Mount Etna And Taormina Day Tour

We loved our day visiting Mount Etna and Taormina and so much appreciated our excellent guide, Peter. We were picked up directly at our B&B in a very comfortable van and safely guided to both sites. We debated driving ourselves to both locations, but so glad we did not as the roads can get tricky to navigate and traffic was heavy coming back. Peter was great fun to talk to, and we learned much about the area in our day with him. He was very accommodating to our schedule letting us determine how much time we wanted to spend at the sites. We had a fun stop leaving Mt Etna at a local shop where we could taste local products. He gave us excellent advice on things to see while in Taormina. It was a great, relaxing way of seeing two sites that are so worth seeing!

Peter was an excellent driver and he shared really interesting and useful information about Etna and Taormina and sights around them.

Amazing! Peter was amazing and very knowledgeable! 10/10 would recommend . This was a life changing experience ❤️🌋

Well organized and carried-out tout. Isabella was very professional and hospitable. There was some room for choices within thr day.

Excellent experience! Mt. Etna was active during my visit so the tour changed slightly - and I think it was for the best! Carmelo picked me up at my hotel (in a lovely Mercedes van) and got me safely to the mountain where I was able to join a quad tour group! Visiting the lava tubes was not an option, but the ATV tour was amazing! Then, Carmelo drove me to Taormina where I was able to walk the streets and visit the sights to my heart's desire. You have a lot of freedom on this tour, which I prefer. Very professional, very informative. I highly recommend!

Carmello was a great driver. Took us to extra viewpoints along the way. Enjoyed our day with Carmello.

We thought we were just touring Etna because it was included on the journey to Taormina. Wow, were we wrong!! Etna quickly became our FAVORITE part of the day, mostly due to Gianmarco's natural ability to share his knowledge and fascination about Etna. What a fabulous tour!

It was a great tour. Mount Etna was a fantastic experience! The cable car ride was a bit expensive though, but seen the snow on top of the volcano was very cool. Taormina has beautiful views and nice shops restaurants and Roman amphitheater a highlight. Our guide was excellent.

Carmelo was our fantastic tour guide. Carmel went above and beyond to give our family a memorial, bespoke day of adventures. It's clearly evident that our tour guide loves people, provides detailed information about the towns and monuments and finds joy bringing happiness to customers.

Alessio was a great guide and very entertaining. We had a great time chatting with him and exploring Etna and Taormina. The tour was perfectly timed and we never felt rushed and had plenty of time to explore. Great value for the money.

Marco, our driver, was professional, courteous and knowledgeable. He picked us up prompted and he pointed out historical and geographical sites en route to Mt. Etna. He was great!

3000 metres up Mt Etna. exploring some lava tubes. We able to get great pics because the weather was perfect. The lovely town of Taormina. Our excellent guide Isabella

good day out in 4x4 and travelled around the north side, Olympia the guide was very good and informative, wine tasting was good

We had a great guide in Isabella who even stopped forus to have coffee in her home town on our way to Etna. Etna is, of course, stunning and Taormina is one of the prettiest towns we visited with amazing views.

The guided tour of Mount Etna was excellent. Our guide was professional, knowledgeable and friendly and clever enough to have had spare coats in her car: we needed these. It was perishing cold up there. Taormina was fine; without her company. We just wandered about this beautiful town. Her guidance would have enriched our experience.

Appreciated the pickup at our rental apartment. We loved Etna, but didn’t really get the stop at the roadside vendor. Would have liked a little more time at the crater, to explore the surrounding gift shops. All in all it was a decent tour.

More strenuous hiking than noted in descriptions. Take hiking shoes. There was no lunch stop so we had to take most of our time in Taormina to eat. Our guide for Mt. Etna was impatient and snippy when we asked to be able to buy water because the very long stop we had in the morning to wait on her didn’t have water to purchase. We found the reviews and description completely misleading.

Rating is based off of description vs. reality. We got picked up at 0830 (vs 0900) without prior coordination so we just weren’t 100% ready. Better early than late I guess. Our guide was more of a driver, tho he did explain a few things. There were no hard hats provided for the “lava tub” and we had to use our own cell phone flashlights. We didn’t stop for any pizza, but instead, were given a restaurant recommendation is Taormina. And we stopped at a bee honey farm, where there was no mention of that in the description. Booking through a 3rd party (Viator) may be partly to blame for expectation vs reality, but there were some disappointing aspects while others were a pleasant surprise.

Isa did a wonderful job of describing all aspects of flora fauna and volcano features and characteristics. It was a great tour.

