Etna Jeep Tour from Taormina – Half Day Etna Sicily Tour
# 1 – Etna Jeep Tour (Half Day)
During this half day private excursion you will visit the beautiful part of Etna Volcano during the morning or in the afternoon. Reserved jeep and private guide are included. .
Pick-up at your accommodation in Catania / Taormina / Giardini Naxos / Letojanni / Acireale / Giarre at 9.00am. Departure to reach the Northern side of Etna. Drive up an old lava flow by 4wd jeep. Stop to enjoy the beautiful panorama of the “Bove Valley” (the most important geological site of Mt. Etna). Visit cave originated by prehistoric lava flows (10.000 years old) with helmets, lamps and rope. Trekking around old craters dating back from 1865. Visit the lava flow originated from Piano Provenzana in 2002 (the last important eruption of the Etna volcano) and the old road. Return to the hotel around 1.30/2.00pm ( at 7.30/8.00pm in case of tour that starts in the afternoon).
Some places you will visit during this Etna tour:
CALDERA BOVE VALLEY
Valle del Bove (Valley of the Ox) is a vast depression on the eastern part of Etna, interrupting it’s otherwise conical shape. It covers an area of 37 square kilometers and is 5 km wide. It’s depth at some points -1200m. The origin of the valley is quite controversial. Most probably we are dealing with an enormous collapsed caldera of different volcanic edifices such as , for instance, Trifoglietto. The ‘valley’ presents itself like a plateau, and is almost entirely covered by lavas from 13th,18th centuries just as the most recent ones (1991-93,1971,1956,1950).
LAVA CAVE
We will guide you, with the necessary equipment, inside one of more 250 caves you can find on Etna Volcano, to take a look into the volcano’s heart. Well known already in antiquity, Etna lava caves were used by man as sacred sites, for burial use, for pastoral purposes and as a shelter. A particular use of some of volcanic caves on Etna’s slopes is the “niviera”:the caves were used as natural freezers, to store snow in summertime and to commercialize it as far as Malta. In his painting, “Grotte a la neige” (which is on permanent display at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg) J. Houel depicted the main hall of the so-called Cave of Snow (or of Thieves), showing men carrying blocks of ice covered with leaves and jute bags.
SARTORIUS CRATERS
The Sartorius Mounts are ancient craters that originated during the 1865 lava flow. They owe their name to Sartorius Von Waltershausen, one of the first scientists who tried to catalogue Etna’s eruptions. Sartorius Mounts are characterized by seven eruptive cones called “Bottoniera”. The trekking route is of great interest both from a botanical (you can find a woodland dominated by birch (Betulla aetnensis) and a geological ( you can also find large vulcanic bomb and visit a hole of an old crater)point of view.
2002 LAVA FLOW
Starting during the night between Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of October until the 29th of January 2003, the eruption of 2002, is the big last important eruption of the Etna volcano.The entire Piano Provenzana ski station near Linguaglossa (Etna north side) with its many tourist buildings ( like hotel, bar, souvenir shop,ecc) were totally covered by the flowing lava and roads were ripped apart. A big section of the ancient RAGABO pinewood was also in flames and destroyed.
HALF DAY ETNA JEEP TOUR FROM TAORMINA
You can have your Etna Jeep Tour, begin from Taormina and go on to visit mount Etna.