For a fantastically unique and cheap (from €9 one way) ferry hop around Sicily’s beautiful, charming and untouched Aegadian islands you can’t beat the Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo trio, leaving from the port of Trapani, northwest Sicily.

The round trip is a couple of hours and there are enough ferries to allow you to sample all the islands in a single day, but equally there is accommodation on all the islands if you wish to extend your visit.

The tiny island of Levanzo hosts the cave of the Genoese with its pre-historic paintings. Favignana is known for its butterflies, grottoes, beaches, bays and tuna fishing – and don’t miss the local restaurant speciality of spaghetti and tuna botargo at the La Bettola restaurant in the port. The final island on the route is Marettimo, with its whitewashed, colourfully shuttered homes, ports filled with fishing boats and unbelievably blue water.

www.ferriesonline.com

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For a slice of unpolished Sicily, catch the hydrofoil from Trapani to the Egadi, a mini-archipelago off the north-west coast. We stayed on Marettimo, the smallest and most remote. There are walking trails across the island but the real joy is in the simple pleasures — sunning yourself on an empty, rocky beach, ordering a brioche con gelato in La Scaletta, the local ice-cream parlour, watching the fishing boats offload their catch on to wooden trolleys to be sold through the village.

When you arrive at Marettimo’s tiny harbour you’ll be greeted by locals offering rooms in fishermen’s houses. To guarantee a bed for the night — and more space — book into the Residence, the island’s only hotel. May and September are sleepy; in July and August the Italians pile over.

www.marettimoresidence.it

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Okay, I'm going to be totally perverse here by suggesting a place that isn't in Sicily. Vulcano is actually one of the Aeolian Islands just north of Sicily (others include Stromboli and Lipari) and is quite unlike anywhere else I've visited. The name's a bit of a giveaway (Vulcano/volcano geddit), as these islands are all volcanic (and there's Etna on mainland Sicily of course. Vulcano itself has (apparently) Italy's largest 'non submarine' volcanoes, there are little 'fumaroles' spouting steam, the beach has black sand - unbelievable - and there are thermal spas and mud baths. A bit like Iceland with hot weather we reckoned. Stayed at a very nice modern hotel on the Gulf of Ponente.

www.ahotelinitaly.com/hotel-conti-vulcano/

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