Etna from Taormina: the Five 1865 Sartorius Craters and Gambino Winery

The day starts where you are staying, anywhere between Taormina and the towns around it, which makes this one of the few Etna days that does not begin with getting yourself to Catania. First stop is Piano Provenzana, about an hour, in front of the volcano's most recent lateral flow. There are shops by the ski station if you want them. Then the Monti Sartorius, a line of five lateral craters that opened in 1865. The walk goes up to the top of them, and between the walking and the explanations it takes around two hours. Five cones in a row means the eruption did not open one hole: it tore a seam in the flank and used the whole length of it. A lava flow tunnel comes next, entered with a helmet and a flashlight. The last stop is Gambino Winery, and it gets two hours, for the wine and a typical lunch, before the drive back to your accommodation. Etna's winemakers work with volcanic soil and with local grape varieties, which is what makes the wine here taste of a place rather than of a grape.