Panarea, the pearl of the Aeolian Islands

Panarea, the sea, the rocks, the sun. Your vacation.

Panarea, the island of your holidays

Holidays in Panarea,
the pearl of the Aeolian Islands

Would you like to spend your holidays in Panarea , in the Aeolian Islands and look for the best accommodation, a hotel , a bed and breakfast , a house or a room to rent …

You are in the right place. Just indicate your dates in the form on the right (or below if you are using a mobile) and you will find the best accommodations.

But first, some information on the island of Panarea can be useful, right?
Panarea is an ideal island for spending pleasant holidays in contact with nature, the sea, the rocks, discovering its small bays, from the famous Cala Junco with the remains of a preisotoric village, to the Zimmari bay, the only one with a sandy beach, at the more intimate Drautto. You can see them from above in this video .
But there are also all the islets in front, and, on the opposite side to the small port and inhabited center, the beautiful rocky coast full of ravines into which crystalline water creeps. And, especially in August, for those who like it, a (big) bit of worldly and glamorous life ….

Panarea is the smallest (3.4 kmยฒ) and the lowest of the Aeolian Islands (421 meters at the highest point, the “Timpone del Corvo”). With the islets of Basiluzzo , Spinazzola, Lisca Bianca , Dattilo , Bottaro, Lisca Nera (almost disappeared) and the rocks of Panarelli and Formiche, it forms a small archipelago between Lipari and Stromboli placed on a single submarine base.

The Mediterranean scrub of Panarea is composed, as in the other Aeolian islands, from prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica ), mastic (Pistacia lentiscus ), broom (Spartium junceum ), caper (Capparis spinosa ) and secular olive tree (Olea Europae ), remains of the island’s ancient agricultural vocation (the vines that existed for seventy years have disappeared even if there are attempts to replant the crop). The native vegetation was then contaminated with many species of plants, with the growing tourist constructions of private homes.

As for the fauna, in Panarea you can see the queen’s falcon ( Falco eleonorae ), the imperial crow and ( Corvus Corax ), some large cormorants ( Phalacrocorax carbo ) and the herring gull ( Larus argentatus ) which nest on the inaccessible walls of the west coast. The gecko ( Tarentola mauritanica ), harmless and very useful insect predator, characterizes the fauna of the island.

The island is not just a vacation spot, it obviously also has a human and geological history that would be worth learning before spending the holidays in Panarea.

Panarea, yesterday and today

To date, the population of Panarea is about 200 permanent inhabitants (in winter, during the summer months it increases tenfold with the arrival of tourists). The islanders live mainly on tourism, which exploded in the late 1970s, but which began in the late 1950s, with the discovery of the islands by adventurous vacationers looking for a simple oasis of life in direct contact with nature. . Roberto Rossellini’s Stromboli films (1950) or the more famous Michelangelo Antonioni’s Adventure (1960) are inspired by the sensation of strangeness, the charm and the sensation of “getting lost” in nature, which these places provided in the post-war period. , shot mostly in Panarea, Lisca Bianca and Basiluzzo.

A scene from the film Antonioni’s Adventure shot in Panarea

Adding to its (former) wild charm is the fact that, apart from a small beach, the sea is only accessed by rocks and small pebble beaches. You can take splendid walks through the alleys or climbing the mountain on ancient mule tracks, among the thousand colors offered by agaves, prickly pears, caper flowers, red, pink, purple, white, orange and heather bougainvilleas. In fact, there are no roads, with the exception of a single strip of concrete that winds its way through the various districts of the town.

The island is connected to the main island, Lipari and the other Aeolian islands, Sicily (Milazzo) or Naples, with a maritime service or by hydrofoil or by ship .

Now you are ready to spend your holidays in Panarea .

“My little one, little sister,
imagine the sweetness
to go and live there, together!
Love each other to satiety …

There is nothing there that is not beauty,
order and luxury, calm and voluptuousness. “

Charles Baudelaire , Invitation to travel, 1857

 

Ships and hydrofoils to get to Panarea

A ride on a Vespa in Panarea, from south to north …

Photo gallery

(almost) all the photos are by Adam Butler. On the adambutler.com site, many more ...