Mount Etna and Taormina

Highlights

• A car and driver reserved for your group, 9 hours
• The Silvestri craters on foot, at about 1,900 m
• Cable car to 2,500 m, optional
• Corso Umberto and Piazza IX Aprile in Taormina
• The Teatro Antico, with its own ticket
• The viewpoint above Isola Bella

About this tour

Itinerary

1. Pickup

   Your driver meets you at your hotel or address, or at Catania or Messina port if you arrive by ship.

2. Etna, south side 2h 30min

   Up to the Rifugio Sapienza square and a walk on your own at the Silvestri craters; optional cable car.

3. Taormina 2h 30min

   Free time on foot along Corso Umberto, Piazza IX Aprile and the Teatro Antico.

4. Isola Bella

   A photo stop at the viewpoint above the bay.

5. Return

   Back to where you were picked up.

Good to know

• On the south side the road ends at the Rifugio Sapienza square, at about 1,900 m, the base of the cable car; the refuge building itself is currently closed. From the square you visit the Silvestri craters on foot, on your own, along the marked paths.
• Entry about 5 euro per person, every day 8:30-17:00 (Etna cable car website, October 2026), paid on site.
• Etna cable car (official site, read on 20 October 2026): from the square at 1,923 m to the upper station at 2,500 m, about 54 euro per person return, every day 08:30-16:45, last ride down at 17:15, if the weather allows.
• The "Tour 3000", about 82 euro per person, adds the 4x4 up to the highest point the authorities allow, with alpine or volcanological guides: it takes about two and a half hours and must start by 15:15. You pay on site.
• Above about 2,500 m access depends on the volcanic alert phase: the summit craters only with authorised alpine or volcanological guides, when the phase allows. Under notice no. 2 of 12 October 2026 the phase is pre-alarm and the summit-crater zone is closed.
• Your driver does not go above the square, and nobody can promise the summit, lava or a visible eruption.
• Corso Umberto in Taormina is pedestrian: the car drops you at the Porta Catania or Lumbi car park, or the nearest point allowed, and picks you up there. Teatro Antico (official park website, October 2026): about 14 euro per person, 7 euro reduced for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, free under 18.
• Opens at 9:00, last entry 16:00 in November and December. The ticket is not included: buy it online or at the entrance.
• Your driver drives, waits for you and suggests stops and timings, but does not guide inside sites and monuments: at the Teatro Antico in Taormina you can have an authorised guide, on request, paid separately.
• Entrance tickets, the cable car and tastings are not part of the tour price: you pay for them yourself, on site or online.
• Pickup at your hotel or address at the time you choose: in historic centres the car comes to your hotel where traffic rules allow, otherwise to the nearest point, agreed beforehand.
• Arriving by ship at Catania or Messina port? Pickup is at the cruise terminal exit or the port gate agreed at booking. Add the ship name and the all-aboard time, and plan the return with a margin.
• Private tour: the car and driver are for your group only, up to 8 people. The price is per group, not per person.

Pickup

Pickup at your hotel or address (Catania, Acireale, Aci Trezza, Taormina, Giardini Naxos, Catania port, Messina port). Add the exact address in the booking notes.

Frequently asked questions