Etna and Alcantara Gorges Excursion with lunch
Recommended by 95% of travelers
Catania, Italy
- 6 to 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Mt. Etna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and shouldn’t be missed when visiting Sicily, but reaching the active volcano—and getting around once there—are tough without a 4WD-equipped vehicle. On this full-day tour, get access to rugged locations standard cars can’t reach, and embark on a short hike through craters and lava flows. Top it off with a Sicilian lunch and visit to Alcantara Gorge.
- Enjoy a personalized experience in a group limited to 15 people
- All trekking equipment is included, including poles and flashlight for cave exploration
- Dig into a traditional Sicilian lunch, with a first course and coffee included
- Convenient pickup from Catatania, Taormina, Mazzaro, Giardini-Naxos, and more
What's Included
- Trekking equipment: helmet and flashlight, hiking poles (upon request)
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Private transportation
- LunchA first course, drink and coffee
- Admission ticket to the Alcantara Gorges Botanical Park (through the municipal entrance)
- Bottled water
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Start time.9:00 am
Itinerary
1
Mount Etna
6 hours • Admission Ticket Included
2
Le Gole dell'Alcantara
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Near public transportation
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- NOT suitable for cruise ship passengers due to scheduling conflicts.
- For safety reasons, due to volcanic activity or particularly unfavorable weather conditions, the tour may be modified or canceled at the guide’s discretion. We’re here to have fun together, but safety comes first.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
On june 21st 2025 we went on an adventurous tour and it was so much fun. The tour is very well organized. In the morning one of the tour guides picked us up at a spot 2 minutes from our appartment. We were with 8 person so we got picked up in a van. This was our van for the rest of the trip. Our driver Alfio who was also a guide was a friendly man. For the actual tour we met up with some other vans with some other people. Here we split up in different groups based on the language spoken. We were in the english speaking group with Scalvo the tourguide. He used a lot of humor and was very entertaining to listen to. He also explained a lot and answered all questions. After the climb we got a pasta lunch which was flavourful. After this we went to the Alcantara gorge which was extremely beautiful. There are no words to describe this. Our only regret is that we had only 1 hour to spend here which is nog enough at all. I highly recommend this tour.
Reviews
4.8
based on 302 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Amazing experience. Julia was awesome. An absolute pleasure to have as our guide and driver. She was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. We’re glad we picked the excursion and learned so much about Mt. Etna.
It was amazing! We loved our driver and guide, Salvatore and Mario. The experience itself was a ton of fun and our hosts were very accommodating and kind. Mario has encyclopedic knowledge of the flora and history of Etna and was excited to share with all of us. The meal in the pine forest alongside other tourists and locals was very charming and delicious. Highly recommend water shoes for the gorges, and be sure to turn to the right once you reach the bottom of the stairs for the main attraction!
We had a fantastic experience on this tour. We went at the beginning of August, so it was very hot, but overall the hiking and cave exploration were manageable and well worth the effort. The perfect ending was cooling our feet in the icy waters of the Alcantara River after the hike.
Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and made the experience even more enjoyable with clear and engaging explanations throughout the tour.
The food was also great!
We highly recommend this excursion to anyone visiting the area!
This trip was well worth it for our family of four.
The day broke up our weeks vacation of beach, shopping, and eating, and allowed us to soak up culture, history, and excursion. The hike to see the crater on Etna was more like a difficult walk than a hike. The views were great as you can clearly see the closest active crater on Etna. The lunch was very good, pasta, cappuccino, and gelato. The Gorge we were unprepared for unfortunately. If we were to do this again, we would 100% bring water shoes as the river is all rocks. The river is also very cold. But refreshing in summer heat. The guides were all friendly, knowledgeable, and engaging. Many of them were family members so it was great.
Very good way to spend a day in Sicily and see many sites all at a once. It’s along day, you will be tired at the end. Great trip!
Great experience with so much to see. Amazing day with a great guide. Brought our toddler with us and she had a good time. Clean van.
Beautiful short hike to Mt. Etna. Our guide Julia was very pleasant and friendly. Travelled with kids ages 8-18 and all enjoyed the experience. The Gorge is absolutely stunning. Highly recommend.
Perfectly organised day. Experienced so much but it went so fast. The staff were friendly and relaxed. It was fun and ended with a beautiful swim in the cascades. There was quite a bit of walking which may be difficult for anyone with mobility issues. (Wear good socks due to small volcano stones which sneak into socks and can be annoying).
Fascinating view of Mt Etna! Massimo did a great job personalizing our trip since my group wanted a shorter hike. Our favorite part was the the Alacantara Gorge. Recommend wearing. Bathing suit under your clothes and good walking shoes and bring water shoes.
Vincenzo was an amazing guide! His energy was perfect, and he was very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed our trip!
Great tour and time with our family! We love an active tour that involves nature and learning about the earth and unesco sites, this was perfect!
This Tour is the only one to go on! Brilliant from pick up to drop off, the team were fantastic! No messing about with stop off to "taste or buy" produce, first stop small hike to the cave, then main hike to a crater and stunning views, then a wonderful lunch (one pasta dish, bottled water, and coffee) all included in the price, then stop off at the Gorge which was totally amazing! Thank you so so much for a fantastic experience 💗
What a great day we had; Mt Etna and Alcantara gorge were amazing!! Alfio our driver, Sal and Julia our guides, and their whole team, were great. They shared about our trip and their lives in this beautiful area; so fun and enlightening. And their English was very good too. We will recommend their team to everyone we know!
