Author Archives: Etna Excursions
Is Mount Etna a safe place?
When Mount Etna erupts there are two totally opposite and yet connected phenomena: the tourists from all over the world would like to rush to the volcano to admire the show, but those who are already on the spot quickly cancel the hotel room and flee ! How do you explain that?
Volcanoes have always been a source of wonder and attraction for human curiosity, but they are also dangerous places because they are unpredictable. So the show is nice to see, but better from an airplane or even from home, thanks to the TV. Yet around Mt. Etna people live, villages and cities grow and those who were born under the volcano know very well that all these fears are unjustified. Mt. Etna is one of the safest volcanoes in the world.
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What to do in Sicily
Welcome to Sicily! Not just another island, but a planet on its own. A wide and various territory including mountains, plains, sea, different kinds of weather, different populations and dialects, it takes a whole life to really know it in detail! It is impossible to write down a list without forgetting something special or interesting. In order to discover Sicily you must LIVE in Sicily! As far as we can, here we suggest at least eight things to do when you come on vacation on this island. Follow us!
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The magic of skiing on an active volcano: Mt Etna's resorts
Have you ever skied while looking at the sea sparkling on the horizon? Have you ever tried to go snowboarding on ancient lava rivers, with the sharp points of the black rock emerging from the snow? Have you ever taken the chairlift while, above you, columns of ash rise between disturbing roars? Skiing on a volcano is a unique experience, reserved for true fans, brave mountain lovers. And it is an experience that only a volcano like Mt.Etna, the most active and high in Europe, can give. At any moment, Etna is always awake and even if it does not throw lava fountains it gives off gas or trembles or snorts. It’s like caressing a living being with your skis … try it! Our volcano offers ski facilities both on the southern and the northern sides. Unfortunately, over the years, the eruptions and earthquakes have repeatedly destroyed these winter tourist resorts, which have always been rebuilt and recovered from the local population, just because you really can not give up an experience like this.
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A tour to the Alcantara Valley's towns
If you come with us to discover the beautiful north side of Mt.Etna, you can not miss a tour to one of the towns that live in the shadow of this side, almost always snowy and much less steep than the other sides of the volcano. At the foot of the northern side of Etna, in fact, opens the valley of the river Alcantara with its famous “gorges” – but not only that. The Alcantara comes from the Nebrodi Mountains and flows like a torrent towards the valley.
Near Randazzo it receives the waters of the tributary river Flascio and changes direction by entering – with much slower course – in the sedimentary valley that ends near Giardini Naxos and Taormina. Near Castiglione the river gets into the Gurnes (small pools carved in the rock) that will turn, a few miles away, into the rocky canyon, or “gorges”, that everyone knows. Along this route there are several villages and towns and we would like to introduce you to some of them, less famous than Taormina, Giardini and Randazzo, but just as beautiful.
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Mt Etna's new side eruption. Shall we be worried?
Etna is not new to this kind of “surprises”. The volcanologists themselves say that “you never know what’s going on in the pot” and never like today, on Christmas Eve 2018, the volcano has shown it to us residents and to the whole world.
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