Sicily tour -Mt. Etna

On the March 2018 tour, we went partway up Etna, and a short hike was offered. It was crazy windy and cold, so many of us spent most of the time inside the gift shop/restaurant. This was before we continued on to the really nice vineyard were we had lunch.

Mt Etna is a good chunk of Sicily. It is covered in roads, villages, farms and vineyards. You can see it from much of the eastern side of Sicily. On our tour, it was a stop on the way to Taormina from Siracusa on the coach. The stop was at the restaurant/gift shop location halfway up the mountain, from which you could climb a bit further up the mountain or just relax and have some coffee. The winery we visited was on Mt Etna as well. It's hard to explain how big it is, but its not a discreet destination. It was spewing ash at the time we were there, but that doesn't interrupt everyday life over the rest of the mountain.

In my opinion, no, unless you have a lot of time in Sicily, but others will have a different opinion. Essentially if you take a walk it’s across a lava ash field, depending on where you start the walk. If it’s erupting while your in Catania and the wind is blowing in the right direction, the streets will be covered in ash. It is interesting. I flew by it, over it, and around it multiple times while in the military decades ago, so I’m sure my opinion is biased. A more important question might be, what are the alternatives if you didn’t take the Etna tour. Catania isn’t a hub of must see sights.