Isabella did a fantastic job! She is well informed, drove safely, and even conjured up a beautiful rainbow rising from the hillside, spectacular! Thank you Isabella for wonderful day.

Our tour guide Isabella was excellent, very knowledgeable and great company. A tour that I would happily recommend. Thank you

We had the best local tour with Alessio, giving the authentic vibe of Sicily’s vibe and Mt. Etna. Thank you Alessio for being so approachable, kind and knowledgeable.

Our day tour of Mount Etna and Taormina was very enjoyable and efficiently organised. It was made even more fascinating due to our tour guide, Isabella. Isabella was so very knowledgeable about the geological aspects of volcanoes and specifically the history of the multiple eruptions over decades. Isabella was very informative also about the plants and flowers we saw. Our visit to the Greek theatre and the public gardens in Taormina was interesting. We would highly recommend this day tour, even though we didn't get to the summit due to the poor weather, it was still truly memorable.

Excellent tour! We learned so much and laughed throughout the day! Thank you Alessio for a wonderful tour! The Partesano Family

Alessio is the BEST tour guide ever. He picked us up promptly at Messina cruise port (allow extra time to leave port due to the questions from security when leaving the ship) and took us on a fabulous tour to Mount Etna stopping at interesting spots on the way. We learnt so much fascinating information about the volcano before walking around one of the lower craters. Alessio spoke perfect English and was so friendly and interesting to talk to about Sicilian life. We then had plenty of free time in Taormina before being taken back to the ship. The car was spotless and Alessio’s driving perfect. We will definitely take another of Alessio’s tours when we return to this beautiful island. I CANT RECOMMEND THIS TOUR COMPANY ENOUGH.

My friend and I had an amazing day trip to Mt Etna/Taormina and were extremely lucky to get a slot on this tour! Alessio was a super-accommodating host with a 5* service including both pick up and drop off from our B&B in central Catania, which was amazing (the drive up to Taormina would not be for the faint hearted!!) His knowledge was second to none, and covered so much in terms of local history, which for this area is incredibly varied and rich in influence from so many different cultures. We packed so much in to the itinerary, including stop-offs to check out a quarry & lava flow tube, a crater walk on Etna itself where the views were incredible, a spot of local wine/oil/grappa/honey tasting at Etna’s base, lunch together (side note - absolutely recommend the traditional arancini with ragu), and then a short transfer over to beautiful Taormina where we had around 2 hours of free time which was plenty to access the ancient amphitheatre and botanical gardens. A really unforgettable day, we are SO glad to have booked this tour and highly recommend!

A great day!! Alessio was a fun and knowledgeable guide. The flow and pace of the day was perfect. We made several stops on Etna, had a fantastic lunch, and plenty of time In Taormina. Alessio also gave lots of hints and advice about what to do on the island. Our family of 4 loved it.

Natasha, our guide, was absolutely professional, knowledgeable & personable. She picked us up promptly at the designated time & right at our front door, with a wonderful smile & pleasant greeting. Her narration for Mt Etna, Taormina & a brief stop & tasting at a honey museum on the way to Taormina, was super informative & engaging. For Etna, I recommend you take the cable car from the first level up to the summit. From there you can hike just a little bit or go s as ll the up the the highest point while padding by various craters. It costs extra, but you’ve come this far, so give it a go! The stop at Taormina is 2 hours of free time to see as much or as little as you want. The small town is a beautiful, charming treasure that you must see if in Sicily. Overall, the EtnaTribe tour is a must if you plan to visit Catania. They were prompt & efficient in responding to any of my email questions. Highly recommended.

We were in Sicily for only one day and booked the Etna and Taormina full day private tour with Sicily Grand Tour and we had the most fabulous day ever. Alessio, the owner, picked us up from the airport and proved to be a fountain of knowledge, not only about everything there is to know about this tour, but also on history and archaeology and it was a pleasure to engage in conversation with him, especially as he speaks perfect English. He was always punctual and his friendly manner made us feel really comfortable. His car was spotless, he always wore his mask throughout the day, was attentive to our needs and gave us all the flexibility that we needed. I really appreciated that he took the time to listen and answer in detail to all of my daughter’s questions. So, if you are going to be in Sicily and need someone to show you around, look no further and just book with Sicily Grand Tour. Your expectations will be met and exceeded on every level. Grazie Alessio, sei un grande!

Alessio is hands down a wealth of information and incredibly friendly. He shared so many details and answered all questions that we had. Super professional and went the extra mile to make sure we had a great experience. I would recommend him to anyone that is looking for a tour in Sicily. It was a great way to finish our trip Sicily and we wish we had him every day we were here!

