Scattered across the Tyrrhenian Sea to the northeast of Sicily, the Aeolian Islands were home to fishermen and farmers who were still living in "19th century" conditions when Italy's neo-realist film directors began using the islands as film locations in the 1950s.
Since then, they have acquired electricity and holiday villas, and have attracted the "superyacht crowd" – yet they retain a "timeless" quality, with their "savage" volcanic landscapes and "sugar cube" houses, said Stephanie Rafanelli in Condé Nast Traveller.
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Stays at Antika cost from £11,995 per week (thethinkingtraveller.com).
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