Stromboli by night (or not as the case may be). - My wife had a desire to see a 'real volcano'. When you arrive in Lipari there are many companies all selling the same trip 'Stromboli by night' with marvellous close up photos of the volcano erupting at night. We decided to go on the trip which left at circa 2:00pm and went to the island of Panarea which took around an hour. We landed at the small jetty and had a pleasant stroll around the small village and had a drink. We then left for Stromboli which took another hour and arrived around 5:00pm. Although you couldn't see the volcano erupting from the port you could hear it periodically make a large bang (like thunder) . There wasn't much to see or do in the Port but it was possible to go on a treck upto a viewing area to get a distant view - in daylight it is very difficult to see anything except some smoke. Here lies the rub - you are never going to see 'Stromboli by night' on a boat trip from Lipari because it doesn't get dark until you are on the way back to Lipari. The boat left Stromboli at 7:00pm and went round the west side of the island where you 'can see the eruptions'. At this time there was a lovely sunset but it doesn't get dark until an hour after sunset. We were back in Lipari at 9:30pm. In retrospect I wish we had stayed a night on Stromboli - you can then go on an organised walk at night to see the eruptions in much better detail and/or on a boat trip at night. As we went at the beginning of May sunset was at 8:00pm (if you go in the summer it will be daylight for the whole trip so a bit false to describe it as Sromboli by night?)