The 4 Volcano Hikes in Italy That Earn Their Price

1.Etna Volcano: South Side Guided Summit Hike

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 1,545 reviews · from $67Our pick

Meet Ashàra’s guide team at Rifugio Sapienza, ride the cable car to 2,500 meters, then hike across lava flows toward Etna’s summit craters. Guides such as Antonio, Giovanni, Marco, and Massimo explain the geology, adjust the route for volcanic activity, and keep the group moving safely.

“Our trip was excellent! The weather held out, but more importantly our guide Giovanni was incredibly knowledgeable and passionately cared about the landscape he was showing us. He kept a close eye on the wellbeing of the group and made the trip wonderful. It would have of course been nice to climb higher, but we certainly understood the limitations given the high activity from Etna.”

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2.Etna Volcano: South Side Guided Summit Hike

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 311 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $78Top rated

Meet at Rifugio Sapienza for a six-hour guided hike toward Etna’s summit craters. Guides such as Antonio, Max, and Massimo explain the volcano as you cross lava flows and black gravel. Cable car and 4x4 tickets cost €65 extra, and strong fitness is essential.

“The vulcanologist guide was very knowledgeable. The hike was quite rigorous, very windy and cold, but stunningly beautiful. The group size was a little too large, meaning you have to push to the front to hear the guide or miss out on the information, but this seemed true of all the guided groups.”

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3.Mount Etna: Central Crater Guided Hike for Advanced Hikers

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 106 reviews · from $130

Join a small group of up to 10 hikers from Linguaglossa for a guided climb to Mount Etna’s 3,315-meter Central Crater. Guides such as Edo, Vincenzo, and Daniele explain the volcano’s changing activity as you cross lava fields, fumaroles, and black volcanic sand.

“Recommended, experience is needed to have at least once in lifetime. Pros- pro guides, knowledgeable, professional, care about participants. Sceneries superb and breathtaking, speechless, , couldnt imagine before that its so worth it. It is possible to get most of the needed equipment before the hike, that was super good because we were not prepared clothing- wise. Hike is pretty manageable for people with average fitness level( i dont usually run or jog, this was a bit demanding for me- breathing got hard, i am with average-bad fitness level). And for pretty okay fit level hike is very doable, it is not needed to be experienced hiker, it is needed…”

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4.Hike near the summit craters up to the maximum safe altitude currently foreseen

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 57 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $66Best value

Join an authorized vulcanological guide such as Filippo, Vincenzo, or Daniele for a five-hour hike on Mount Etna’s upper slopes. Ride the cable car to 2,500 meters, then walk across lava fields to 3,000 meters, with views of the South-East Crater, fumaroles, lava channels, and older cones.

“This was a bucket list hike. Exceeded expectations all around. Made all the better by Filippo. He was amazing. He is a PhD geologist and provided lots of great knowledge. And all the right encouragement to get each of us to the top. The trip down was as interesting as the trip up.”

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