Monte Etna
You just cannot escape the pull of Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe (3,350m).

It takes just under half an hour to get to from Taormina by car or buses that run along easy to drive state highways, crossing over thriving citrus fruit plantations and vineyards to reach the shelters at Nicolosi - Torre del Filosofo to the south and Piano-Provenzana in Linguaglossa on the northeast slope.

The “mountain” as Etna is affectionately called, muse of travellers, poets and philosophers, also attracts day trippers since you can journey up its lava-covered slopes right to the very crater, with trips organised by highly skilled mountaineering staff helped along by handy cable cars and minibuses.

All of this area constitutes an extremely beautiful natural park run by the WWF where the typical villages of this area, set into the mountain like a collection of precious jewels, offer a truly unique vision – an endless stretch of water, snow capped peaks and incandescent lava …..