Etna Quad from the Alcantara Gorges: 4.5 Hours to the Volcano's Farthest Crater

Four and a half hours on a quad, starting from the Gole dell'Alcantara rather than from the mountain itself, which means the route approaches Etna from the valley and climbs. You can ride alone or take a passenger. The route reaches Linguaglossa on a bike path, passes the Vulcanetto di Moio Alcantara, the crater furthest from the summit, and crosses lava flows of several different ages before a forest cave built of lava stone and the arrival at Piano Provenzana. Castiglione di Sicilia is reached off-road, with the valley below. The Alcantara section runs from the gorges to Francavilla di Sicilia. What the river has done there is the point: centuries of cold, fast water cutting into an ancient lava flow until it left something that reads as a canyon. Round-trip hotel transport is available as an option, from Taormina, Naxos and Letojanni.