It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience! Mount Etna was amazing to explore. The wine tasting and food were delicious and Taormina was truly scenic to discover. The tour was topped with an excellent tour guide, Paulo made us feel at ease with his comedy and peaked our interest with his impressive knowledge about Etna and Sicilian-Greek mythology.

If you want to enjoy Mount Etna and avoid tourist groups then you must book the Private Tour! Giovanni was an amazing guide who was so passionate. We arrived at Mount Etna before the buses and he took us through less traditional paths to walk us through the various craters and talk about the history of the eruptions. Perfect if you want explanations and a bit of adventure. The drive to the winery was a lot of fun full of stories, the food and wine there was excellent and my partner and I didn't feel one second this was a tourist trap. We finished at Taormina which was a lovely city full of lovely spots for pictures, maybe a bit touristic but we were lucky to visit off season to appreciate it.

It was a great trip with 5 other travelers and our guide Floriana who was friendly, helpful and full of joy. We had a short walk to the refugio and the Silvestri craters followed by simple lunch with schiacciata and wine. Then we had off to Taormina where we had 2 hours to wonder around.