I’m sunbathing topless with a glass of natural wine in hand, dancing along the volcanic stone rooftop at my home for the week: a restored dammusi villa in Pantelleria, a windswept Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, set about 60 miles off the shores of Sicily and only 40 miles from the coast of Tunisia. I’m with four of my girlfriends, and we’re all mesmerized by the view: the cobalt sweep of the sea and the tiny fishing village of Scauri, where, as the sun sinks, the whitewashed belltower turns molten gold. Our Italian disco playlist sounds as we sidestep and sway haphazardly over the rooftop’s white domes, originally designed to catch every drop of rain and funnel it into underground cisterns, a necessity on an island with no freshwater streams.
Before the sun takes its final freefall, I take a seat at the roof’s edge and dangle my feet over the low stone barrier. Seabirds sail past just as the sun dips beyond the horizon. We haven’t checked our phones in hours. There are no crowded beach clubs to run off to, no talks of reservations or outfits, and I m reminded that there are girls’ trips—then there are girls’ trips to Pantelleria.
While summer crowds flock to Capri and the Sicilian mainland, Pantelleria remains raw, remote, and quietly magnetic—potentially Italy’s last true island escape. Originally named Bent el Riah, translating to “daughter of the wind” in Arabic, its history is painted into its terraced hillsides planted with zibibbo grapevines, ancient olive groves, and the island’s famed caper bushes, and in its North African–inspired architecture: domed roofs, arched doorways, enclosed courtyards, and circular stone giardini panteschi shielding citrus trees from the relentless scirocco winds. While it has long been a favorite destination for fashion insiders like the late Giorgio Armani, the island is now welcoming an emerging creative class, reflected in its design hotels, artist residencies, and experimental culinary concepts.
To be honest, most of my memories of Pantelleria are like film—slightly blurred yet all the sweeter for being softened by the briny air and natural-wine haze that tends to descend at sunset. But one thing I’ll never forget is how I felt there: sun-kissed, steeped in feminine energy, and surrounded by like-minded creatives from around the globe, the kind who are equal parts wild and free. Just like the island itself.
Where to Stay
The best way to enjoy a stay on Pantelleria is by renting a dammusi: villas built from the island’s dark volcanic rock that feature picturesque domed roofs. Not only do these dwellings keep you cool in summer, they’re also downright stunning, and the best of them can be found on sites like Solo Pantelleria. Options include Le Favarelle, a three-bedroom villa with expansive terraces and a swimming pool, or Dammuso Shams, a six-bedroom home overlooking the sea and framed by fragrant olive trees and lavender and rosemary bushes.
For boutique accommodations with all the dining perks, opt for a stay at Parco dei Sesi, founded by Margot and Massimiliano Panseca. The hotel, with its artist residency and organic farm, emphasizes the connection between creativity and nature by regularly hosting workshops and retreats, encouraging artists to create works that reflect the island’s rich culture and natural beauty. Nearby you’ll find even more boutique respites housed in restored dammusi, including Sikelia Luxury Retreat, offering 19 suites and refined Mediterranean-Arabic fare at its on-site restaurant Thelma, and Club Levante, a tranquil cliffside hotel offering 13 rooms and suites overlooking the Cala Levante and the famous Arco dell’Elefante, a basal formation resembling an elephant.
What to Eat and Drink
One of Sicily’s finest winemaking families calls Pantelleria home, and a tasting with Gabrio Bini or his son Giotto Bini of label Serragghia is the best way to grasp the island’s unique terroir and why it lends to such tasty wines. The family utilizes a high-altitude plot, which benefits from an ocean breeze and remains cool even in the hottest summers. If you’re lucky enough to get accepted for a tasting, try the zibibbo secco and fanino, an ethereal, skin-contact blend of red and white grapes, and learn how the family still harvests grapes by hand from century-old vines, plowing by horse, and fermenting in amphorae partially buried beneath Pantelleria’s dark volcanic soil. Other rising stars include Tanca Nica, where Francesco Ferreri and Nicoletta Pecorelli craft zibibbo and pignatello on plotted terraces overlooking the sea.
When it’s time for dinner, there are several options on the island, including a number of restaurants housed in the private homes of fishermen, farmers, or winemakers, who open their doors on select evenings to share their island’s unique history, as well as family recipes that have been passed down for generations. One of the finest is Udde, where four-part dinners by chef Alessandro Bonomo show off the island’s natural bounty of capers, wild fennel, and scorfano (rockfish). For more traditional restaurant settings, there are Le Cale or Il Principe e il Pirata, both overlooking the sea and serving raw seafood dishes and housemade pastas, and the restaurant and wine bar La Nicchia, where the next generation is leading the family business, which dates back to the island s first-ever caper farm developed by Antonio Bonomo and Girolamo Giglio in 1949.
What to Do
The best way to explore Pantelleria is by boat. Skippers who live on the island, such as Carlotta Vigo, who took me and my friends out to sea, will meet you at the port in downtown Pantelleria and whisk you away to explore the island’s many shimmering swimming holes that lead to hidden caves, some with natural saunas. On land, the island’s network of hiking paths winds past terraced vineyards and caper bushes, some ending at natural wonders like the hot springs at Gadir, natural rock pools fed by geothermal springs at the water’s edge, perfect to soothe muscles after long hikes or swims.
There’s also the storied Laghetto di Venere, a geothermal pool dedicated to Venus, the goddess of love. Here, visitors float in luminous, milky-green water or lather themselves in the thick volcanic mud, prized for its mineral-rich, skin-softening properties said to improve circulation, draw out impurities, and leave a radiant glow.
