Page 252 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

with fennel seeds, raisins and almonds (€15). In high season there are two dinner

sittings, at 8pm and 10pm. There’s wi-fi and a fine Mac for the use of clients. Closed
Oct–Easter. Half board obligatory in July and Aug. Per person half board €130

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Alicudi

Ends-of-the-line in Europe don’t come much more remote than ALICUDI. Two and a
half hours from Milazzo by hydrofoil, or five by ferry, the island forms a perfect cone,
a mere Mediterranean pimple, and its precipitous shores are pierced by numerous

caves. Up the sheer slope behind the only settlement, terraced smallholdings and white
houses cling on for dear life, decorated with tumbling banks of flowers. Indeed,
Alicudi’s ancient name of Ericusa was the word for the heather that still stains its
slopes purple in spring. Its rocky isolation was formerly exploited by the Italian
government, who used the island as a prison for convicted Mafiosi, but now it’s
virtually abandoned by all but a few farmers and fishermen. It’s this solitude, of
course, that attracts tourists; not many, it’s true, but enough for there to be some

semblance of facilities in the village to cater for visitors. Electricity arrived at the
start of the 1990s, so now there’s TV, too. There are two general stores, plenty of
fancy boat hardware, even a car or two parked at the dock (though, since there are no
navigable roads, it’s not clear whether this is bravado or forward planning on behalf
of the owners). You have to walk to reach anywhere and the network of volcanic

stone-built paths behind the village is extremely steep and tough – all the heavy
fetching and carrying is still done by donkey or mule, whose indignant brays echo
across the port all day.

Once you disembark at Alicudi Porto, things to do are simply enumerated. The most
exhausting option is the hike up past the castle ruins to the island peak of Filo

dell’Arpa (675m). The path runs up through the village houses from the port and
there’s a proper stone-built track most of the way. Unfortunately, the track looks as
though it was created by a malevolent giant emptying a bag of boulders from the top
and letting them fall where they will. There’s absolutely no shade, and it will take at
least two hours to get up, though the magnificent views make it worthwhile.

Otherwise, you’ll probably get all the exercise you need clambering over the rocky
shore to the south of the port. The path soon peters out beyond the island’s only hotel

and the power station, but the rocks offer a sure foothold as they get larger the further
you venture. The water is crystal clear and, once you’ve found a flat rock big enough
to lie on, you’re set for more peace and quiet than you’d bargained for. The only
sounds are the echoed mutter of offshore fishermen, the scrabbling of little black crabs
in the rock pools and the lap of the waves.