Major hotels take credit cards or Eurocheques. There is a post office near the church of San Vincenzo. A very useful shop opened on Stromboli in 2000, selling and renting hiking gear. The centre is in a not too obvious mobile container, between Hotel Ossidiana in Scari and the diesel operated electrical power station. Climbing Stromboli Climbing to the top of Stromboli is, by law, severely restricted and only permitted if you join a guided tour.
Guides take groups of tourists to the summit, weather permitting, on most days during the season.
Groups depart in the afternoon, stay on the summit until darkness and descend late at night. During the hottest season some tours also start after midnight and descend in the early morning hours. The path is very rough, particularly on the way up, and in a group it takes at least three hours of strenuous walking. Guides advise to take at least one litre of drinking water. However, SOL team members never climb Stromboli with anything less than two litres each.