VOLCANO ETNA, SICILY
Climbing an active volcano
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In this report, we will tell you about the cheapest way to conquer Mount Etna, not counting only hiking to it and climbing more than three thousand meters with your feet.
We recommend starting the conquest of the highest active volcano Etna from the "Rape of Proserpine" fountain, which is located near the train station of Catania. The plot of the sculptural composition is rather banal: Proserpina walked around the island, Pluto climbed out of the Etna volcano and kidnapped the frivolous goddess of fertility. Pluto released the stubborn daughter of Zeus back to earth, but before that he treated him to a grain of pomegranate. Returning to earth, Proserpina did not forget a tasty treat and began to visit Pluto regularly. Since then, she spends six months in the kingdom of the living and the same in the kingdom of the dead. The sculptor Giulio Moschetti painted this story in bronze in 1904. And to this day, the freshness of the water volleys of the fountain pleases Catanians on hot days. Why we mentioned this fountain, because the station of departure to the volcano is located very close to it.
There are many offers on the Internet to visit Mount Etna for different amounts of money. As economical tourists, we found an offer for 50 euros per person and wrote a request to the company: what is included in the price, how long the excursion is, etc. The answer came quickly. There we were told that a car would be sent for us, she would pick us up from the hotel and take us to the lower station of Rifugio Sapienza, there they would give us instructions and special shoes, and then we would pay for everything ourselves. After 16:00 they will wait for us there and take us back. We suspected that just a taxi to the lower station for 100 euros "smacked" of cheating and started looking for an alternative. And soon we found it!
The "ordinary tourist" has only one way to get to Etna from Catania on a budget. This option is a bus at 8:15 from the Papa Giovanni twenty-third roundabout, which is located near the station. There is only one flight, you have to be at the stop at 8:00. The drivers will not sell the ticket, but send it to the ticket office, but since they are friendly guys, they can even escort them to the ticket sales point.
Important: if there are more thrifty tourists than one bus can accommodate, then two will be served at once (if both are full, then whether there will be a third, and then a fourth, we do not know). Below is a map of locations to be sent by bus to the volcano:
The cost of travel on this route will be 6.60 euros per person for a round trip!
Travel time is about two hours one way.
Don't miss the return flight !!! We were warned that since two buses entered the mountain, there will be the same number of buses back and forth: the first at 16:00, and the second at 16:30. We, on our luck, sat on the first, which at 16:00, but we met the second, somewhere in the foothills, after about an hour's drive, when he was heading only up. Accordingly, he could pick up tourists no earlier than 18:00. This means that the people who were waiting for the second bus spent their time not on the volcano, not in cafes or souvenir shops, but standing for an hour and a half at the place where they were "unloaded" in the morning.
But back to our Papa Giovanni square. We are going to conquer Mount Etna. Outside the window, the three-legged flag of Sicily (which is called the triskelion or trinacria) flutters, and in the hands of the cherished bus tickets to the lower station of the cable car to Mount Etna. Tickets, by the way, are serious, with colored foil around the edges ;-)
Why the road, which is less than 40 kilometers long, takes almost two hours, we began to guess in the town of Nicolosi, where all the buses going to Etna stop + - for half an hour.
We already walked around the square where the bus stopped, photographed the church with the bell tower, went into a cafe and drank coffee (very good), but our bus still did not want to leave this small Sicilian town. Apparently this is some kind of social project of the local authorities for the material support of the residents of Nicolozi. During those 30-35 minutes, during which tourists are "marinated" in the central square of the town, they manage to spend some money on coffee, sweets and souvenirs.
Leaving Nicolosi, we felt that the bus was now going very sharply upward. On some stretches of the way, my ears even popped up, as if you were flying in an airplane. The greenery around it became less and less, a lot of dead wood appeared, whose roots were burned out by recent eruptions. But the most impressive sight was the houses buried under the lava flows.
How long or short, but we got to the lower station of the cable car, which is called Rifugio Sapienza, remembered the place where the bus dropped us off (to know where to go home) and went to explore the local sights. Their range was not wide: restaurants and souvenir shops. No matter what you come here (bus, car, motorcycle) your transport will not go further, you need to park it and head to the entrance to the cable car, which is called the beautiful word Funivia. Having asked the price for souvenirs, we decided not to buy them yet, hoping to find some exclusive samples at the top.
