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Etna Tour Sicily brings together the most-loved tours of Mount Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano — summit hikes with volcanologist guides, sunset tours from Catania, lava caves, cable cars, 4x4 rides and tastings of Etna wine. Every Etna tour listed here is a real, bookable departure with thousands of verified reviews.
Check Today’s PriceAt around 3,400 metres, Mount Etna towers over eastern Sicily and erupts more often than almost any volcano on Earth — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013.
Walk the rim of extinct Silvestri craters, cross black lava fields from recent eruptions and step inside a lava tube with a helmet and torch.
Volcanic soil grows some of Italy’s most exciting wines. Many tours end with tastings of Etna wine, local honey, pistachio cream and olive oil.
The most-booked Etna tour of all. A certified volcanological guide leads you from Rifugio Sapienza by cable car and 4x4 to 2,850 m, then on foot to the summit craters at around 3,400 m — Voragine, Bocca Nuova and the steaming South-East Crater, with views to the Ionian coast. A gentler 3,000 m option to the Barbagallo craters is available on the same booking. Optional pick-up from your hotel.
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The best way to see Mount Etna without a hard hike. A small group is picked up in Catania and driven up the volcano’s slopes for a guided walk around the Silvestri craters, a visit to a lava cave with helmets and torches and, at the end, a tasting of Etna wine, honey and local products. Choose the morning departure or the sunset tour, when the craters glow red and gold.
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The classic Etna tour from Catania. Pick-up in the city centre, a drive through lava-stone villages to the Silvestri craters, an easy trek over recent lava flows and a visit to a lava cave. At sunset the volcano turns orange above the clouds, and the evening ends with a tasting of Etna wine and local produce before you are dropped back in Catania.
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A strong alternative to the summit for most fitness levels. The Funivia dell’Etna cable car lifts you to 2,500 m, a 4x4 continues to 2,800 m and an alpine guide leads a three-hour walk to 3,000 m, past an eruptive vent of 2002 and into a lava channel, with views over the Valle del Bove.
Book This TourThe Greeks believed Etna was the forge of Hephaestus and the prison of the giant Typhon, whose struggles shook Sicily. The volcano has been erupting for around 500,000 years and has the longest written record of eruptions in the world, going back to 1500 BC. In 1669 a lava flow ran for weeks and reached the walls of Catania — the city was rebuilt in black lava stone, which is why its baroque centre looks the way it does today. More recent eruptions in 1983, 2002 and 2021 reshaped the summit and destroyed ski stations on both slopes. Etna’s rich volcanic soil feeds the vineyards, pistachio groves and orchards around its base, and in 2013 UNESCO listed Mount Etna as a World Heritage Site. An Etna tour today means walking on ground that may be younger than you are.
Answers to the most common questions about an Etna tour — prices, how high you can go, what to wear and how to get there from Catania or Taormina.
A guided Etna tour with pick-up from Catania or Taormina usually costs from about 60 to 110 euros per person. Summit hikes to 3,400 m start around 60 euros without transfer, while full-day tours combining Etna with Taormina or the Alcantara Gorges cost around 100 euros. Live prices are shown on each booking page.
Yes, but only with a certified alpine or volcanological guide. Above 2,900 m the summit area is regulated, and guided summit hikes reach around 3,400 m when volcanic activity and weather allow. If access is closed, the guide switches to a safe alternative route.
For the full experience and good fitness, choose the summit hike. For a relaxed first visit, the morning or sunset tour with a lava cave and tasting is the most popular choice. The 3,000 m cable car and 4x4 trek is the middle option, and the quad tour is for adrenaline.
Rifugio Sapienza on Etna’s southern slope is about one hour by car from Catania. Most tours on this page include pick-up from Catania; others meet at Rifugio Sapienza or Nicolosi. A daily AST bus also runs from Catania to Rifugio Sapienza.
Closed hiking shoes, long trousers and warm layers — at 3,000 m it can be 15 to 20 degrees colder than on the coast, and windy. Bring a jacket, sunglasses, sun cream and water. Most summit tours lend helmets, and some provide boots and jackets.
Etna tours run all year. May to October brings the most stable weather and the summit treks; in winter the upper slopes are often under snow, which makes for spectacular but colder tours. Sunset tours are especially popular from spring to autumn.
Choose a tour above and book online through the secure booking page. You receive instant mobile confirmation, and most Etna tours offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Real impressions from travellers who hiked, drove and tasted their way around Mount Etna.
Emily Carter
Standing on the crater rim at 3,300 metres with steam rising around us was unreal. Our volcanologist guide explained everything — worth every step.
James Whitfield
We did the sunset tour from Catania. Watching the sun drop below the clouds from the Silvestri craters, then wine and honey tasting — perfect evening.
Sophie Laurent
The lava cave was the surprise of the day. Helmets on, torches out, and you walk through a tunnel made by an eruption.
Michael O’Brien
The cable car plus 4x4 option was ideal for us. Still a proper hike to 3,000 metres but nothing too extreme.
Ava Thompson
Pick-up from our Catania hotel was right on time and the small group made it feel personal. Easy to book, great value.
Lucas Becker
Quad biking over the lava fields was the most fun I had in Sicily. Bring a jacket — it gets cold up there!
Quad bikes on the lava, a swim in a basalt canyon or a day combining Etna with Taormina — three more top-rated ways to experience the volcano.
Two adrenaline-filled hours on the volcano’s slopes — 20 km of lava channels, volcanic caves and broom forest with a local guide.
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Etna’s quieter northern slope, a lava cave, lunch at a local restaurant and a swim in the basalt canyon of the Alcantara Gorges.
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A full day from Catania: the craters of Etna in the morning, then the hilltop town of Taormina and its ancient Greek theatre.
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