LIPARI AND SURROUNDINGS
South of Lipari, a road leads to the unsignposted Quattrocchi, with its postcard view of some strategically placed cacti, down the sheer rocky peninsula of Monte Guardia, and past some stacks to the island of Vulcano across the straight .
A little further on is the hamlet of Pianocorte, nothing to see but home to my favorite trattoria on the island. From here a branch descends to San Calógero, a thermal establishment from at least 1500 BC, then favored by the Romans and today used by a modern thermal hotel.
Heading north of Lipari, after 3.5 km you will arrive in Canneto, a modern middle-class seaside resort overlooking a long, crowded stretch of pebbly sand.
Sadly, the unique pumice thrills of the beaches north of here that outdated guidebooks describe have become a thing of the past. Most of the pumice-mining operations that created and fueled the area’s strange attractions have closed or moved further up the coast or up the hill. The waves have washed most of the whiteness to gray along the vaunted Spiaggia Bianca (“White Beach”) beyond Canneto, though a glimmer of its former glory remains, and it’s still a good place to pitch your parasol, if you can find a seat in the crowd. Geology buffs in the mood for exercise can work out by climbing Mount Pilato (1570 feet), which soars above White Beach and the former mining community of Porticello. The white pumice from this extinct volcano is cut by rich veins of red and black obsidian.
Around the north side of the island is the only other town on the island, Acquacalda.
