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.
Photo: Carlotta Vigo
Photo: Carlotta Vigo
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
Photo: Courtesy of Parco dei Sesi
Dining and Cooking