Italy
Stromboli
A volcano erupting every twenty minutes, you hike to the summit at dusk and watch.
The trail switchbacks through volcanic scree as the sky darkens over the Tyrrhenian Sea. Below, the village lights of San Vincenzo flicker like a second set of stars. Ahead, orange sparks arc from the crater rim and tumble down the Sciara del Fuoco — Stromboli erupting on schedule, as it has for over two thousand years.
Stromboli is the northeasternmost of Sicily's Aeolian Islands, a volcanic cone rising 924 metres from the sea floor with only its upper third visible above the waterline. The volcano's near-continuous Strombolian eruptions — bursts of incandescent lava every 10 to 20 minutes — gave the entire eruption type its scientific name. The island's two settlements, San Vincenzo and Ginostra, are home to fewer than 500 permanent residents. Ginostra once held the record for the world's smallest harbour, a single mooring reachable only by sea. Guided summit hikes depart in the late afternoon, timed so climbers reach the crater terraces as darkness falls and the eruptions glow at their most vivid against the night sky.
Solo
The summit hike is meditative and intense — three hours up through silence and volcanic grit, then the eruptions as your only company at the top. Stromboli strips everything back to elemental forces in a way that rewards the self-reliant traveller.
Friends
Watching live eruptions from the crater rim bonds a group like few experiences can. Night boat trips around the Sciara del Fuoco, with lava fragments rolling into the sea, turn the volcano into shared theatre.
- The mandatory guided summit hike climbs 920 metres in 2.5 hours — arrival at the crater rim at dusk means watching eruptions clearly before the descent by torchlight.
- The village at the base has no cars and no roads — the boats, the footpaths, and the eruption schedule set the entire rhythm of the island.
- Stromboli has been erupting almost continuously for 2,000 years — ancient sailors used it as a lighthouse; the same eruption cycle still runs.
- The volcanic soil grows capers and Malvasia Nera grapes — the wine made here is only available on the island itself.
Malvasia wine on the harbour, sweet and golden, from vines grown in volcanic ash.
Spaghetti with capers and Aeolian olives at a terrace facing the smoking cone.
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Sete Cidades
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Silverton
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A narrow-gauge steam train delivers you to a mining ghost town at 9,318 feet.
Vale do Paúl
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Dawn light on a silent canal where only your footsteps echo on wet stone.
Cinque Terre
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Five villages clamped to sea cliffs, connected by footpaths through terraced vineyards above surf.
Lake Como
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Cypress-lined shores where water mirrors snow-capped peaks and silk merchants built their palaces.
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Terracotta rooftops from Brunelleschi's dome, the Arno gold at sunset, gelato in every piazza.