Reachable from Trapani by ferry and by the scheduled flights that land at the island’s airport, Pantelleria greets visitors with a landscape unlike that of the other Sicilian islands, starting with a coastline that is entirely rocky, made up of lava cliffs, crags and small inlets, where sand is absent altogether.

Inland, the slopes are laid out in the terraces of dry-stone walls that farming carved out to contain the steepness of the land, rising towards Montagna Grande, the island’s peak at 836 metres, while the central section is taken up by the Cinque Denti caldera, the volcanic depression of roughly 28 square kilometres formed by the Green Tuff eruption and recognisable along the northern coast in the cut of the Cala Cinque Denti cliff.

Pantelleria is also unique in its position, lying closer to the Tunisian coast than to the Sicilian one, and this location in the middle of the Strait of Sicily has shaped its history, its landscape and even the form of its houses, built from the same dark stone that the volcano deposited everywhere across the island. Arriving here you find a territory bearing little resemblance to the familiar image of the Sicilian islands, because sand is entirely absent and beaches are replaced by cliffs, narrow coves and platforms of lava polished smooth by the sea.

Let’s take a closer look at what to see in Pantelleria on this magnificent volcanic island!

Venus’s Lake and the Natural Hot Springs of Pantelleria

Lake Specchio di Venere fills a volcanic hollow in the Bugeber district, at the centre of the island, and owes its name to the legend that the goddess Venus came here to look at her reflection before meeting Bacchus, an image that seems almost real if you look at its mirror-still waters early in the morning. The basin is fed by rainfall and by hot springs along the southern shore, where the water exceeds fifty degrees and creates natural warm pools that draw a great many people.

The real draw of the lake, though, is its mud, since a pale clay collects along the edges that you can spread over your body, letting it dry in the sun before rinsing off in the lake and treating yourself to a warm bath that regenerates the skin. The area is also popular with birdwatchers: during the migration seasons flamingos and other birds stop here before crossing the Mediterranean.

The Natural Sauna of Sibà, known to islanders as the Grotta di Benikulà, is instead a fissure in the rock from which gusts of steam at around forty degrees escape; inside there is a stone bench where you can sit and enjoy the heat, and to reach it you follow a pleasant path through Mediterranean scrub (trainers are needed), while from the clearing in front of the entrance you get a splendid view over the Monastero plain and its vineyards.

Completing the thermal map are the Favare, jets of steam at very high temperature (in some spots they reach a hundred degrees) that escape from the rocks on the slopes of Montagna Grande; the most impressive is the Favara Grande, where in the past the island’s farmers used an ingenious trick to collect fresh water on an island that had none: they condensed this steam by channelling it into stone basins to water their animals.

What to See in Pantelleria Along the Coast

The Arco dell’Elefante is the island’s most famous landmark; it stands on the eastern side, a few minutes’ drive from the town, and is an enormous promontory of lava stone stretching out into the sea, recalling the trunk of an elephant bending down to drink. Beneath the rock opens a large arch that you can swim through, while at its foot lies a convenient flat shelf of rock. In the middle of the day it fills up easily with bathers, so it is best visited early in the morning or towards sunset.

The Laghetto delle Ondine is a natural pool carved into the dark rock of Punta Spadillo, separated from the sea only by a low rocky wall that the waves constantly wash over, guaranteeing a continuous exchange of water; what makes it special is that the finest spectacle comes precisely when the sea is rough: on days of strong wind, when swimming elsewhere is risky, in this pool it becomes possible instead.

The Balata dei Turchi lies on the opposite side of the island from the town of Pantelleria; it is a spectacular bay sheltered by a rock face of vivid colours, with remarkably clear water. The name recalls the time when pirates used it as a safe landing place, hidden from the view of anyone on land. The road down is unpaved and somewhat rough, which puts off many visitors, but those with the patience to make the descent find one of the most striking and peaceful spots on the island.

At Cala Gadir, on the north-eastern side, you can swim in the sea and then immerse yourself in the hot springs straight afterwards: right beside the little harbour there are pools carved into the rocks where thermal water wells up, and a very short distance away lie Cala Levante and Cala Tramontana, set on opposite sides of the same headland.

The Archaeological Sites of Pantelleria: Sesi, Acropolis and Shipwrecks

The Sesi are mysterious megalithic structures concentrated in the areas of Mursia and Cimillia; their name comes from the local dialect and means simply “heap of stones”, which is why for centuries the inhabitants were unaware of their true purpose, discovering only in the nineteenth century that they were funerary monuments erected five thousand years ago by peoples who had come from North Africa, using dry-stone technique on an elliptical plan, with small burial chambers at the centre reached through very low tunnels.

On the hills of San Marco and Santa Teresa stood the political and religious centre of Punic and later Roman Pantelleria; the excavations carried out at San Marco brought to light a sophisticated water system of cisterns and channels, and it was in one of these cisterns that the famous three imperial marble heads depicting Julius Caesar, Antonia Minor and Titus were found.

The Castle of Pantelleria welcomes you the moment you step off the ship, imposing with its medieval structure in dark stone overlooking the harbour; used as a prison until 1975, since 2015 it has been converted into the island’s archaeological museum and houses the most important finds, including the imperial heads from San Marco. It is open mainly from June to September, a period during which it also becomes the setting for exhibitions and cultural events.

But much of Pantelleria’s history lies underwater: on the seabed of Cala Gadir rest dozens of amphorae belonging to two distinct Roman wrecks, so much so that the heritage authority has created here the island’s first underwater archaeological trail. At Cala Tramontana more than three thousand Punic bronze coins have been recovered, probably the cash reserve of a Carthaginian expedition, and now displayed at the Castle. In the harbour of Scauri, finally, lies the wreck of a fifth-century vessel that sank after a fire while carrying the island’s renowned cookware pottery, Pantellerian Ware.

Montagna Grande and the Trails of the National Park

Montagna Grande rises to a height of 836 metres at the centre of the island, showing that even a small rock of eighty-four square kilometres can offer interesting hiking routes. The trails of Montagna Grande climb through dense woods of holm oak and maritime pine, ensuring a cool climate even at the height of summer, and from the summit you can see the whole of Pantelleria and, on clear days, even make out the coast of Sicily.

Another natural spectacle worth seeing is the Isola di Pantelleria National Park, created to protect the volcanic biodiversity, the Mediterranean scrub and the rural landscape; walking along its paths you come across the historic terraces with dry-stone walls, indispensable for cultivating land that would otherwise be too steep, and the distinctive giardini panteschi: circular stone enclosures several metres high built around a single citrus tree to shelter it from the fierce winds. Among the vineyards you will notice the characteristic bush-trained vine, a farming technique so singular that in 2014 UNESCO declared it Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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