Linosa: The Volcanic Island Between Sicily and Africa That Tourism Forgot

Linosa is a volcanic island 160 km south of Sicily and 160 km north of Tunisia, in the middle of the Strait of Sicily. It forms part of the Pelagie Islands together with Lampedusa, but where Lampedusa has become a symbol and a destination, Linosa has remained what it has always been: a volcano in the sea, inhabited by a few hundred people who live by fishing and the land.

You arrive by ferry from Lampedusa or from Porto Empedocle — the crossing is long and often rough, which discourages mass tourism better than any barrier could. On arrival you are greeted by a tiny harbour, coloured houses and a silence that, after the roar of the engines, seems unreal.

The island is small — you can walk around it in a couple of hours — and entirely volcanic: three extinct cones, black rocks, beaches of dark volcanic sand. Terraced plots cultivated with lentils and capers climb the flanks of the volcanoes, creating a geometric landscape of dry-stone walls and kitchen gardens. The houses are painted in vivid colours — blue, yellow, green — in contrast with the black of the rock.

The sea around Linosa is among the cleanest in the Mediterranean. The coves are reachable on foot or by boat, with volcanic rock seabeds where groupers and octopuses swim undisturbed. From June to September Caretta caretta sea turtles come to lay their eggs on the beaches — it is one of the few nesting sites in Italy.

There are no resorts, spas or nightclubs. You sleep in rooms rented from local families, eat in the three trattorias that open in summer, buy fish directly from the fishermen at the port. In the evenings you wander the village with no particular aim, chat with the islanders, gaze at the sky — which here, with no light pollution, is one of the most beautiful in the Mediterranean.

The best time is May–June and September–October. In July–August the island is busier but never crowded. In winter it is nearly deserted — the ferry comes when it comes, and whoever is there is there to stay.

Linosa is not a destination — it is a place. The difference is that a destination is visited and left behind; a place changes you, and part of you remains.