South Etna, Honey, Hiking, cave and wine tasting tour – Full day

South Etna, honey, trekking, cave, wine tasting tour to immerse yourself
in the landscape and culture of Etna for a whole day.

By choosing “South Etna, Honey, Hiking, cave and wine tasting tour”, you will discover, in one day, some of the peculiarities of the southern east side of Mt. Etna formed in the last 500 years.

Discovering the Etna volcano by Jeep

Mt. Etna is a complex, young and active volcano, with 4 large summit craters.

Thanks to the different climatic exposures, it generates different temperatures capable of generating a great biodiversity.

For this reason, the world of naturalistic guides differentiates “Etna North” and “Etna South” with variants that can touch the “East” and “West” margin areas.

ITINERARY

Honey house in Zafferana

Your will start this trip from your hotel, where our 8-seater Toyota Land Cruiser off-road vehicle, led by one of our expert Etna tour guides, will pick you up at the agreed time.

On board our jeeps, we will go up the south-east side of the mountain, passing through small towns such as Santa Venerina and Zafferana, the latter famous for the production of honey.

We will stop here for a quick tasting at a historic “honey house”, near an old lava flow that almost destroyed the town of Zafferana in 1991.

Valle del Bove

The valley of the ox

After the first stop we will continue on Sp. 92 for about 5 km, to “Monte Pomiciaro” where it will be possible to admire “the valley of the ox“, a great depression into which the magma of the eruptions pours into, preserving the Etna villages from destruction.

We will return to the sp92 crossing a few kilometers with our off-road vehicles, up to the “Rifugio Sapienza ”, where we can have coffee and do our initial briefing before leaving for our hike.

Silvestri craters, Donkey back

Silvestri craters

The route is just a little over 6 km and 400 meters of elevation gain, it is sandy but not technical.

The first stop will be at the “Silvestri craters“, formed with the eruption of 1892 which created the typical “bottoniera” with 5 craters at about 200 meters in altitude.

Once we have reached the upper crater, at about 2050 meters, we will head towards “Piano Malerba” on the famous “Donkey back” path, until we reach the south east bank of the “valle del ox”, here we will stop, admire the beautiful panorama and take pictures.

The Etna wine road and Chestnut of the 100 horses

Chestnut of the 100 horses

On the way back we will stop at the “cave of Pythagoras” so called because of its triangular shape. At the end of the trip we will begin the descent along the sp 59, “the Etna wine road” surrounded by vineyards and small villages.

We will then proceed to the town of S. Alfio where we will visit the legendary Chestnut of the 100 horses, a tree of about 3600 years that with its 56 meters in diameter and 25 meters in height is the 3rd most important millennial tree in the world, recognized in 2006 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a “monument messenger of peace”.

For lunch we will stop at a well-known winery where you can independently choose the type of tasting you want to or simply drink a glass of good wine, lying on a green lawn and heated by the warm Sicilian sun. From here we will move towards the base.

The return is expected in the afternoon.

The duration of the tour “South Etna, Honey, Hiking, cave and wine tasting tour” is about 8 hours from the pick-up, it includes vehicle sharing.

The tour includes:
Off-road vehicle with driver, equipment for visiting the cave and trekking, pick-up / drop off from/at your hotel.

The tour does not include:
Wine tasting, which costs euros– entry tickets or lifts where required.

On request it is possible to carry out the tour in an Exclusive formula, reserving the car exclusively for you.

Do not hesitate to contact us for any information. We answer the phone from 8-13 and from 15-20 or write to info@etnaexclusive.com (answer within 12/24 hours) or whatsapp at the following number: (+39) 333 6815630