Etna Hike with Boots, Poles and Windproofs Provided, Lunch Bought en Route

The equipment comes with the booking: shoes, trekking poles and windproof jackets. On a mountain where the weather at 2,000 metres has nothing to do with the weather in Catania, that removes the main reason people turn up unprepared. The group is small. Pick-up is in the morning, at 8:30 from Piazza Stesicoro 32 in Catania or at 9:15 from Piazza Sant'Alfio in Trecastagni, and you have to say which one when you book. On the way up there is a stop in a village for coffee and to buy food for lunch, so the meal is whatever you choose rather than whatever is handed to you. The driving ends at 2,000 metres above sea level. From there the hike is moderate and runs about three hours, off the beaten tracks, to the Valle del Bove, the biggest caldera on Etna, and its moon-like deserts. The summit craters are in view from there, with the ground running down towards the Ionian Sea. The tour runs all year round.