The entrance to the station is easy to find, the dark words CASSA and TICKETS are clearly visible from afar on the white funivia building.
Going inside, we were a little surprised by the huge queue, but out of four ticket offices, all four were working and therefore the queue advanced quite briskly.
At the box office, tickets are purchased consisting of a plastic card worth 56 euros (includes entrance, cable car and a trip on an all-terrain vehicle to the highest station), as well as a paper ticket, as payment for escorting by a guide-climber. This ticket costs another 9 euros and, as the ticket office said, buying it is mandatory, regardless of whether we use the services of a mine rescuer or not.
The check for the most economical option of climbing Etna from Catania is: 6.60 euros for a round-trip bus, plus 56 euros for entry and ascent, plus 9 euros for accompanying a climber.
Total: € 71.60 per tourist.
After buying tickets, the whole queue goes to the right to the stairs up, there is a boarding in the cabins, and what is important after a two-hour bus journey - there is also a free toilet there.
The plastic windows of the cabins have a reddish tint, so the photographs taken there are very similar to those of Mars 😉 and only tourists climbing on foot remind us that we are still on earth на
Right at the exit from the booth there is a rental kiosk, where they offer to rent heavy boots and jackets, but we risked not spending extra money and climb Etna in our clothes and shoes, which we will recommend to you. Despite the endless plains of lava and ash, our shoes after visiting the volcano were relatively clean and this was especially noticeable in Natasha's white sneakers.
After the rental point, there are several souvenir shops and cafes with a panoramic view. But we had no time to sit there, because there was still a climb on the all-terrain vehicle.
ATVs from the top station of the cable car run regularly once every 10-12 minutes. They look impressive, and in a snowy season with chains on wheels - even a little intimidating.
A huge car slowly drives us among the alien landscape to the upper station of all-terrain vehicles. Only occasionally the same cars pass by us, returning those who have already conquered Etna to the upper station of the cable car.
We left our all-terrain vehicle and continue on foot. The highest peak of the volcano constantly throws out clouds of ash and steam, now in one place, then in another. Apparently that is why it is closed for visits by unprepared tourists. During the few hours that we spent on Etna, only one small group, fully equipped for mountaineering, went there. And all the other conquerors of the volcano go to climb two craters, which they are allowed to visit.
Part of the ascent to the crater, we walked along a road that was dug in a three-meter layer of snow mixed with volcanic ash.
Snowfalls on Etna, alternating with ash emissions, have created snowdrifts on the slopes, reminiscent of giant "lard"
The trek around the first crater was remembered by the sharply rising wind. The gusts of air currents did not bring much joy when we walked along the edge of the crater. Once, climbing the wall of the "Akkerman" fortress , we realized that we both have acrophobia, and here at an altitude of three thousand meters we felt it again. I didn't want to fly off the cliff from a gust of wind.
Especially active visitors to Etna, sometimes descend into the mouth of the first crater and lay out some words in different languages with stones. We decided to limit ourselves to a walk around.
The second crater, accessible to the public, looks more colorful, as many of the dumps are covered with reddish rock. But its size is much smaller than the first, but the edges along which you can walk are noticeably sharper. Very few people go for a walk on the second crater, since the walk there does not look safe, especially in a strong wind.
We stood on a hill between two craters, meditated on the landscapes, photographed them and continued our long hike around the first crater.
Having walked a lot, we took a photo at the highest point and returned to our all-terrain vehicle, which took us to the cable car station along a zigzag road that can be seen in the background of the next photo.
Back at the upper station, we bought some souvenirs and ticked the visit to the cafe in the form of tea with strudel. We were imposingly sipping tea, contemplating the surroundings from the observation deck.
Although, to be honest, due to the fog (or volcanic smoke) the view of Sicily from above was so-so. Neither Catania, let alone the sea, we could see that day.
Before descending, we decided that it was still worth exploring the different slopes of Etna. We walked one way, then the other. We got to the abandoned ski lift, where the tired but satisfied arranged a picnic of mineral water and a couple of sandwiches, which we made on the yesterday's flight to Catania, but did not eat on the plane.
Agree, nothing can be tastier than a sandwich with "Golden" Ukrainian salami when you eat it on the largest volcano in Europe ...
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