Etna & Alcantara

The first stop on this tour is at an elevation of 2,000 m, but on the way up from the city, there will be short intermediate stops at some characteristic points. A guide will give information regarding the history of the volcano and the Etnean territory, and you will discover the latest eruptions and some ancient extinct craters. From here it will be possible to choose whether to continue trekking through one of the Etna Park Trails, at an altitude of 2,000 meters, accompanied by a guide, or to purchase the Etna alta quota option, which will allow you to reach the summit elevations of the volcano (3,000 m) by special means and accompanied by a local mountain guide. The excursion will continue with a visit to a lava flow cave with helmets and flashlights. Afterwards, a stop will be made at an organic farm, where honey, wines, oils and other typical products. The tour will continue with a visit to the Alcantara River.  The excursion to the Alcantara River will introduce you to a wide variety of aspects of this very special waterway. Walking along small paths that skirt the so-called "delizi" (cultivated fields), you will arrive along the course of the river, from here you will be able to see the Gurne, natural pools created by the flow of water, small lakes and waterfalls of tumultuous water set in beautiful riparian vegetation. A walk among nature, history and traditions, where the ruins of Francavilla Castle will be observed. The tour will end with a visit to the Gorges, canyons formed over the millennia by the flow of river waters over Etna's lava basalts. Here it will be possible to admire the columnar basalts, lava formations resulting from the process of erosion and slow cooling, which take on extraordinary shapes of varying thickness and orientation.