Tour Etna and Alcantara

Description

After being picked up from your hotel (or nearby) you will head for Etna South Station - Rifugio Sapienza. The guide will give you all the information you need about the history and the territory of the volcano and you will visit the sites of the last eruptions and the old Silvestri Craters.

From Rifugio Sapienza (1920 mamsl) you can choose one of the these alternatives:

• Walk on path around 2000 m with the guide.
• Choose the Etna high altitude option: from Rifugio Sapienza you will take the cable car and reach 2500 meters. You will continue from here with special 4x4 minibuses and reach maximum altitudes allowed. You'll find yourself in front of a scenery stretching right down to the sea. Here you will admire the great central crater, the South-East crater and the historical lava flows that characterize the landscape of Etna. With the alpine guides you will visit the places where the life of the volcano flourishes, in full safety. You will return to Rifugio Sapienza by minibus and cable car.

The excursion will continue with the visit of a lava cave with helmets and torches.

The next stop, on the way down you will visit an organic farm for a delicious sampling of typical products such as honey, wine, oil etc. 

The tour will continue with the visit of Alcantara.

The excursion to Alcantara River will allow you to discover all the various aspects of this very particular water stream. Walking down the small paths along the cultivated fields, the so-called “delizi”, you will reach the river, where it will be possible to admire the Gurne, natural pools created by the running water, small lakes and waterfalls surrounded by beautiful riparian vegetation. A walk through nature, history and tradition, where the ruins of the Francavilla Castle can be observed.

You will continue by visiting the gorges: canyons formed over the millenniums by the water of the river on the lava basalts of Etna. Here it will be possible to admire the columnar basalts, lava formations resulting from the erosion process and the slow cooling, whose extraordinary shapes have various thicknesses and orientations.

Recommended equipment

Windbreaker / Tennis shoes / Water / Hat and sunglasses.

The fee includes

Shuttle bus (return) / Multilingual guide / Trekking shoes (on request) / The kit for visiting the Cave / Sampling

The fee does not include

Optional activities available on Etna such as: 2 hours quad tour, Cycling to the top, Etna high altitude / All that is not specified under “the cost includes”.