Catania

Culinary & Nightlife

Enjoy an adventurous day trip to Mount Etna, including handy roundtrip transfers from Catania. Best of all, customize your tour according to your needs, choosing from either a private or small-group experience in a choice of languages. Explore the volcano’s ancient craters, a lava flow cave, and try some local products, while taking in some breathtaking panoramic views along the way. Start your day with a pick-up from your Catania accommodation in an air-conditioned 4x4 or minivan. Digest some fun facts about the volcano from your professional guide as you drive 2000 meters up. Hear about everything from the volcano’s natural resources, memorable landscapes, and flora, to lava flows that have swallowed roads and buildings in past spurts of activity. Once you reach 2000 meters up, take a guided walk around the ancient craters, recent lava flows, and other-worldly landscape. Rest easy as the trek is an easy one, suitable for both families with younger children and older family members. Try a mini-sampling of Sicilian delicacies during the trek, with some "cantucci" biscuits and "zibibbo" wine both up for tasting. After a short break, head to your next stop — a lava flow cave. Using a helmet and flashlight, you’ll discover the cave’s origins and stand-out features in ample time with your guide. Your last stop is a panoramic viewpoint at Monte Pomiciaro, granting you unforgettable views and photo opportunities over the Valle del Bove, the volcano’s most important valley. If the sunset option is selected, take in breathtaking views of Etna during 'Golden Hour'. After your volcanic adventure, head back to Catania, where your tour will conclude.

Following pick-up at a pre-arranged pick-up point, depart Taormina at about 08:30 and journey to the foothills of Mt. Etna. Travel in a small group of no more than 8 people for a more intimate and personalized experience. You will be accompanied by a guide trained in volcanology, biology or geology for your convenience. Upon arrival at the active volcano, hike for approximately 1.5 hours around the perimeters of some of its extinct craters. Walk through ancient woods and along paths covered with lava about 2,000 meters above sea level. Get a better appreciation of this emblem of Sicily and its surrounding landscape from a different perspective. Learn about the fascinating volcanic phenomenon, before heading underground to explore one of the lava caves. Then, head to a local café for a typical savory snack of a sandwich, wine, a dessert and a tasting of almond wine, which is a typical Sicilian sweet wine. Return to your hotel at around 14:30 at the end of the tour services.

Visit the tallest volcano in Europe and explore Etna Park on a 6-hour tour from Taormina. The first stop of the day is in the town of Zafferana, known as the town of honey, located on the eastern side of Etna. Visit one of the area’s top organic farms to taste products such as honey, olive oil and wine. Later, put on a helmet and headlamp and head inside a lava cave to learn how lava flows are formed. At the Sapienza Refuge, see both the newest eruptions of the volcano and the old Silvestri craters dating from the 1892 eruption. Trek along a nature path enjoying breathtaking views, before the drive back to Taormina.

Experience the amazing street food scene of Catania like a local, and get an historical overview of the city along the way. Explore the enchanting alleys and squares of the Old Town and sample a selection of tasty produce. Marvel at the Baroque architecture of Piazza Duomo before you visit a market to try some local cheeses, olives and oil. Continue along Via Crociferi to reach the remains of the Roman amphitheater on Piazza Stesicoro. Discover the famous Pasticceria Savia that serves the best arancini in the city. Sample a specialty made of puff pastry, tomato, onion, mozzarella and ham. Cross the largest market to try a unique sparkling drink at the Chiosco Costa. Move on to the port area to try some horse-meat meatballs barbecued on hot coals. End with a sweet-tooth tasting of some authentic cannoli with ricotta or Sicilian granita. Receive a unique gift that details all your tasty treats.

Uncover the secrets of Italian family recipes on your travels, Your guide, or Cesarina will share their wisdom, which has been passed down in their families for generations. Go food shopping like a local with your host, enjoy the distinctive Italian local market and learn how to recognize the best produces from the land.  Immerse yourself in a private cooking class at your guide's home. Learn the secrets of the most famous dishes of regional cuisine and taste the fruit of your labor accompanied by local wines. During the lesson, the Cesarina will reveal the tricks of the trade of 3 authentic local recipes. Have fun putting your cooking skills to the test. Participants will have a workstation equipped with utensils and all the ingredients to make the dishes. Then, taste everything you have prepared accompanied by a selection of red and white local wines. Instead of loading your suitcase with souvenirs, take home Italian cooking skills that'll stay with you for life.

