At the start of October 2024, GeoWorld Travel returned to Italy to visit some of the world’s most famous volcanoes – not to mention world-class archaeological remains and plenty of other geological sites! We started our journey in the Naples area, spending time looking at Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei, Pompeii and Herculaneum, before taking a ferry to the Aeolian Islands. In this beautiful archipelago, we spent a day on each of Lipari, Stromboli and Vulcano, before taking a ferry over to Milazzo on Sicily. We then concluded the tour with a day on the majestic Mt Etna and a final night in Catania. This is a photo diary of our trip…
Route map of GeoWorld Travel’s ‘The Classic Volcanoes’ tour
Day One: Arrival in Naples
Our group gathered in Naples in the early evening for a brief welcome meeting on the roof terrace of our hotel, with its magnificent backdrop of Vesuvius! Once everyone had introduced themselves and enjoyed the view, we headed off to a nearby restaurant to sample some of the excellent local cuisine and to talk more about the adventure ahead.
Days Two, Three and Four: Naples area (Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Campi Flegrei)
Left: Archaeologist Trevor Pearson joined this year’s trip and here he is telling the GeoWorld Travel group about the Forum at Pompeii.
Top right: The GeoWorld Travel group in the Forum at Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background.
Bottom right: Members of the GeoWorld Travel group examining folding in a block of marble at Pompeii.
Left: Some of the GeoWorld Travel group in the amphitheatre at Pompeii.
Right: Members of the GeoWorld Travel group examining pumice deposits from the 79AD eruption of Vesuvius which buried Pompeii. These deposits are visible just outside the city walls near to the Amphitheatre.
Left: A plaster cast of one of the victims of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD found in the Garden of Fugitives. The method of pouring plaster into the voids in the ash, left where bodies had been, was pioneered in the 19th century and provides some of the most haunting artefacts from the site.
Right: The Odeon, or Small Theatre, at Pompeii. This smaller, roofed theatre could seat up to 1,500 spectators and was used for musical performances. The theatre is built on an outcrop of leucite-bearing lava that forms the solid foundation to Roman Pompeii.
Left: A view over Villa Regina, a small farmstead which was also destroyed by the 79AD eruption of Vesuvius. This view, with the farmstead standing significantly lower than the present-day street level, gives a clear demonstration of the depth of the ash and pumice deposits from the Vesuvius eruption.
Right: Richard examining the pumice deposits at Villa Regina. Some of these deposits contain accretionary lapilli which are like volcanic hailstones formed by the addition of concentric layers of moist ash around a central nucleus.
Day Five: Lipari
Left: Three volcanic islands in one view. In the foreground is the Roche Rosse obsidian lava flow on the island of Lipari; in the mid-ground is the Fossa Crater on the island of Vulcano, which is the type volcano for the all world’s volcanoes; and in the background is Mount Etna, the most voluminous volcano in Europe, on the island of Sicily.
Top right: The GeoWorld Travel group at the Geophysical Observatory Viewpoint on the southern tip of Lipari with the island of Vulcano in the background. In the mid-ground is the volcano called Vulcanello, which formed in 183BC as a separate island, but was then joined to the island of Vulcano by a subsequent eruption in 1530AD.
Bottom right: A view of Vulcano from the Belvedere Viewpoint on Lipari. Fumaroles can clearly be seen on the rim of La Fossa Cone. Beneath these fumaroles is the Pietra Cotte crater that produced a grey rhyolite obsidian lava flow in 1720AD.
Left: The ancient baths at San Calogero. These baths are in somewhat sad state of repair and have been closed for a number of years but they are believed to be the oldest baths in the Mediterranean area. Salt-phosphate-bicarbonate-sodium spa waters spring up at a temperature of 60°C and have been used as cure for gout and rheumatism.
Right: The Geo World Travel group at the Kaolin quarry on Lipari. The rocks here are some of the oldest on Lipari and fumarolic activity has hydrothermally altered and broken down the rocks to form silicate-rich minerals such as kaolinite, opal/cristobalite, montmorillonite, alunite and hematite.
Left: A shaft in the kaolin quarries on Lipari which was dug to extract kaolinite. Kaolin was systematically mined here from 1945 until 1972.
Right: The GeoWorld Travel group stand on colourful rocks which have been hydrothermally altered at the kaolin quarry on Lipari.
Left: A block of Obsidian from the Roche Rosse lava flow showing bands of pure black volcanic glass and grey, gas-rich streaks.