A beautiful day to discover Mount Etna in different ways (caves, short hikes, viewpoints) with a meal and accessories. The team was very friendly !
My husband got sick at the last minute and they were very accommodating since I came from an hour away and they made sure since I was alone to take a massive amount of pictures for me
This tour was amazing and our guide was top notch. He was very knowledgeable, did great with the kids, and tailored the tour to our interests.
Amazing experience, know that at different times of year (even spring) there will likely be snow! Our guides were wonderful, full of information and kept us safe the entire time!
Our guide, Salvatore, made our day super special. He’s really interested in his work and is so knowledgeable, patient and friendly. He told us where we were going throughout the day and made sure we were safe. Nothing was too much trouble and we had plenty of time at each stop. Salvatore explained when Etna was formed, showed us old lava flows, took us into a lava tube and walked us up onto crater ridges. After a generous lunch at a local restaurant, we moved onto the incredible Alcantara Gorge. Fabulous rock formations and great end to the trip. Would highly recommend.
Beautiful and varied scenery. Salvatore was acharming and helpful host. The exercise was enough of a challenge without being exhausting. The host gave us plenty of time to rest whenever someone was tired. The food was amazing, something I'd not had before.
An absolutely fantastic tour of Mount Etna and the surrounding attractions! The guide Salvatore was highly professional, knowledgeable, and made the whole experience engaging and fun, creating a wonderfully friendly atmosphere. The transport was top-quality, very comfortable, and felt completely safe throughout the trip — highly recommended!
What an incredible adventure! The memories we made will last a lifetime and the guides were so kind and knowledge!
It was great. Salvatore and his colleague were very informative and knowledgeable about the area. We enjoyed our experience very much and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about Etna, while also enjoying a great lunch.
We had a great time with Salvo who is a gifted gide and a very pleasant and patiant person. He guided us with much information and funny remarks in the unique Etna north craters.
Exhilarating day out exploring Etna and the Alcantara Gorge
Salvatore was an amazing guide explaining all the way
Lunch was just right, I had requested vegetarian and had one of the best tortellini dish
Etna was amazing and the gorge was enchanting
Would highly recommend this tour and Dream Island adventures
Wonderful experience exploring nature. Guide was accommodating and educational. Learned so much. Due to mobility issues I took the easier route while my 28 year old explored caves and went up higher. A must.
The walking tour of Etna Volcano was a beautiful hike! The walking stick came in very handy on some of the steep hills!!
Tour guide Solvo was fantastic!
This tour was a highlight of our trip! Our guide Salvatore was wonderful. The Etna hike was beautiful. I recommend wearing dark shoes or boots as they will get dirty.
The lunch was very good!
The Alcantara Gorges were something to see. I highly recommend packing a pair of aqua shoes as the rocks are uncomfortable on bare feet. The water is cold, but was very refreshing after our time at Etna.
This was a great tour with an experienced and knowledgeable guide, Salvatore. Plenty of walking, so bring your walking shoes or trainers. If some of the walking is too much for you Salvatore gives you the option to wait. Before you book I suggest you look at the photos other travellers have posted. For some it may not be as easy as the tour suggests. Salvatore was very amenable and made all nationalities feel very welcome. We had a delicious lunch followed by a visit to the Gorge. A great day!
A great day spent exploring Mt Etna with really knowledgeable, friendly and helpful guides. Not only did we see some amazing sights, we also learnt a lot about the history of Mt Etna and had a fabulous lunch!
The guide gave interesting information also the hike was enjoyable and not too hard. Would recommend to family and elderly people.
Very Poor communication,instructions, lack of information and bad service. I don’t recommend unfortunately
Response from Host, Nov 2025
It's unfair to leave a 1-star review for no good reason since you know well what happened and that it was all due to your own mistakes.
I'll explain it to everyone else reading this.
They were given all the necessary information to meet the morning of the tour, including the meeting time, the name of the location and a Google Maps link to the location.
They were also informed that the guide who was going to meet them knew their name and also had their phone number to contact them if necessary.
So what did they do the morning of the tour?
About 10 minutes before our scheduled meeting time they bought a bus ticked and hopped on a "random" public transportation bus...
The tour was all paid for, yet they didn't think it was strange that they had to pay for a ticket to hop on a bus.
They booked a tour in English, yet they didn't think it was strange nobody spoke English.
They asked and nobody knew their names or about a Viator/Tripadvisor reservation, yet they thought it was a good idea to board the bus.
It's red-flag after red flag and they still went with it.
To reiterate, this all happened before the scheduled meeting time, so it's not like we were late to the meeting and they were confused because they didn't find anyone. They did everything themselves before we even had the chance to get there.
By the time the guide got to the meeting point and tried to get in contact with them via phone and we managed to speak with them their bus was already long gone. It's not like the guide could've started chasing the bus with the other travelers who were also there for the tour and waiting already while the guide tried to speak with them.
The reservation was rightfully marked as a no-show and this wasn't contested and it's still confirmed on the platform. We understand that they made an error, things can happen, but the way they responded to it without taking any accountability, blaming us for the lack of information and even leaving this 1-star review is pretty sad to see.
From $105.22
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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