground on the northern slopes. Look, do not take.
Where to stay
Lipari has more accommodation than the rest of the archipelago combined, which means range.
In the town, for the ferries, the restaurants and the evening. This is what most people want, and staying near Marina Corta puts you on the pretty side.
At Canneto, for a quieter, cheaper, beach-adjacent stay, with a bus into town.
Out on the west of the island, for views and quiet, if you have a scooter.
Book early for July and August. Lipari absorbs the overflow from the smaller islands and it fills.
Where to eat
Look for pane cunzato, the big slab of dressed bread that is the local answer to lunch, and eat it standing up somewhere unglamorous rather than sitting down somewhere with a view.
Otherwise: swordfish, squid, capers in everything, and granita with brioche for breakfast, which is not a dessert here but the correct way to start a hot day.
Marina Corta has the tables with the view and prices to match. The streets behind the main drag are better value and generally better food.
A day that works
Citadel and museum from nine, before the heat. Down into the town for an early lunch. Bus or scooter north to Canneto and the pale water for the afternoon. Back for the evening on the front, which is when the town is at its best.
That is one full day and it covers the island’s essentials. A second day is worth spending on a boat rather than on land.
What Lipari is not
It is not a picture-postcard island, and if you have come expecting Panarea’s whitewash you will be briefly disappointed.
Lipari is a working island with a ferry port, a hospital, schools and a supermarket. That is precisely what makes it liveable for a week, and it is why almost everyone should base here even if they find the prettiest photographs elsewhere.
Read also: which Aeolian island to stay on, the best beaches in the Aeolian Islands, and my complete guide to the Aeolian Islands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to do on Lipari?
The citadel above the harbour, with Greek walls, a Norman cathedral and Spanish bastions visible together, and the archaeological museum inside it, which holds the largest collection of Greek theatrical masks anywhere. Beyond that, the pumice coast north of town, the beach at Canneto, and boat trips to the other islands.
Is Lipari worth staying on?
For most visitors, yes. It has the widest range of accommodation and restaurants in the archipelago and the most ferry connections, so every other island becomes a day trip. It is a working town rather than a postcard, which is exactly what makes it comfortable for a week.
How do you get around Lipari?
A bus service loops the island and is cheap and adequate for the main destinations, including Canneto and the west coast viewpoints. A hired scooter is better if you want to stop where you like. A car is unnecessary on an island nine kilometres long.
Is the white beach on Lipari worth visiting?
Yes, for the colour of the water, which turns an intense milky turquoise because the seabed is pale pumice rather than dark volcanic sand. It is gravel rather than sand, so bring water shoes, and stay off the derelict quarry workings on the slope above, which are unstable.
Where should you eat on Lipari?
Away from the harbourfront tables with the view, which charge for it. Look for pane cunzato, the dressed bread slab that functions as lunch here, and eat granita with brioche for breakfast. Swordfish, squid and capers appear on every menu and are worth ordering.
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