Excellent tour and tour guide. Alessio was an amazing tour guide. He had so much history of the area and we learned so much from him. He also took time to get to know his customers and was so helpful with all our questions. He knew the best places to eat, explore, photo stops for the best view and was outstanding!! We highly recommend this mount Etna event with him as the guide. We have been on many tours around the world and this was the best!! 5 +++++stars!!

Alessio has been a perfect guide for us. First we went to Etna and we received every explanations, then we had lunch in a very nice place where we ate typical sicilian food, and finally we enjoyed Taormina. We think the tour is perfect and very complete and we recommend to everybody.

Tour guide was amazing. Very knowledgeable about everything. Guide was also very efficient with Ty he time.

This trip was magical. First stop in the morning was Etna. The drive up there was so interesting. Alessio made sure that we stopped at different sights to make sure we get to take beautiful pictures and a better understanding of the different eruptions. On our way down, we stopped at a gorgeous house that produced their own oils and honey but also wine. I definitely recommend indulging in some delicious treats there. Shortly after we took a lunch break enjoying some authentic Sicilian pizza. It was delicious! To end the already perfect day, we lastly drove up to Taormina and the highest point to take pictures of the beautiful sea. Last stop of the day was a stroll through the picturesque streets of Taormina where we visited the antique theatre, a must see. I definitely recommend this trip and Alessio was so nice and welcoming, explaining everything so patiently. A must when you visit Sicily!!

I did both the Baroque Shades of Sicily and the Mt. Etna and Taormina day tours with Alessio as my guide. They were fantastic! Alessio is so knowledgeable of the different time periods, the architecture, and the history of Sicily. I learned so much. Alessio is very attentive and made sure I didn’t lose my footing when we were walking around one of the craters at Mt. Etna. He also knows the best places to stop for pictures, cafe, and food (also all places with nice restrooms). And he is an excellent driver. Sometimes, I suffer from motion sickness on really windy roads, and I had no issues since his driving is smooth. I highly recommend this tour and tour guide. When I come back to Sicily, I will reach out to him first to see which tours are available.

We had a fabulous full day on our short stay in Catania, with our travel group proving to be great company. Our guide, Francesco, was the BEST! He was so informative and helpful, supplying as much information and detail as we could possibly expect. Would definitely recommend this trip to anyone wanting to visit Mount Etna and the beautiful town of Taormina....it’s unmissable!

This was a great tour. Just the right amount of time for everything. We really enjoyed it. The tour guide was great

Alessio Patane was our guide today and did a wonderful job! He is punctual, pleasant, knowledgeable and moved at our pace. He had been our guide for the Godfather tour and we enjoyed him so much that day, we booked him for this. He obviously enjoys his job! We saw a former lava (?) mine, houses victim to the destruction, and then he and my husband had a walk around the rim of one of the lesser craters. He was very helpful and watchful for my husband's safety (we are in our 70's and it was a windy day). We saw a lava tube, currently not open, that is usually included on his tours. The afternoon time was spend in Taormina with lunch and time to explore the "town" on our own before driving back to Catania. Alessio pointed out different things for us and offered to take pics of us along the way. He was unavailable for transfer back to the airport at departure but found a cohort of his that was above and beyond also. We really enjoyed Alessio and would definitely recommend him and this tour and would like to connect with him again if we ever go back. He's a 5 Star person and guide!

Eine wirklich hervorragende Tour mit vielen tollen Eindrücken. Alessio, unser Guide war sehr professionell und sympathisch, er hat während der gesamten Tour sehr viel Interessantes über die Insel und den Vulkan erzählt. Da der Vulkan am Tag unseres Besuches geraucht hat, waren unsere Kids natürlich noch beeindruckter. Wir waren von dieser Tour sehr begeistert und empfehlen sie daher natürlich wärmstens weiter. Ebenso unseren Guido, der übrigens perfekt englisch spricht.

Alessio es un excelente guía que proporciona mucha información de calidad. Un verdadero profesional y muy amable.

Beauty of Etna and the contrast with the beautiful Taormina, our escortrr Alessio has been able to make our trip unforgettable

We contacted Alessio to arrange the visit to Etna and Taormina on our cruise stopover in Sicily. Professional, responsible and very legal. On time and fully adapted to our tastes and interests. We will repeat with him without hesitation. Greetings from Asturias and Ocaña, Alessio

What better way to dream than a visit to Mount Etna and the surrounding area with our guide Alessio for our day on 6/04/19. In addition, this visit was only for us 2. Explanation, precision...we leave with a lot of memories of this charming day. Thank you Alessio for coming with us. It is always very nice to be with a professional as smiling and pleasant as Alessio