The Simple Pleasures of Salina

An ode to doing (almost) nothing in the Aeolian Islands

In the height of summer, a true vacation post: no museums, no craft villages, none of the cultural landscapes we love to traverse at In Hand. Instead, we offer you Salina—

Formed from a chain of volcanoes in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, the Aeolian Islands are rustic, sparsely populated (even in summer) and astonishingly beautiful. The second-biggest island of the group, Salina is still only about 10 square miles. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in spunk and beauty. You don’t need much time on this island to fall under its spell—lemons falling from trees, capers spilling out of stone crevices, kids playing soccer on the town square with a view of the sea. The villages are small and colorful—exuberant against the backdrop of the lush green mountains. Salina is considered the Aeolian’s garden island, after all. The simplicity of the place is its superpower, and there is, blissfully, very little to do.