In July, which is the best aeolian island to make a "home base"? We're only going to be there for 3-4 nights and are deciding between Salina, Stromboli and Panarea. Also, what is the best hotel choice? We are 30, on our honeymoon - certainly not jet-setters but also - but also don't want to be somewhere that shuts down at 8 pm. I think the website for capofaro malaviasa resort looks nice but can't find any reviews of it... Any advice???

Why have you eliminated Lipari which has by far the most things to do, and also provides the best boat service to all the other islands?

Of those you mention, I'd think Panarea would have a little more at night than the others, but is pretty quiet.

I'm not sure when it is, but every year on Salina is a festival celebrating the harvest of the island's caper crop. I saw a segment on TV about it and it looks like a lot of fun and good food.

I assume that you've done lots of research before you decided to eliminate Lipari as a possible home base. Having said that, here are my opinions of the remaining islands:

1. Stromboli: geographically removed; not ideal to visit the other islands.

2. Panarea: perhaps too "jet-set", very small. Good for honeymooners?

3. Salina: this would be my choice, after Lipari. There are a number of excellent hotels which have opened in recent years (Signum at Malfa being one of them). Salina is more "laid back", not "jet-set" like Panarea, and large enough to rent motor scooters. The only down side is that I can't imagine much night life. It's also a very lush island, the greenest of them all.

The best night life is on Lipari. But in July, it may be too lively for honeymooners.

Thank you so much for your replies! I eliminated Lipari from the running b/c I heard it is the most crowded of the islands - and we are going in mid- July. Maybe I am overreacting. Has anyone been there in July? Otherwise, Salina is sounding like the best option. The two hotels that look best there are Hotel Signum and Capofaro Malviasa Resort. Has anyone been to either of these places? Capofaro looks nicer...but it isn't in the town. I wonder if it would be too isolated.... Any advice?

We were in Lipari the last week of July. It was less crowded than most places we've been to in Italy any time of the summer. We never made a reservation for dinner anywhere and never had a problem, for example. I think you have to make up your mind. You either put up with a little bit of crowd, or else you expect a place that is deader than a doornail. There's not much between in the Aeolian Islands.

As part of our honeymoon (5 years ago) we spent 8 days at the Hotel Raya on Panarea & had an idyllic time. However, we went in early May, and had the place to ourselves for most of the time. I have heard that in the height of summer it is very 'jet-set', which we wouldn't have liked (apparently the Raya has a rooftop disco). Also there isn't actually much to do on Panarea; but that suited us fine as we are very lazy, & after the hustle & bustle of the wedding & its preparation we were happy just to laze around - we didn't even visit any other islands. We just walked to the couple of small beaches (no facilities) a couple of times, visited the prehistoric site & otherwise did very little except sunbathing, reading, drinking & eating the hotel's fantastic seafood.