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Mt. Etna trip planner
The largest volcano in Europe
tel. +39-095-915-321
www.rifugiosapienza.com
Nicolosi tourism
www.comune.nicolosi.ct-egov.it
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Etna is big. I remember looking for it on my first visit to Sicily when I was 12. After a few frustrated minutes, I complained I couldn't see it as we drove down the eastern coastal road. "It's right there," my dad pointed. I peered again into the dark blue-grey horizon, trying to pick out the mountain. Then it hit me.
That wasn't the horizon.
That was the volcano.
Mt. Etna is the biggest, baddest volcano in Europe and one of the largest in the world, 10,990 feet of massive molten energy that dominates eastern Sicily like a Earth-borne storm cloud. The Greeks believed that the mighty god Hephaestus (Vulcan) used it as a forge to fashion Zeus' thunderbolts with the aid of his Cyclops assistants, and that the eruptions and earthquakes were caused by the Titan Enceladus imprisoned at the mountain's root, eternally struggling to break free.
Etna's summit constantly smokes, and every few years it goes into a volcanic fit. In 1989 at the summit, a new crater grew over 330 feet in just a month. From 1991 to 1993, it erupted almost continuously, and in 1998, eight months of violent activity culminated in an eruption on July 12 that spewed ash almost a mile into the air, closing Catania's airport and covering the mountain with a fresh layer of pumice and lava.
I've been to Sicily about a dozen times over 25 years, and Etna's was spewing lava on at least half of those occasions. This makes the locals rather nervous. Etna's lava flows have threatened, and occasionally actually swallowed, several of the small towns that brave the danger to take agricultural advantage of the rich volcanic soil.
Exploring Mt. Etna
The gateway to getting up Etna is the Rifugio Sapienza above the town of Nicolosi. There, you can buy a ticket to cover either just the first or all three stages to the top:
- The funivia cable car takes you as far as the La Montagnola station at 2,500m (8,250 feet)—for €27.
- A Jeep runs from the top of the funivia to the Torre del Filosofo, an espresso stop at 2,920m (9,636 feet)—for €51 total.
- A guide will walk you from here to as close to the top as it is currently safe to get.
The vistas from up here on a clear day can literally encompass all of Sicily.
On the Jeep ride back to the cable car the driver pulls over so you can gaze down into the spectacular Valle delle Bove, an enormous yawning cleft measuring 11 miles around and almost 4,000 feet deep scooped out of the southeast slope. Much of the lava flows this century have found their way safely into this channel, away from inhabited soil.
Back down at the Rifugio, you can explore some nearby extinct craters more fully.
The Rifugio also offers two dozen spartan rooms (doubles €65; tel. +39-095-915-321; www.rifugiosapienza.com) and half-pension deals (from €75 per person).
Planning your Trip
- How to get to Mt Etna: From the A18 highway, a road leads up through the town of Nicolosi and then winds up the mountain to the Rifugio Sapienza souvenir-driven snack bar/funivia waystation at 6,300 feet (tel. +39-095-915-321 for cable car and conditions information).
You can also catch an early morning AST bus from Catania (tel. 095-746-096) , currently leaving Catania at 8:15am (8am Sunday); the return bus leaves the Rifugio at 4:15pm (2.5 hr.). - Ski Etna: In winter (when there's snow), you can get a ski pass from the rifugio.
Related pages
- Nearby Catania
- Stromboli—Sicily's other, incredibly active volcano
- Other sights in Northeast Sicily
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This material was last updated October 2009. All information was accurate at the time.
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