All Catania Tours & Excursions in 2026 - page 13

Good instruction of meeting point. Our group is 14 ppl, riding with a new, clean Mercedes 20 ppl van. Our driver, Giuesp is a wonderful skillful driver. Tour guild is Chris, he speaks fluent English, giving a detailed information before us getting off the van. One hour at Castelmola, 2.25 hours at Taormina, good enough for sightseeing and have a light meal. I would recommend ppl choose this tour instead of cruise excursion. One thing, it would be great if it can have 15 minutes more for Taromina.

Our guide Luca was very knowledgeable guide and gave us a lot of useful information about volcanos and the history of Mount Etna. There were no other people on the tour and it therefore felt like a private tour. This meant that Luca was able to adapt the tour somewhat to accommodate my mobility problems. Really went offroad to reach areas other tours may not.

Our guide, Danilo, was entertaining and very knowledgeable about volcanism. He filled us in on the history of the volcano and the various eruptions over the past. After being picked up at my hotel, it was about a 60 minute drive to where the hike began. The first activity of the day was a hike of approximately 90 minutes up to an altitude of 2000 meters(6,600 feet). The walk can be challenging as the first half is uphill, and the oxygen content of the air is reduced at the higher elevation. The group stopped frequently so Danilo good show us the various lava flows as well as some of the vegetation that is growing in the area. He has some wonderful pictures and videos that he has taken during active eruption. I am sure he will show them to you. The second activity was to visit a lava tube. Walking was difficult over the volcanic rocks and the ceiling is a little low in some places. A flashlight is provided and it is a nice experience. The third, and final activity of the day, was a stop at an overlook of a valley. Unfortunately, for us, it was pretty cloudy that day, but the clouds parted occasionally, and we could see the view. The tour is held rain or shine so be prepared and wear layers of clothing. It was in the low 50s Fahrenheit the day that I went. On the volcano, the weather conditions kept changing; the wind would pick up and clouds would come and go. I also want to thank Antonio, who was the driver of our SUV, for getting us up and down the mountain safely.