I read that it would be very difficult to visit Lipari without being fluent in Italian. Is this true or can we get by with very limited knowledge of italian? Also can anyone recommend a good (inexpensive) hotel? We are planning trip for May.
That is not at all true. I went this past August and loved it. And I do not speak Italian. Many, many people in the shops, restaurants etc all speak at least enough english to be able to communicate with tourists. I can't think of one language barrier issue that arose when I was there.
I did not stay in a hotel there. I rented a private room in a home. It had its own private entrance and I really enjoyed it. It was my first time doing something like that. If you want info let me know. It was about $80 a night.
And do take the little boats from the marina to the private beaches. they are really nice and fun to go to if you are a beach person.
There is also a really great restaurant down near the marina that I recommend. I have no idea what the name of it is. If you stand at the with your back to the water at the bottom of the hill/steps and look up the street that is perpindicular to the marina there is a little restaurant that has only outdoor seating. The tables are on both sides of the street adn the walls are all painted sea blue. The food was the best we had on the island.
I know this is not the best description but I don't know how else to do it.
Yes, I would love to have the info on the room you stayed in. I am still in the planning stages and need all the help I can get. Thanks
quote:Originally posted by KellyC: That is not at all true. I went this past August and loved it. And I do not speak Italian. Many, many people in the shops, restaurants etc all speak at least enough english to be able to communicate with tourists. I can't think of one language barrier issue that arose when I was there.
I did not stay in a hotel there. I rented a private room in a home. It had its own private entrance and I really enjoyed it. It was my first time doing something like that. If you want info let me know. It was about $80 a night.
And do take the little boats from the marina to the private beaches. they are really nice and fun to go to if you are a beach person.
Pauline: I keep meaning to write it up. I promise to do so soon. I suppose I won't be out much with this horrible weather!
Norma: The woman who rents the rooms is named Diana Brown. She is mentioned in a few guide books as well. She has rooms to rent and runs a small tourism office that books boat trips, tours etc. She meets you at the dock when your ferry comes in and takes you to her building. And she is South African and speaks fluent english. She was very warm and helpful throughout our stay.
Address: Vico Himera, 3
Tel. 011-39-090-981-2584 email: dbrown@netnet.it
I just looked in my notes and it was indeed 80 per night for a double. It is a 3 minute walk to the marina and right off of the main restaurant/shop road. The room had a double bed and a small refridgerator and a bathroom with aa large stall shower. You can request a room with a full kitchen too. We also had a small balcony and an air conditioner that worked very well. In fact, I was there during the summer heat wave and I awoke one time in the middle of the night and thought there was an earthquake only to realize that I was shaking from the overly cold room.
Hi Norma, We've been to Lipari twice, and it's one of our favorite places in Italy. We stayed at the Carasco Hotel, which is not inexpensive, but one of the Buon Ricordo restaurants in Lipari, Fillipino, also rents rooms, which I don't think were too expensive. Pauline, the swimming there is similar to the rest of Sicily, beautiful, clear water, but not much sand. If you go before the water gets warm, you could encounter jellyfish (medusa) as I did one year in May. As for the language problem, I agree with Kelly, enough English is spoken for you to get by, and I found the Sicilians to be even more friendly to tourists than some other areas of Italy.
Posts: 495 | Location: San Diego, Ca. | Registered: 27 November 2002
I was stung by a medusa in August. I have a scar on my finger from it. but there really are not a lot of them. here in nj there are days you can't go in the water at all because of them.
and i agree with tommaso, the sicilians were very warm and welcoming.
Thanks for all the information. I have already emailed Diane Brown from the information you gave me. I also found a website about her rooms and boat excursions. My husband and I will be making our first trip to Italy and will be spending 3 weeks there in May. My husband has not shown much interest in anything that I have planned in Italy except the Aeolian Islands. He's not much for art and culture but he is nature, nature, nature. So I really want to include that in the trip because I know he will follow along patiently as I see everything I want to see. I'm glad to hear that my limited italian vocabulary won't be a major problem. I also have a limited spanish vocabulary and manage to muster my way through Mexico. So hopefully Italy won't be too much tougher.
norma: there are boat trips that you can do to stromboli to see the volcano. they leave around noon, stop in panarea for you to swim and proceed on to stromboli to view the volcano eruption then return to Lipari. I think it is about a 10 hour trip total. and around $40 per person.
There are also buses and boats you can take around the island. The buses go to various towns and the boats go to private beaches reachable only by boat. the bus was about $2 round trip to Cannetto and the boat to a private beach was about $5 round trip.
There are also ferries to the other islands. I would skip Vulcano. But I wish I would have gone to Salina. They have black sand beaches and a number of wineries and hiking.
We did the Stromboli hiking up to the volcano thing by ourselves as college students. This was over 10 years ago but I remember it being like 3 or 4 hours up and 2 - 3 hours back down. The beach is completely black and at night it is very dark so I would make sure to have a good flashlight.
By the way, Nicole Kidman was talking about her trip to Lipari and Stromboli on some talk show (Leno or Letterman) at least two or three years ago. I remember her saying that she got stranded near the top because of bad weather and had to be 'rescued' by a helicopter or something crazy like that. . .
Norma: I was browsing the magazine stand while waiting for my bus home last night and saw that the new issue of National Geographic Traveler has an article on the Aeolian Islands.
Topic Closed
