Etna & Alcantara

Name: Etna & Alcantara
Brand: City Balloon Tours
SKU: 814788
Price: 136.07 EUR
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.95 (21 reviews)

21 Reviews |

Recommended by 100% of reviewers

| Sicily, Italy

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8 to 9 hours (approx.)

Hotel pickup offered

Mobile ticket

Offered in: English

Overview

A complete excursion for nature lovers. We will visit one of the most interesting areas of Etna, with lava flow caves, side craters, lava flows and, in the afternoon, the gorges of the Alcantara river will amaze us with columnar basalts and freezing waters.

What's Included

Snacks Typical products tasting, such as honey, liquors, creams.
GST (Goods and Services Tax)
Helmet
Air-conditioned vehicle
Trekking sticks
Torches
Insurance
Authorised tour guide

Lunch

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Meeting and Pickup

Pickup point

Pickup details

Pick up at your hotel or agreed place (Catania, Nicolosi, Acireale, Giarre, Zafferana, Linguaglossa, Giardini Naxos, Taormina, Letojanni or close areas) with extra price

Meeting point

SP4-I
Via Stabilimenti, 282, 95010 Santa Venerina CT, Italy

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Detailed check-in instructions, including the exact address, are provided with your booking confirmation.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Detailed check-in instructions, including the exact address, are provided with your booking confirmation.

What To Expect

Book Online

Our secure website provides real-time availability, and free, no-hassle cancellations up to 24 hours before your tour begins.

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Mount Etna

Once on-board of our 4×4 jeeps, we will make our way towards Etna’s hill. We will leave the wonderful “Riviera dei limoni” (Lemons’ coast), to approach Etna’s villages. We will then get on the road that leads through the volcano’s slopes, crossing old mulattiere (ancient mule drivers’ roads) and coalmen paths, we are soon at about 1000 mt altitude where a protected area of 720km² begins. We also come across cold and dried lava flows that, like black highways, tear the mountainside.Surrounded by uncontaminated greenery¹, we can enjoy the view of chestnut trees, pines, oaks, beeches as well as endemic plants like Etna’s birch and Etna’s brooms2. Eruptive cones, lava flows, lava valley stand out in front of our eyes, testifying the volcano’s incessant eruption activity that carves out its own shape since more than 500.000 years.We will get into a fantastic Nature trail, inside the Etna Park, heading towards the craters. We will arrive on the top of a lateral crater, created by an eruption with the typical buttons’ line progress, called “bottoniera”. What is a crater? It is a pyroclastic slagheap that has been thrown out from the volcanic shaft and, once placed around the eruptive vent, creates a cone. Once we get to the edge of the lateral crater, in the exact point where incandescent lava used to come out from volcano slope, we will explain to you the features of Etna’s eruptions. You will have the opportunity to admire all of the different colours that lava turns into, as a beautiful reflection of a rainbow, and experience first hand all of the different kinds of consistency of pyroclastic rocks. We will be able to see very few plant species that manage to survive in very extreme conditions both in winter and summer.Let’s deeply penetrate in the heart of the wood to discover what’s hiding below the volcanic hard surface. Suddenly a crevice in the ground appears by our eyes: one of the about 190 Etna lava flow caves. We start our underground adventure: leaving the surface, we enter into the mountain deepness to discover its most hidden secrets, visiting a lava flow cave.After having explored the most interesting Etna area, we take a break enjoying a nice lunchtime in a typical mountain hut/chalet that seems to have landed here in Sicily directly from Alps. We can try traditional dishes of our Sicilian kitchen, delicious mountain specialities, since in Sicily we are lucky to have both exquisite seafood and delicious mountain food, typical from the inland areas.

5 hours Admission Ticket Free

Piano Provenzana

Eruption of 2002, Honey tasting, typical products, liqueurs and "Fuoco dell'Etna" (liquor)

30 minutes Admission Ticket Free

Gola Dell'Alcantara

Coming down we come out from the protect area of the Etna Park and we go towards the Alcantara Valley. We meet the river for the first time near the Castiglione di Sicilia’s bridge and, from this moment, our path is intertwined with it until we reach the gorges. We leave the jeep and go down walking until we get the riverbed: we are now in the deepest point of Alcantara gorges, facing 25 meters tall basalt cliffs that proudly stand all around us. Here we can touch the icy water of Alcantara river and the bravest of us can even plunge in the water and venture for a few dozen meters inside the gorges.

50 minutes Admission Ticket Included

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Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Service animals allowed
Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health

Tell us in advance about any special needs or health issues, such as allergies, heart disease, pressure problems, walking difficulties, handicaps. We will do our best to let you enjoy the tour to its full extent. Thank you!
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Specialized infant seats are available
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

Frequently Asked Questions (8)

Q: What is the cancellation policy for the Etna & Alcantara?

A: You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the tour for a full refund. For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the tour start time.If you cancel less than 24 hours before the tour start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.Any changes made less than 24 hours before the tour start time will not be accepted.Cut-off times are based on the tour local time (CET).This tour requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund. Read more Apr 2025

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the tour for a full refund.

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Activity code: C-179498P2

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.95

21 reviews

Average 4.95 out of 5 stars based on 21 traveler reviews collected by City Balloon Tours and partner sites such as Cool Destinations and TripAdvisor

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