The largest island of the archipelago and the most populated. The island is mountainous with three peaks. At Lipari town and close by, there have been lots of excavations that have uncovered remains spanning dozens of ages of man from prehistoric through Phoenician (they got everywhere), Greek, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Norman and Spanish. The island's history also includes pirating and the Liparese boats became feared in the area. Decline started in the Roman era when Lipari sided with Carthage in the Punic Wars and so Rome sent its fleet to take the island. In the 20th century many islanders emigrated to Australia and America and only in the 1970's and '80's did the islands fortune return with the development of tourism.

On our short journey here from Isola Vulcano, we motored through a sea of pumice stones that had been blown over in the sea from Stromboli Island where a live volcano releases its pressure day by day rather than in one big bang. The view of Lipari as you arrive is a delight. The castle on a hill stands out surrounded by coloured buildings of ochre, gold and red. On our visit today, we climbed up to the Castle and Cathedral, whose ceiling was colourfully painted in the style of the old masters and we also visited the original cloisters that were built by the Normans on their return from the crusades. The town is quite small with lots of shops, some of which seem out of place selling designer clothes and accessories.

We are moored in Pontile Portsalvo where we received a friendly welcome but the pontoons are open to the sea and we have had to put more lines on than we would normally to stop the boat moving too much when a ferry comes into the bay. It's only for one night as tomorrow we are off to Isola Stromboli to see a live volcano in action!