Etna Top Craters Tour

Meeting point

We meet in Piano Provenzana on the north side of Mount Etna at an altitude of 1810 metres. Here we are already in the UNESCO protected area “Etna Park”. You will meet our guide, who will give you the equipment you need.

Off-road buses now take us up to 2840 metres to Pizzi Deneri, where the INGV volcanological observatory is located. From here, we continue on foot.

Trekking in the lava desert – ascent

We begin our ascent through this lunar landscape. Everything here is covered in black lava sand and lava flows. We can notice roundish stones that are different from all the others: the lava bombs.

The total ascent is approx. 550 metres.

The summit of Mount Etna

We arrive at the summit of Sicily! The huge Etna area lies below us. On clear days, we enjoy an excellent view of a large part of Sicily with its mountains and lakes and can see as far as the mainland.

We hike past the north-east crater, the former highest point of Mount Etna, to the central crater with the Voragine and Bocca Nuova openings. As a multi-crater volcano, Etna has four summit craters: the highest is currently the south-east crater.

We experience a unique and varied scenario: the ground changes from the shades of grey that prevailed during the trek to lighter colours caused by the resublimation of the minerals carried by the rising gas. The huge vents open up in front of us: sometimes it is quiet and we can look into the vent, sometimes the craters are smoking and we have to stay close to the guide so that we don’t get lost.

After walking on the rim of the central crater, we start the descent.

Lunch

We start the descent. Once we have found a cosy spot for the group, we take a break for a picnic. The packed lunch is not included in the tour costs. You can buy something to eat at the meeting point before the start of the tour.

Descent

There are 2 options for the descent:

• The more athletic of you can walk the entire route down to Piano Provenzana. That’s about 1500 metres in altitude.
• Everyone else returns to Pizzi Deneri and takes the bus back down from there.

Return – Until the next adventure

Back in Piano Provenzana, you can take part in a tasting of local Etna products (pesto, creams, honey: the gold of Etna, liqueurs).

The memory of this unique experience will stay with us forever: we walked on the summit of the most active volcano in Europe.

Until the next adventure!