Right: Members of the GeoWorld Travel group in the Pumice Canyon on Lipari. The pumice sequence at Monte Pilato is 150m thick and erupted out of its crater in 776AD. Pumice deposits cover approximately 22% of the total surface of the island of Lipari.
Day Six: Stromboli
Left: The small islet of Lisca Bianca, which is part of the extinct volcano of Panarea. Although not visible in the photo, the water here can often be seen bubbling as it is the site of an underwater fumarole. On 3rd November 2002, intense de-gassing caused vigorous bubbling activity and the submarine hydrothermal activity killed hundreds of fish here.
Top right: The GeoWorld Travel group on the island of Stromboli with the summit of the volcano in the background.
Bottom right: Local guide Adriano explains how the morphology of Stromboli dramatically changed due to a paroxysmal volcanic eruption in July 2024.
Left: View of the Sciara del Fuoco from the 400m viewpoint on Stromboli, looking up at the new crater terrace which is now 100m lower than the previous crater terrace, due to the July 2024 paroxysmal eruption.
Right: View of Alicudi and Filicudi at sunset, taken from Stromboli. In between the two islands can be seen the 71m high faraglione (rock tower or stack) of La Canna, the result of the last eruption of Filicudi, which occurred about 40,000 years ago.
Left: Stromboli erupting at night, as seen from the 400m viewing platform. The eruption was occurring on the new crater terrace, which is 100m lower that the old crater terrace, due to the July 2024 paroxysmal eruption.
Right: Stromboli erupting at night, as seen from the 400m viewing platform. The eruption was occurring on the new crater terrace, which is 100m lower that the old crater terrace, due to the July 2024 paroxysmal eruption.
Day Seven: Vulcano
Top left: Members of the GeoWorld Travel group at the start of the hike up La Fossa cone at Vulcano.
Top right: Pyroclastic flow deposits on the flank of La Fossa cone on Vulcano.
Middle right: Looking into the crater at the top of La Fossa cone, Vulcano.
Bottom: A view over Vulcano and Vulcanello from halfway up La Fossa cone, with Lipari, Salina, Panarea and Stromboli in the background.
Left: Orographic clouds over the twin volcanic peaks of Salina.
Right: View of La Fossa cone, which formed 4-5,000 years ago, which is nested within the Caldera della Fossa which formed15-24,000 years ago. The photograph is taken from a spot on the edge of the caldera and the rest of the caldera can be seen on the right and background of the photo.
Left: Our local guide, Santi, explaining the formation of the island of Vulcano.
Top right: View of Mount Etna, Sicily, from the southern rim of the Caldera del Piano on Vulcano.
Bottom right: La Faraglione, near the port on Vulcano, is a cinder cone that formed approximately 2,500 years ago. It was tunnelled and mined for sulphur and alum by Scotsman James Stevenson
Day Eight: Mt Etna
Top left: 4×4 tour buses on Mount Etna at the 3,000m elevation point, which is the rim of the now infilled Summit Caldera.
Top right: View of the summit craters on Mount Etna; Cratere Sud-Est dell’Etna is in the foreground and the Cratere Bocca Nuova is in the background. The yellow colouring on the peaks is encrusted sulfur and the clouds are a mixture of orographic clouds and steam emitted by fumaroles.
Middle right: Some the GeoWorld Travel at Crateri Barbagallo on Mount Etna, with the summit craters in the background.
Bottom right: GeoWorld Travel’s James Cresswell on Mount Etna, with the summit craters in the background.
Bottom middle: One of the Etna guides explaining the vulcanology of Mount Etna
Bottom left: The GeoWorld Travel group get on the 4×4 tour bus for the descent down Mount Etna, the final stop of our tour!
Day Nine: Departure from Catania, Sicily
Our tour concluded on day nine in the city of Catania. Some of our guests flew home, whilst others took the opportunity to explore more of the beautiful island of Sicily.
Thank you to those who joined us on the tour to make this another enjoyable and memorable trip to Italy. And a big thank you also to our local guides (Santi on Vulcano, Gianfranco & Nadia on Lipari and Adriano on Stromboli) and to Trevor Pearson for sharing his archaeological knowledge with our group.
We will be returning to Italy again in 2026, so please keep an eye on our website (https://www.geoworldtravel.com/italy.php) for further details of future trips.
Above: A view of Vulcano and Vulcanello taken from the plane window as James flew back to the UK. This shows the position of La Fossa cone within the Caldera della Fossa.