Sicily and the Aeolian Islands

This would be our second time in Italy before and/or after a major life moment for us. This time we decided to go to Sicily and the Aeolian Islands. There were a few internet sources that had been to Sicily and less sources that had gone to the Aeolian Islands. Like the other trip, we took a bit of a shot on each spot. Here are my notes from those areas. To note, I wrote this about 2 months after the visit.

At the bottom of this post I included the restaurants that we visited while on our trip and would recommend.

Siracusa

We flew into Catania from Salt Lake City through Rome and eventually landed in Siracusa. Siracusa was heavily recommended from TripAdvisor and Reddit users so we made the point to go here, even just for a day. Overall, I would say Siracusa felt more like a city, a bit grittier and real than Taormina per say. I did not love Siracusa but appreciated this place as the start to our trip. It was a slow, small city (outside of the driving) and was easy to get around by foot. We visited the historical sites in the Northwest part of the city and it was okay. We spent a couple hours walking around and that was about all I could handle on historical sites.

Ortigia

Another highly recommended place, this was a bit overhyped in my opinion. It was a nicer place than Siracusa but quite busy and nothing to really catch my attention. I did enjoy the street market scene here and the food was good, well it's always good in Italy.

Taormina

It is amazing to me to read the opinions that conflict with my own. Internet did not seem to love Taormina. I loved it. Yes, it is touristy. Yes, it is busy when the cruise ships drop off their people. But it is a beautiful area. But it really dies after the cruise ships depart. The food in Taormina was great but it took a little effort to figure out the tourist trap spots versus the not traps. We batted about 65% on that.

Taormina was a scene in terms of people. People in Taormina certainly seemed to want to be noticed. Most noticeable was the amount of "influencers" in the area taking photos in their best dressed even though it was 85 degrees with high humidity. Props to them for committing to it.

Aeolian Islands

We had heard about the Aeolian Islands from an Italian friend of ours and decided to do a deep dive, figuratively and literally. We spent the next 7 days or so on/in the island chain eating Sicilian foods, taking boat/swim tours along the coasts and see the islands from different perspectives.

Lipari

This is where we stayed for a 4 day duration on the Aeolian Islands. Lipari, the largest and busiest island, was a great island to base out of. I enjoyed Lipari as it had plenty of restaurants to choose from and some great people watching.

Vulcano

Only 'visited' Vulcano while on a swimming-boat-excursion that set out from Lipari. If we did it again, I would spend about the same amount of time that we did.

Panarea

The posh island. It was really quiet but beautiful here. I could see why celebrities and the ultra wealthy would like to stay on this island as it is so quiet and feels so secluded from the rest of the world. We spent about 2 hours on this island and that would be it for me in the future.

Salina

This was the other island we stayed on while in the Aeolian Islands. This place was awesome and would suggest staying here again, and longer. The island was quieter than Lipari, so a little less infrastructure, but the scenery/nature was unmatched. I ended up taking a trail up to Mount Rivi that took about 2.5 hours up and down and about 30 minutes of time taking photos.

Aci Castello

We did not want to stay in Catania for a night before our flight out so we stayed in Acireale. A small town that had a great restaurant. Honestly, probably the best food we had while there in Italy at La Luna.

Didn't visit the following islands: Filicudi, Alicudi, Stromboli

Siracusa

• Ristorante La Darsena
• Eight O'Clock (First night of fish) 

Taormina

• 3/4 Quarti
• Pizzeria La Napoletana via Orville
• Pizzamania
• Accussi
• Osteria RossoDiVino (Overrated)
• La Tavernetta

Lipari

• Subba 1930 Sas (Bakery)
• Safe La Vela (Modern fish restaurant on the coast piazza)
• Gilberto e Vera EnoPaninoteca (Sandwich spot)
• Trattoria Siciliana
• A Sartania 
• Boating Outfit - Amici Delle Eolie

 Aci Castello

• La Luna Pizza and Food