Hello Pinmapples,

here comes the second part in english to my Sicily round trip. I hope you enjoyed the first part. Have fun reading...

After spending the first days of our Sicily trip in Catania, there was one stop that was at the top of our bucket list for Sicily: Etna. However, we almost didn't get to visit one of the most active volcanoes in the world. How it came to this, which experiences we could collect and what I can recommend for a visit to Etna, I would like to tell you in today's blog post.

Visit Etna - But how?

After we started looking into a visit to Mount Etna, we were almost overwhelmed by the abundance of offers. There are umpteen different providers offering their tours with different experiences, departure points and at the most varied prices. I was honestly quickly frustrated after the initial enthusiasm to scroll through the many different offers and compare them. Personally, I found it not so easy to recognize the differences and thus also to make the price differences transparent. My tip for you: Think about what you want to see and how much comfort you want to have. The offers range from hotel pickup or self-drive to hikes from different starting points and heights or comprehensive tours that include not only Etna but also other attractions (eg olive oil and honey tastings or a visit to the Alcantara Gorge - By the way, more about this in one of my next blog posts).

And what did we choose?

It was clear to us that we wanted to visit Mount Etna. No big experiences around it, but we would like to go high up, if possible with as much comfort as possible and in a not too big group. So far so good.

We did some research and quickly found out that the comfort is not that difficult. You can go up to about 1,900m by car or be picked up directly at the hotel or a meeting point. From there you can go up to about 2.400m with the cable car and up to about 2.900m with special 4x4 buses. The height reached with the buses always depends on the current conditions.

The tours that offer exactly that quickly reached prices of 100 euros and more per person at Getyourguide and similar websites. Important note: Pay attention here in any case to what is included in the tour price. Often tickets for the cable car and the 4x4 buses are included as additional costs, so that if you really want to have the full experience, it does not remain at the pure tour price.

After we had decided to book a guided tour with cable car and 4x4 bus for about 100 euros plus ticket prices for the rides we had to realize that all tours were fully booked and wanted to go to Etna at a later date.

But more active than thought...

And I do not mean the selected tour. Shortly after we continued to Palermo (more on this in a later blog post as well) there was an eruption of Etna. It was not a major eruption, but enough for the closure of air traffic in Catania and warning level "yellow" for nearby towns. So was there to be no visit from Etna after all?

But we did not want to be stopped so easily. So we checked every day if the situation has calmed down and then we continued planning. In order not to be further dependent on tour offers and Co, we decided then without further ado for a tour on your own.

Can you plan your own tour to Etna?

To this, my answer is a resounding "yes". We drove by car to the parking lot on the south side. The roads are curvy, but ok to drive and at least at our time of travel, it wasn't really crowded either. But that may have been due to the eruption a few days before. In the parking lot we could park our car for free and first looked at the "Crateri Silvestri", which are right next to the parking lot and can be easily climbed. Afterwards we went to the cable car. Here you can directly buy combination tickets for the cable car and the 4x4 buses (cost: 78 euros per person). After arriving at about 2,900m with the cable car and the 4x4 buses, you are guided by a volcanologist to different points and get some info about Etna. We could see steaming cooling lava at one of the four main craters due to the eruption a few days before. Also, much of the snow was covered in ash. A really bizarre but also fascinating sight. Behind it goes down again on the same way. Here you can decide if you want to enjoy the view a bit more or walk around on your own. There are always several buses ready to leave as soon as they are well filled.

Alternatively, of course, you have the option to hike up Etna. There are even special trekking tours with guide, which go a bit higher up, so that you are virtually at eye level with the main craters. But for this you should be fit and well equipped in any case.

My conclusion

For us it was just right to explore Etna on our own. Not necessarily because of the cost savings but much more because we could do everything as we wanted. Visiting Etna and climbing to the highest point possible is definitely a must-do for me on a trip to Sicily. The interplay of fire and ice, glowing lava and snow, ashy moonscapes and blooming nature is just too special to pass up. From Etna, you can look all the way to the coast of Calabria and forget for a moment the complete everyday life.

Tips: Be sure to wear sturdy shoes and long, comfortable clothes. Trekking shoes are certainly helpful, but regular sneakers will work as well. You won't have much fun in the airy heights with shorts, though. If you decide on a hiking route, hiking poles are a good support. You can book certain tours at the parking lot. For example, there are also quad tours to lava caves. Surely also an exciting experience, but I can not tell you any experience.

I hope my little report on Etna has helped you. Feel free to write me in the comments if you liked the article or if you wish something else. Then I can pay attention to this in the next posts.