Guided tour of Vulcano

The guided tour of the island of Vulcano can be done in different ways: an easy walk, a trekking, by bus or boat. Let’s see all of them!

• an easy walk to admire the beaches and the mud pool;
• Let’s discover the island by car or minibus to reach the southern part of the island;
• a boat tour to discover the wonders of the coast;
• a more active one that includes the hike to the Crater.

Firstly, once in Vulcano we are immediately welcomed by a strong smell of sulphur that reminds us that we are on one of the three active Sicilian volcanoes. We will soon get used to this smell and the characteristic yellow colour all around us.

Walking tour of the island of Vulcano on foot

We begin our guided tour of Vulcano on foot from the Porto di Levante, the main port. Everything around us is yellow and looking up we can see the fumaroles coming out from the crater. After few steps, passing in the middle of the rocks of sulfur, we reach the famous thermal mud pool. They are thermal mud and they are exploited for the treatment of joint diseases or respiratory diseases. If you want, you can try this unusual experience by covering your body with the mud!

Close to the mud pool there is the first beach, named Acquecalde, that means hot waters. The name derives from the submarine fumaroles that gush out at a temperature of about 60° celsius .

Not far away, we find the other beach of Vulcano: the Black Sands beach. Also in this case the name clearly comes from the color of the sand, black. Here the panorama opens onto Lipari, Salina, Alicudi and Filicudi. From afar, we see the volcanological observatory of the INGV, the italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanolgy.

We finish our guided tour of Vulcano on foot, walking along the island’s main street. Here we see local handicraft shops, restaurants and bars where you can enjoy a good fresh granita or ice cream.

Guided tour of the island of Vulcano by car or minibus

Starting from the Porto di Levante, we head towards the southern part of the island of Vulcano which is also the highest part of it.

We won’t miss a stop at Capo Grillo, where the view is astonishing and spreads on all the other islands of the archipelago surrounded by the blue sea.

We continue until we reach the site called Piano. It’s here that the inhabitants of the island, the Vulcanari, live and it is here that we realize their strong vocation for agriculture and sheep farming. All around us cultivated fields, cattle and sheep grazing, actually, the island of Vulcano is very renowned for its cheese.

Another unmissable stop is at the little village of Gelso: the extreme south of the island with its lighthouse and the black sandy beach. A peaceful and quiet place where you can just chill.

Guided tour of Vulcano island by boat

When you tour the island of Vulcano by boat, you discover small bays and caves inaccessible on foot and we also observe the various layers of lava.

There are some necessary stops:

• Horse’s grotto and Venus pool;
• The Perciato point;
• The village of Gelso and the Asino (Donkey) Beach.

Hike on the Crater of Vulcano Island

For the sporty ones, this excursion, is definitely the main attraction: a hour hike to reach the Crater.

The path climbs up to an altitude of 400 meters among volcanic sand, tuff and rocks of various colors.

Once at the top the effort is undoubtedly rewarded by the view: the 7 sisters of the Mediterranean are at our feet and we observe them listening the breath of the volcano.

In conclusion, you have a great choice of guided tours but the most interesting thing you can discover is surely this one of a kind island and I will be glad to be your tour guide of Vulcano.

If you wnat to learn some interesting fact about theese amazing archipelago click here.