A taste of paradise on Italy’s Aeolian Islands

John Gasson falls in love with Italy’s blissful, rustic Aeolian Islands, from the fertile soils of Panarea, through to Lipari, the largest of the archipelago, and onto Salina.

THERE IS A STONE mermaid by the pools at Hotel Raya on Panarea — her face turned up to the sun, her breasts thrust toward the expansive blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea — who instructs the visitor on how best to spend time here: basking in the astounding beauty of Italy’s Aeolian Islands.

If the mermaid were to open her eyes, she would see Stromboli — the backdrop for Antonioni’s 1960 film L’Avventura — which still has an active volcano, smoking in the distance.