How are the excursions on Etna up to the top organized?
The best page that explains what to do…
The important thing to know is that if you want to reach the summit of the volcano you must contact our category of professionals, Alpine or Volcanological Guides authorized by law.
The work of the Volcanological Guides takes place mainly above 2000 meters of altitude up to the summit of the volcano at an altitude of 3300 meters. As a category of professionals we take care of leading tourists to active volcanic areas and to the highest altitudes of the Etna volcano in this case.
Before booking the tour or excursion, it is always a good idea to ask the person offering it some questions:
- What altitude do you reach during the excursion and with what modalities?.
- If what is proposed really corresponds to the truth.
- All this to avoid entrusting or entrusting guests to unauthorized and non-professional categories.
HOW TO GET TO THE STARTING POINT OF OUR EXCURSIONS?
You can get there directly with your personal (or rented) car, the roads are also easily accessible by public transport (FCE lines and times – ACTIVE IN SUMMER active service from June to October) or transfer service.
At the meeting point scheduled for your excursion, you will find your Volcanological or Alpine Guide.
The name of the guide and his references as well as the GPS point of the meeting with the same will be communicated the day before by our secretarial service directly to your mobile phone (usually on whatsapp) communicated by you at the time of booking.
Excursions above 3000 meters of altitude up to an altitude of 3300 meters
Please note: Having said that, since we work as professionals at the high altitudes of the volcano, excursions close to or above 3000 meters leave in the morning from 7:30 to 9:00 and are as follows:
- Excursion to the top at 3300 metres (round trip) by bus with trekking from 2900 to 3300 metres from the north
- Excursions to the top with ascent by off-road vehicle (one way) from an altitude of 1800 meters to an altitude of 2800 meters + ascent in trekking to the crater up to an altitude of 3300 meters and descent on foot to the starting point at an altitude of 2800 meters from the north
- Excursion to the summit by cable car (round trip) from an altitude of 1900 meters to an altitude of 2500 meters + off-road vehicle up to an altitude of 2750 meters + trekking on foot to the summit at an altitude of 3300 from the south
- Excursion to the craters of Etna in case of high risk and craters at the top closed to the public
- Crossing of Etna from South to North or from the North to the South
These excursions have a very variable duration according to the excursionist’s needs, usually they last 5 hours or even 8 hours for the crossing of Etna from South to North and are clearly suitable for those who are used to going mountains and who regularly perform physical activity.
Excursions up to an altitude of 3000 meters
Excursions up to a maximum altitude of 3000 meters have scheduled departures at 10:30 and 13:30. These have a maximum duration of 2-3 hours, in this case they are more touristic trips where both the ascent and the descent by motor vehicles are foreseen with short but interesting trekkings, here is the link with the details:
- Excursion at an altitude of 3000 meters on the northern slope
- Sunset excursion at an altitude of 3000 meters on the north side
Attention all excursions are carried out in compliance with the ordinances in force and the levels of volcanic risk at the time of the execution of the requested excursions.
Escursione a piedi (andata e ritorno) al di sotto di quota 2200 metri : Excursion on foot (round trip) below an altitude of 2200 meters
PLEASE NOTE: THE MOTOR TRANSPORT MEANS to which we refer are special means officially authorized by the Etna Park and by the Etna Municipalities which allow access above an altitude of 2000 meters and do not work below this altitude!.
Compliance with regulations
All the routes develop in compliance with the ordinances in force, which are published by the various Municipalities based on the levels of volcanic risk (for more details open this page) communicated by the Civil Protection and the Institute of Volcanology. The activity of the volcano in fact changes daily and the risk of eruptions can undergo variations at any time, if this risk increases then the mayors of the municipalities concerned limit access to certain areas by setting altitude limits. The guides know these areas and avoid them or modify the itinerary of the trip based on their experience and on the communications of the researchers in the event of transiting through prohibited areas.
How to book?
To book, you can reply by email to the address: info.guidevulcanologicheetna@gmail.com, providing your data (name, surname, effective date of the excursion, number of participants and reference mobile number), by sending a message or calling our whatsapp number: +39 345 5741330 active every day from 9:30 at 19:00.
Booking and in which cases advance payment is required
If you wish to book the private guide service, we require an advance payment of 50% of the amount at least, 1 week before the date of your excursion (our company policy), in order to guarantee the guide for the requested date and the visit is thus 100% guaranteed, obviously always taking into consideration the variables (volcanic and meteorological). Once the prepayment is registered, it is non-refundable, if the tour is canceled by you. However, if we need to cancel due to bad weather conditions or volcanic activity, the amount paid will be 100% refunded.
©Guide Vulcanologiche Etna Nord
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Email: info@guidevulcanologicheetna.it
Name / Company name: Cooperativa Volcanological Guides Etna Nord Soc.Coop.
PEC: guidevulcanologicheetna@pec.it
Recipient Code: T04ZHR3 (the second character is a zero)
VAT / CF: IT05583690879
Headquarters in: Via Viola 1 – Linguaglossa (CT) ZIP code: 95015
Email: info.guidevulcanologicheetna@gmail.com
Tel: + 39 3455741330
© Volcanological Guides Etna Nord – Law 22 April 1941, n. 633
Protection of copyright and other rights related to its exercise.
Our group is made up of Guides belonging to the Regional College of Alpine and Volcanological Guides of Sicily, the Italian legislation provides that these professionals are the only ones authorized to lead groups in active volcanoes and throughout the island (Framework Law of 2 January 1989 No. 6 and Regional Law of April 6, 1996).
