Be sure to hike up to the church, plaza and viewpoints at the top of the hill when you get to the town on Lipari island. One takes the right road off the plaza after one gets off the boat rather than the left one which takes one to a fairly uninteresting tourist street. It is quite an adventure up on top of the hill. There are also a few archaeological museums up there. However, we were happy just walking around and exploring and looking at the views over the cliffs. On the island of Volcano we just crossed the island which is about 150 m across, went to the beach on the right side of the road and rented two reclining chairs with an umbrella. They had change rooms which were nice. The water was absolutely delightful. It is definitely worth the five euros per person to rent the reclining chairs and umbrella. So the fun and excitement of exploring a very old town is complemented by a relaxing time swimming at the beach.