Hotel Signum, Aeolian Islands ****
Messina, Sicily  The story of the Hotel Signum, on the Aeolian island of Salina is one of extraordinary persistence and determination - the result is something quite marvellous. Back in 1988, husband and wife team Calra Rametta and Michele Caruso decided to build a luxury hotel in their home village of Malfa. View hotel Double rooms from €130
Hotel Principe Di Salina, Aeolian Islands ****
Messina, Sicily  Salina is the second largest of the Aeolian Islands, and claims for itself the title of the greenest and most luxuriant of this lovely little archipelago off the northern coast of Sicily. The Principe di Salina hotel and restaurant is in Malfa on the north side of the island. View hotel Double rooms from €89
Hotel L'Ariana, Leni, Isola di Salina ****
Messina, Sicily  This Sicilian hotel is situated in Leni, on the fertile Aeolian island of Salina, best known for its vineyards, its capers and its fascinating wildlife. A charming villa with a genteel atmosphere, the family-run Hotel L'Ariana dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. View hotel Double rooms from €40
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There's getting away from it all and then there's the little Aeolian island of Salina. The Aeolians are cast adrift north of Sicily, a string of volcanic islands on the same thermal faultline that has thrown up Mount Etna on Sicily and Vesuvius on mainland Italy. And while Salina is the second largest (after Lipari) that's not saying much. They are remote, sparsely populated and quite stunning. Leni is one of the three main towns on Salina, the others being Santa Marina and Malfa. Again though, with a population of just 2300 people, no towns are large here. The island itself is formed by two extinct volcanoes soaring out of the Mediterranean. The fertility of the volcanic soil is such that the land is surprisingly lush, and the main crops are capers and grapes (the local vintage is the white malvasia wine). The name Salina comes from the production of sea salt, which was once a mainstay of the economy. If a wild Mediterranean club scene is your bag then Leni and Salina are not for you - if however you fancy hiking amid clean fresh air on one of the most beautiful and unspoiled spots on the planet (there are lots of walking trails on Salina) then you've found the place. The island has a tumultuous history, having been populated since the Bronze Age but subsequently developed and abandoned a number of times over the succeeding millennia. The last time was in the 1540s when the islands were attacked by Barbarossa. The entire Aeolian population fled, and the islands were later restocked with settlers from Spain, Sicily and mainland Italy. The sharp-eyed may spot that this was the setting for much of the shooting of Michael Radford's movie 'Il Postino'. Being just six or so kilometres across, you won't find visiting the other towns too much of a task, and there are some lovely little places to eat and drink dotted around the island. Working around the coast we have the settlements of Lingua, Santa Maria (the main port), the little Capo Faro at the north east tip, and Malfa on the north coast and then west to Pollara. The only road through the island drops south from Malfa, through Valdichiesa to Leni, which has its own port in Rinella on the south coast. To the left you'll find a selection of Leni hotels, just to whet your appetite. See also Leni hotels (full listings) and our Leni hotel map. |
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