Traditionally, Easter Monday is a day dedicated to walks and excursions. With long walks in nature, on Monday after Easter, you forget lunches, chocolate eggs and chat with relatives. Although most people prefer to walk by the sea, and if you are in Sicily you do it all the time, walks on Mt. Etna are the most recommended choice if you are here.

What are the ideal places for a walk on Easter Monday? The woods certainly, but also some romantic huts where you can roast some meat with a view of the volcano before you. We want to suggest you to discover the Ragabo pine forest and the Galvarina refuge.

Picnic in the pine forest

The Ragabo pine forest, also known as the Pineta di Linguaglossa (because of the municipality to which it belongs), is a marvelous wood of very old pine trees. Some trees even exceed 15 meters in height. The path starts from the parking lot in front of the two hotel huts: Ragabo and Brunek. You go along a long path among the pines, in the middle of which there is an area used for picnics, with large boulders on which you can roast meat.

After lunch you can explore the pine forest by continuing on the path, until you exit the woods in an area where Etna manifests itself in all its crude volcanic splendor. The forest becomes small patches of trees interrupted here and there by old craters or grassy expanses. On the way it crosses the Barracks Pitarrone, and near Monte Rossello another area equipped for picnics.

Galvarina hut

Imagine the typical mountain hut, with sloping roof, wooden walls and a grove right next  to the nearby hill. Here, this is the scenario that will give you the Galvarina, at 1818 meters on the southern flank of Mt Etna. To reach it, you start from Nicolosi, going along Provincial SP 92 and then after 5 km take Provincial SP 120 towards Ragalna.

At the crossroads for Serra la Nave and Osservatorio, turn right and follow the road to the gate that closes the Serra la Nave route. Here you leave your car and walk the path – very easy path – for about 2 hours. You will find yourself in front of a delightful hut in front of which you can organize your picnic, also taking advantage of the spaces inside the building. Possibility to also use the fireplace for cooking. In the surroundings, nature explodes with beauty among pine and birch woods.