They are indeed beautiful though there's a touch of tourist blight (contributed to by me, he added hastily...) on Lipari, Vulcano, Stromboli and Panarea. We stayed on Lipari for a week but for several days windy conditions prevented our visiting all the islands. We missed out on Alicudi, Filicudi and, sadly, Salina, which, as you suggest, is a world apart. Apart from walking up the volcano on Vulcano (got it right this time...) there isn't much else on that somewhat tatty island. Lipari town is the fleshpot centre on Lipari, but the island is big enough to get away from the hordes. Panarea is the fashionable and expensivo place to go for the jet set, and Stromboli has a tatty town and probably a lot that we must have missed on our two-hour stopoff. The best thing is to go on a trip on a small boat from Marina Corta on Lipari from which you get the most amazing island scenery - don't forget to indulge in the best granita and cannoli in Italy before and after. The other best thing is the walk up to the crater on Vulcano, an hour's dusty slog which rewards you with some of the best views you'll ever see as long as you can choose a day without that pesky Mediterranean haze.