Sicily: discovering Etna

Arrival at Catania airport and transfer to your farmhouse in Castiglione di Sicilia (San Marco or similar).

Breakfast and departure around 9:00 a.m. in the direction of the Alcantara River, up to the Piccole Gole di Castiglione, passing by the Cuba Bizantina (a 7th century cult building) and continuing up the valley through the Parco Fluviale to the surroundings of Mojo Alcantara, where we will have a picnic, and then head in the direction of our second accommodation, A Barunissa, a beautiful noble structure, surrounded by woods, on the north side of the volcano. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and departure at about 8:30 a.m. and beginning of our ascent up the north-eastern flank of the volcano, through woods of oak, chestnut, Etna broom (genista aetnensis, a species that reaches considerable size and intensely perfumes the atmosphere when it blooms with its yellow flowers, depending on the height and exposure, between May and September), and finally beech when we reach the Pista Altomontana, near Monte Santa Maria. We continue and follow the track up to Monte Spagnolo, after crossing the 1981 lava flow and its Hornitos (from the Spanish "piccoli forni" small mouths opened during the eruption) we have a picnic and start again going down the west side towards our third accommodation, La Fucina di Vulcano, a comfortable hotel with a magnificent view on the western side of Etna. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and departure from the Fucina around 8:30 a.m. and ascent from the western slope up to the Pista Altomontana which is reached near Monte Scavo and is followed in an alternation of beech and conniferous forests alternating with more recent lava flows and where on days with good visibility we can admire breathtaking views of half of Sicily and the high western slope of Etna, where it is possible to make beautiful gallops. Picnic near the Galvarina refuge and arrival in the afternoon at our fourth accommodation, Villa Dorata, a splendid villa overlooking the Gulf of Catania. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and departure from Villa Dorata around 7:30 a.m. in a southeasterly direction. Crossing of the area of Rifugio Sapienza and visit to the Crateri Silvestri (lateral craters formed during a great eruption of the late nineteenth century) before starting the descent through the Etna Desert, so called for the absence of paths that run through it and for the harshness of the territory, and then woods of oaks, holm oaks and chestnut trees, to the town of Zafferana Etnea, famous for its honey production, and we continue to our fifth accommodation, the B & B Etna Mille77, a beautiful structure with sea views. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and departure around 9:00 am. Ascent from the eastern side through woods of holm oaks (quercus ilex) including the famous Ilici du Carrinnu, a centuries-old specimen of enormous size and then passage to the edge of the Valle del Bove, famous depression where the lava of all eruptions of the eastern volcano is channeled. Picnic, resumption of the path all the way up to the Sartorius Craters, beautiful craters born during a large lateral eruption in 1865 and descent through forests of birch, beech and finally arrive in the pine forest Ragabo, larch pines (pinus larix) of considerable size, immersed in which is our sixth accommodation, Chalet Clan dei Ragazzi. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and departure from the Chalet around 9:00 a.m. Ascent through the pine forest to Piano Provenzana, a well-known ski resort where we begin to follow a series of tracks and paths in a lunar landscape that make us cross what was the scene of the last great eruption of 2002. Passage from the buttonhole opened on October 26 of that year, then around Monte Nero, and picnic stop near the refuge Timpa Rossa, immersed in one of the most southern beech forests of the hemisphere, before starting the descent from the north side through forests of different species, up to the vineyards near Solicchiata, to finally arrive at our base. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and transfer to the airport.