Your adventure begins when you meet your captain on board your boat for the day, decked out with three double cabins, a bathroom with a shower, an outside shower, a kitchen, and a refrigerator. You’ll then set sail to Ulysses’ Caves. Be amazed by the gorgeous underwater scenery of vibrant blues and greens as you sail past these breathtaking lava-formed caves. Next, while sailing towards Acitrezza, you’ll pass under the medieval castle of Acicastello and enjoy a spectacular view of the castle by the sea. You’ll notice the characteristic pillow lavas found under the castle due to the rapid cooling of submarine eruptions.   Once you reach Acitrezza, you’ll be shown a marine reserve dubbed "The Cyclopean Isles”. The only way to access the reserve is via a pedal boat, which is included in your tour depending on seasonal availability. If the pedal boat isn’t available or if you prefer not to use it, you’ll instead have the chance to visit the charming little village of Acitrezza for one hour. When you arrive back on board you’ll be served a delicious traditional lunch including an appetizer, pasta with mussels, fruit, water, and local white wine. Finally, during your return trip, you’ll make a short stop with the chance for another quick swim before arriving back in Catania at around 6:00 PM.

Benefit from pick-up at your accommodation and journey with an authorized local guide through the typical villages of Sicily's west coast. Pass houses made from lava stone and marvel at groves of orange, olive and almond trees. Listen to tales of local traditions and learn about the food and wines produced in the volcanic landscape of Mount Etna. Stop at a family-run winery and get a glass of rosé prosecco as a welcome. Visit the cellars before a wine tasting with cold appetizers in a lava stone open-air amphitheater. Sample a glass of white and red wine with locally produced cheeses, salamis, artichokes and more. Continue to a farmhouse to savor more food and wine on an open-air terrace overlooking the vineyards. Try various dishes, including ricotta cheese with marmalade and 2 different pastas made with seasonal ingredients, such as black pork sauce.  Finish your tour, tasting a home made Limoncello and be dropped off at your accommodation.

Travel in a small group with an expert guide from Taormina to Etna on this full-day tour. Enjoy a 2-hour hike around the perimeters of extinct craters and along lava-covered paths at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level. Visit the volcanic underground, discovering one of the wonders of Etna. Stop for lunch and visit a local winery for a guided tasting of Etna wines (DOC). The 3-course lunch features typical Sicilian antipasti, a main course, and a delicious dessert. Last on the itinerary is a visit to the Alcantara Canyons, formed thousands of years ago when lava flowed into the Alcantara River, from a panoramic view point.

Explore Etna Park on a 6-hour tour that takes you up to the Sapienza Refuge at 1,986 meters. Return transfers from your accommodation in Catania are included in the package. At the Sapienza Refuge you’ll see both the newest eruptions of the volcano and the old Silvestri craters, dating from the 1892 eruption. Afterwards you’ll trek along a nature path through Etna Park, enjoying breathtaking views over the Bove Valley. Enter a lava cave, with a helmet and head lamp, to learn how lava flows are formed. Later, stop in the town of Zafferana, on the eastern side of Etna. In Zafferana, known as the town of honey, you’ll visit one of the most famous organic farms in the area to taste delicious local products such as honey, olive oil, and wine. You’ll be transferred to your hotel in the early afternoon.

Your personal guide will pick you up from your hotel/ port and you will start your wonderful private tour around the top Etna wineries. Driving by comfortable, air-conditioned car through the small authentic mountain villages, you will admire unforgettable picturesque views of the Sicilian countryside full of oranges and lemon plantations, olives and almond trees, houses and churches built of lava stone. The Mount Etna eruptions feed the soil, and that is why this region is considered to be one of the best in the world for growing grapes and wine production. You will visit the three best wineries at the Etna slopes. Wines from these wineries are on the top lists of premium international wine associations. The first venue will be a family run winery, world-famous with its outstanding wines. Here, you will be welcomed by the owner with a glass of an awesome white wine aperitif. Sipping refreshing wine, you will have a guided tour around the estate, after which you will visit the cellars where the owner or your private sommelier will explain to you the wine production process. Finally, you will sit at a wonderful terrace with a breathtaking view of mountains and Ionian coastline, and with your personal sommelier, start your food and wine tasting. You will taste 4 or 5 excellent white, red and rose Etna D.O.C. wines with locally produced cheeses, salami, prosciutto, sausages, couscous, vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, domestic olive oil and fresh homemade bread. Enjoy the panoramic view and the unique atmosphere of the Sicilian countryside. You will be driven to the second venue – another outstanding Etna winery, where the owner will give you a tour around the estate. With a professional sommelier, you will taste 4 brilliant red, rose and white wines of the region. You will continue the tour driving to the next venue, an ancient family run winery with authentic charm. After your guided visit to the cellars, you will taste 3 premium red and white wines accompanied by fresh domestic appetizers: locally produced cheeses, meat delicacies, olives, olive oil and fresh bread. After the tour, your personal guide will bring you back to your accommodation.