Filicudi Alicudi ferry

Filicudi Guide

Filicudi is one of eight islands that make up the Aeolian archipelago and is located 30–50 km to the north east of the island of Sicily. The island has a few small villages including Valdichiesa and Pecorini Mare. The island is perhaps best known for the production of wine, olive oil, grain and vegetables. The island's highest point is Monte Fossa Felci which is 774 m above sea level and in the 1990's around three quarters of the island was declared a nature reserve.

Popular with scuba divers, the island has many underwater caves ready to be explored. The "Grotto del bue marino" ("Grotto of the Monk Seal") is not far from the "Rock of Canna" (Scaglia della Canna) and is especially popular with divers who are keen on underwater photography. Boats are needed and can easily be hired in the main port. The “Grotta dei Gamberi” ["Cave of crawfishes"] is inhabited by a considerable amount of small crawfishes, sponges, octopus, moray eels, red and black scorpion fish and groupers.

Ferries from Filicudi can be taken to Milazzo and Palermo.

Alicudi Guide

The Italian island of Alicudi in one of the Aeolian Islands which is located off the coast of Sicily and mainland Italy. It is the most remote of the Aeolian Islands and also has the island group's smallest population, with around 100 inhabitants. The island's only form of transport are its donkeys which can frequently be heard braying. Because of the island's small population, and size, and because its tourist infrastructure is perhaps not as well developed as some of its neighbours, it has managed to retain a great deal of its rugged, authentic charm. The island's simplicity is an attraction for certain types of visitors; adventurers, artists and writers.

The island is actually a volcanic cone protruding from the sea which is now covered in vegetation and extinct. There are a number of footpaths, that begin from the little port on the island, that climb the island's steep slopes, passing cultivated terraces. Formerly, the island was called Ericusa which derives from the heather (Erica) that grows on the island's slopes. Some of the island's houses are well maintained and some are abandoned and are mainly located in the east of the island as the island's western slopes are steep and inaccessible.

There are scheduled ferry services to Alicudi from the other Aeolian Islands, from Sicily and from the Italian mainland.