Lampedusa with kids

Is Lampedusa good for children?

Yes, and it is easier than it looks, as long as you accept that the island is not equipped like a mainland seaside resort. The town is small and walkable, the best beaches for little ones are minutes from the centre, and the sea on the southern side stays shallow and sandy for tens of metres. What is missing is shade: the vegetation is low, the pale rock throws the heat back at you, and in August the sun already bites by ten in the morning.

Three rules hold the whole holiday together.

1. Use the southern coves near the town as your base. Guitgia, Cala Madonna and Cala Croce are minutes away and have facilities.
2. Flip your timetable. Sea early in the morning and again from four in the afternoon, rest or a long lunch in the middle of the day.
3. Bring your own shade. A beach umbrella, a beach tent where it is allowed, hats and long-sleeved swim shirts.

The family beaches

Not every cove works the same way with children. What really changes is the sea bottom, the distance from the car park and whether there is a kiosk where you can refill a bottle. This table lines up the six beaches you need in order to decide on the morning itself.

At Rabbit Beach access in season is free but must be booked online, and it works in shifts, morning or afternoon, with a cap on visitors and a cut-off time after which your booking lapses. These rules have been in force in recent seasons: check the Reserve website before you travel. Cala Pulcino is reached by sea or with a walk of about forty minutes over the rocks, with no shade and poor waymarking. With small children, skip it and look at it from the boat.

Stroller or child carrier

In town the stroller works. The seafront, the harbour, via Roma and the walk down to Guitgia can all be done pushing, and that is the main reason to sleep in the centre. Expect uneven pavements, the odd step and narrow lanes where you pass one at a time: small hard wheels struggle, big inflatable ones cope much better.

Outside the town everything changes. The path to Rabbit Beach drops for about 800 metres over rock, fifteen or twenty minutes that turn into a climb on the way back in the afternoon heat. Towards Cala Pulcino the ground is worse. In both cases the stroller stays in the car: under two you need a child carrier, over four or five your child walks with closed shoes. The most comfortable answer is to have both, a light stroller for the town and a carrier for the outings.

Sun, shade, water and timing

Natural shade on the island is almost non-existent: no pines on the sand, just pale rock reflecting the heat. At Guitgia, Cala Croce and Cala Madonna you will find sunbeds and umbrellas, everywhere else you bring your own shade. Where planting an umbrella is allowed, do it as soon as you arrive, but read the signs: inside the Reserve there are areas where nothing may be planted and the turtle nests are fenced off.

The rest is routine. One large water bottle each, filled before you leave, because coves without a kiosk have no water. Sunscreen reapplied every two hours, hats at all times, a long-sleeved shirt in the water for fair-skinned children. Reef shoes really are needed, even on sandy coves, because the bottom alternates sand and rock. One extra towel becomes the shade over the stroller.

Health and safety

The island has a health centre with an emergency room in Contrada Grecale and, for real emergencies, an air ambulance to Sicily. The out-of-hours doctor covers twenty-four hours, and in summer a seasonal tourist medical service is added. In the centre there is a pharmacy on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, with long opening hours in the hot months, and a parapharmacy on via Roma. The emergency numbers are 112 and 118. Everything else, specialist appointments included, happens in Sicily: if your child is on treatment, bring the medicines you use and the prescription, and do not count on finding them here.

Pack few things in the medical bag, but the right ones, because in August the pharmacy does not have everything and closes in the evening.

• a children's antihistamine in the dose you normally use
• instant ice packs and plasters, waterproof ones too
• saline solution for eyes and noses full of salt
• antiseptic and gauze for cuts on the rocks
• high factor sunscreen, more of it than you think

The excursions that work

With children you cut a lot and choose better. These four outings hold up well even at six or seven.

• A half-day boat tour It is the best experience on the island, provided your child sits on board without trouble and the sea is calm, which means when the mistral blows. Half a day is plenty: ask about the duration before booking and take hats, water and a sweatshirt for the way back.
• The turtle rescue centre The first-aid centre for sea turtles, hosted in the premises of the Marine Protected Area, can be visited with children and explains better than any lecture why hooks and plastic at sea are a problem. Opening hours vary with the season: check on site.
• Sunset at Capo Ponente You drive there by carrying on along the road to Rabbit Island. It is the easiest spot to reach to watch the sun drop into the sea, with no paths and no darkness on the way back if you set off in time. Take a sweatshirt, the wind turns at dusk.
• Easy snorkelling At Guitgia and Cala Croce the shallow water allows a first mask in safety, with feet still touching the bottom. For spectacular sea beds you need a boat, but to begin with thirty centimetres of water and half an hour of patience are enough.

What to do in the evening

In the evening Lampedusa becomes easy. Via Roma is the town promenade, closed to cars at the best hours, with shops open late and an ice cream that solves any tantrum. From the harbour you watch the boats come back in, and that keeps children busy far longer than you would expect.

If you want something different, the Porta d'Europa on the south-eastern side is striking around sunset, even though the sun sets behind the monument rather than into the sea. Then you only need to leave the town to get a sky full of stars: a few kilometres and a blanket are enough. Children only last through the evening if they slept in the afternoon, so the nap is not optional.

Where to stay with children

The two options are the town or the countryside. In town you are on foot from Guitgia, the shops, the pharmacy and the evening cafes: with a small child that is the biggest advantage, because you can be back for the nap in five minutes and out again afterwards. Dammusi and country houses give you space and quiet, but they require the car for every move and turn dinner out into an expedition.

Whatever you choose, check three things before booking: a kitchenette or at least a fridge for milk, snacks and cold water; air conditioning or a good through-draught; how many steps there are up to the door with the stroller in your hands. In August the places that suit families go early, so move months in advance.

Accommodation search coming soon.

Getting around as a family

With small children the car is the sensible choice: luggage, car seat, beach bag and umbrella do not fit on a scooter. The downside is parking, which is limited in town and at the coves during peak hours. That is one more reason to head out early and come back as everyone else arrives.

From June to September the town bus lines connect the centre, the airport and Rabbit Beach, with departures roughly every thirty to sixty minutes from morning to evening. For Rabbit Beach it is the simplest answer, because it removes the parking problem. Taxis exist but are few in high season: book the airport transfer in advance, even though it is barely two kilometres from the runway to the harbour.

Read more Beaches · Getting around · Sea turtles · Where to stay · Where to eat · Rabbit Island · Beaches by wind