Mt Etna 4x4 excursion

dont have any suggestions apart from they all sound pretty good

Sorry

Hi Tim,

Can't share any experience on this as my only trip to Mt.Etna was with Virtu Ferries and went by bus and then cable car to near the top.

Look forward to hearing your report when you are back.

Have fun and enjoy yourselves.

Ricky

ricky wrote:

Hi Tim,

Can't share any experience on this as my only trip to Mt.Etna was with Virtu Ferries and went by bus and then cable car to near the top.

Look forward to hearing your report when you are back.

Have fun and enjoy yourselves.

Ricky

Cheers Ricky - will report back. Looks like we're going for the Full Day trip after recommendation from a former co-worker.

Tim

We went for the Full Day 4x4 excursion. It was a lot of fun and quite informative.
1. Picked up at our hotel at 10:30 by the Jeep/Guide (nearly an hour late due to an accident on the Autostrada) then driven by road to near the Bove Valley (past Mick Hucknall's vineyard - and no, his wine is NOT called Simply Red). Then we went off-road to get nearer a scenic viewpoint. Finally a short hike up to the viewpoint where the guide explained the formation of the caldera/valley in front of us. Breathtaking view.
2. Hike back to the 4x4, back off-roading and then onto the paved road to a cave created by an air pocket in an underground lava flow. Helmets/torches provided so we could descend and get more information about the caves and how they were formed etc. Not the most interesting caves I've been in.
3. Drive to a picnic area - lunch provided: some lovely local olives, sun-dried tomatoes, provolone, salami, fantastic local bread, pasta salad and D'Avola red wine.
4. Drive to Monti Sartorius area and hike up and down several craters for an hour or so. Not a gentle hike but nothing we couldn't handle. Very peaceful and more breathtaking scenery.
5. Drive to Alcantara Gorges and paddled in the water. Very interesting geology, though the water was a bit cold.
Back to our hotel for about 6:15PM

We went with this company: etnaexperience.com and would recommend them. Cost was €216 for the 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids). Another company we spoke to didn't want to pick us up at our hotel but wanted us to meet them on the way...we didn't fancy that at all.

For those that haven't been to Sicily yet - we were only there for 3 nights but had a blast. Other highlights: Taormina; Etnapolis (shopping mall/centre); Siracusa. Great food and drink everywhere. Watch for prices in Taormina - for example a 66cl bottle of Moretti beer was €5.50, but the next night in a non-touristy village I paid €2.40 for the same thing.

The Catamaran trip over was fast and easy - also it was fun driving through the World War Z set on our way to the ferry terminal in Msida - we had to drive through a Zombie Checkpoint at one point...nothing to declare!

Sygic Mobile Maps 10 for Android was faultless and invaluable as we drove about Sicily.

Still a lot more of Sicily to see - can't wait to go back

Tim

Hi Tim,

a great,mouth-watering report ! Sounds like you had a lot of fun on the volcano.

I think we should really look into a trip to Sicily.

Where does the catamaran ferry leave from ? Ferry terminal in Msida after the Zombie check point ? I guess when we go there will just be an Alien checkpoint .......

Ricky