We cannot recommend this magical house and Alicudi enough. It certainly is a magical place by the sea with amazing views over to the other Aeolian Islands and Sicily.
Giulia was very informative and attentive about the house and our stay and we were made to feel very welcome on our arrival by Michaela, Gianfranco - and the donkey! We were glad that we hired the donkey to take our bags up to the house as its quite steep in parts and quite a few steps. However, I'm sure that some people might enjoy the challenge. If you do hire the donkey it can also help you take up any provisions you might want to buy from the shop in the harbour - food, beer and excellent Sicilian wine.
There are lots of signposted walks around the island that you might want to explore - or you might just want to sit back and relax over a glass of Etna red and take in the amazing views, the sun and the fresh air. The amenities are good and there is the most wonderful bathroom/shower with great views out to the sea.
There is only the one ferry you can take to Alicudi and that is run by Liberty Lines (and you can book your return trip online if you wanted). The ferry we took from Milazzo port departs twice a day and takes around 3 hours - stopping at various islands on the way.
Unfortunately, our return trip was delayed by a day due to high tides and despite the heroic efforts of Michaela she could not persuade the captain to come to Alicudi. So we had to rebook our flights at short notice. It's worth bearing in mind that the likelihood of the ferry being delayed is more likely to happen in winter. However, even if we had known about this possibility we would still have travelled to Alicudi as it's a life-enhancing experience we would not have wanted to miss.
Ciao Giulia, Michaela and Gianfranco!
With all our best wishes, Andy & Caroline