"Milazzo - en route to the Aeolian Islands" Milazzo by helenjones

We stayed here for one night before catching the ferry to Stromboli the following day. We arrived fairly late and it was dark when we were trying to navigate ourselves around the one way street system in the centre of town. Also we had somehow ended up on the wrong side of the peninsula to begin with. Apart from the castle there is not a huge amount to hold your attention for very long unless you're a ship spotter! There do seem to be plenty of places to stay in the area but the place we stayed was pretty dire but close to the port. There is also guarded parking but it is a fair walk from the port if you have a lot of baggage.

If embarking on a trip to the Aeolian Islands be aware that the ticket office at the Siremar Agency (Via Luigi Rizzo on the sea-front) only opens around an hour before departure. This would be fine if orderly queues were formed and people dealt with quickly but this was not my experience. We very nearly missed the ferry because of it. If you want to be sure of getting your ticket in time be very rude and push your way to the front of the queue as far as you can! Trust me - this is the only way and exactly what I did out of sheer frustration!

• Pros:Easy access to the Aeolians with plenty of hotels
• Cons:Nothing much in the way of tourist attractions
• In a nutshell:A fairly typical port town