Etna Experience organizes Etna tour, excursions, full and half day trips to enjoy the best visit, trekking and guided tours to Mount Etna Volcano
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Etna Experience

Excursion

Mt. Etna Summit Strong Tour

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Excursion information

Location South-East side of Etna
Altitude 3300 meters
Duration from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm
Difficulty Hard/Advanced
Departure Departure from Piazza Federico di Svevia 32 in Catania. We guarantee pick up at meeting point agreed upon booking.
Operated by
etna excursion on the summit area
Etna summit view

Fist stop

Start. One of Etna Experience’s expert naturalistic guides will pick you up at 7:15/7:30 a.m. from your hotel in Catania or from an agreed meeting point, to take you aboard one of our 8-seater vehicles (jeep or minivan).

Ascent to 2900 mt. Our driver will drive to Rifugio Sapienza, on the South side of Mt Etna. There you will meet our volcanological guide and together you will take the cable car up to 2500 meters of altitude. Then on board of off-road vehicles, you will arrive at 2900 meters.

Second stop

Mt. Etna Summit Strong Tour 3300 mt. Accompanied by our alpine – volcanologist guide, you will start a high-level trekking that, in 2/3 hours uphill (for a difference in height of 400 meters with distance equivalent to about 3-4 km), will bring you up to 3250 meters.

You will walk up to the North-east crater, the highest within the craters at 3300 meters. You will have a stop to enjoy the beautiful to listen to the explanations of the guides, and above all to admire the magnificent landscape we can see from that high.

Third stop

Packed – lunch.  You will return to 3000 meters always accompained by our expert guide and here you will have a stop for lunch with a tasty packed lunch (provided by Etna Experience).  You will then continue the descent, passing from the North East crater, to reach 2500 meters where we will take the cable car again to reach 2000 meters.

Explore the lava caves of Etna. Our expert guide will introduce you, with basic information on caving, to the fascinating phenomena related to the eruptions. We will provide helmets and torches.

Fourth stop

Come back. The Mt. Etna Summit Strong Tour tour will finish at 5.30-6.00 pm, when you will be back to Catania.

Participation Fee

From April 1st to October 31st:

• € 169 for adults;
• € 149 for children and students from 16 years to 24 years.

From November 1st to March 31st the tour is not available.

Teenager must be minimum 16 years old to join the excursion. This excursion is not suitable for children.

 

In case of abundant snow, the snowmobile will be used and the price will be € 169.00. The surplus will be asked of the customer on the day of the excursion, since it is not possible to estimate it in advance.

Please, consider that if weather conditions won’t be good enough, the cable car company may decide to close for safety reasons. In that case, the guide may decide to make some changes in the itinerary, according to the season.

Mandatory Requirements

Who can take part. This excursion involves a walk of about 6 hours in total, through a medium-high trek (to reach about 3320 meters).

For this reason, those who are not in a good state of health or suffer one of these pathologies, cannot participate to this excursion:

  1. People with disabilities
  2. Asthma
  3. Problems with blood pressure or hearth
  4. Obesity
  5. Pregnancy
  6. Those who was subjected recently to surgery
  7. Whatever other form of limitation psico-physics that would not allow the result of the excursion.

If you are in one of these conditions, but you still would like to see the summit area, you could opt for the Mt Etna Summit Easy Tour.

Availability. The Mt. Etna Summit Strong Tour on the top rins from April to end of October,  it is highly affected by weather and volcanic conditions as it runs on the top of the volcano at about 3300 meters above sea level. Changes may, therefore, happen frequently.

Included in the booking

Ticket for the cable car and special off road bus till 2950 meters. Volcanological/Alpine guide to assist on the summit area. A professional and passionate naturalistic guide (our guides are geologist, volcanologists, agronomists). Transport service with jeep or minibus from Catania, directly from your hotel or from an agreed meeting point. Packed-lunch. Insurance with our Tour Operator. Licensed Transport Service. Equipment, if required when booking. Small group tour maximum 8 people.

Languages

The excursion will take place in Italian and English. Upon request and according to the availability also Spanish and French.

Recommended equipment

We remind you to wear closed and sturdy shoes (sports or trekking) with thick socks, and to bring a jacket because the temperature at higher altitude may be lower (about 10° to 15° degrees lower than in Catania). If you believe you might not be well equipped, let us know when booking. In that case shoes and jackets will be provided.

Requirements

We strongly advise not to attend the excursion to those who are not in good health, especially to people suffering from cardiorespiratory diseas, people with disabilities, pregnant women, teenegers and children, people with problems with blood pressure or hearth. Whatever other form of limitation psico-physics that would not allow the result of the excursion.

Itinerary changes

The program of the tour may change according to the weather conditions on the summit craters of the Volcano and in order of authority restrictions. We will provide you further updates on dates close to the excursion, and in unfavorable weather conditions the guide will be able to decide an alternative route to the above itinerary.