Etna and the Alcantara from Catania: the Gorges and the Gurne Pools

A full day that starts on the volcano and ends at the water. The morning is Etna: walking the natural paths inside the Parco dell'Etna, past the old Silvestri craters, and into a lava flow cave with helmets and lamps. There is an option to go higher, by cable car and off-road jeep. A tasting of typical products happens at an organic farm along the way. The afternoon is the Alcantara valley, taken in an order most tours do not use. Before the basalt canyon, the walk follows the river through thick vegetation to the Gurne, a chain of small lakes the Alcantara has dug for itself at Francavilla di Sicilia. Each one is a rock basin worn out by the water. The gorge comes after. Its walls are basalt, and the columns formed as a lava flow that once filled this valley cooled from the outside in, cracking into regular sides as it shrank. The day is run by Etna Tribe and departs from Catania.