What to do in Stromboli

Climb in the late afternoon, sit at the viewpoint and watch the volcano work while the village lights fade below: the most memorable excursion you can make from this coast, on a volcano that has been erupting without pause for millennia, with explosions minutes apart.

The black beach facing Strombolicchio: deep water, sand that scorches at midday, an atmosphere like nowhere else.

It's the question that decides the holiday, and almost nobody asks it before booking. There is no right answer for everyone: there is a right answer for what you came to do.

It isn't a town of art and it isn't a postcard. It's a base: you choose it for what you can do around it, not for the old centre. It suits some people very well and others not at all — better to know beforehand.

Four places that resemble each other only on a map. Two are destinations to see, one is a port, and one is a base. The right question isn't which is finest, but which you'd rather set out from each morning.

In 1949 two crews filmed simultaneously in the same archipelago, over a love affair gone wrong. Then Antonioni, Troisi, Moretti and, last year, Christopher Nolan. Where they filmed, and what you can see.

Not a list of celebrities spotted at the bar. Here, in a villa three kilometres from the corso, Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote part of The Leopard — and on these islands Rossellini, Troisi and Moretti all shot films.

Seven islands, and they are not interchangeable. Choose badly and you'll end up on Alicudi looking for a restaurant, or on Panarea in August looking for silence. For each one: who it suits, how long you need, and what not to expect.

The Aeolians are the reason many people choose this coast. Day trips work — provided you pick the right island and the right timetable.

Two nights are enough for a real taste of the archipelago — if you pick one base and don't chase everything.