Page 325 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

by the Romans to celebrate the emperor Hadrian’s climb to the summit. At the time of

writing, excursions to this area were suspended.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: ETNA SUD

By bus One or two buses a day from Catania go to Rifugio Sapienza, the mountain

refuge/hotel that marks the end of the negotiable road up the south side of Etna. The
year-round service leaves from Piazza Giovanni XXIII, outside Catania’s Stazione
Centrale, daily at 8.15am, with a stop at Nicolosi; an additional summer service (mid-
June to mid-Sept) leaves daily at 11.20am, and necessitates a change at Nicolosi.
Altogether, it’s a two-hour journey; tickets cost around €5. (You can, of course, catch
the bus at Nicolosi, from where departures to the refuge are at 9.15am and – in
summer – 12.30pm, an hour-long trip.) The return bus from Rifugio Sapienza leaves

for Catania at 4.30pm.

ACCOMMODATION

Hotel Corsaro 095 914 122, hotelcorsaro.it. Ski-lodge-type place popular with

tour groups, advertising itself as Etna’s highest lodging. It has a restaurant and offers
half-board deals (€70 per person). €120

Rifugio Sapienza 095 915 321, rifugiosapienza.com. At 1400m below the
summit, this is the cheapest place on this side of Etna to spend the night, so it’s always
wise to ring ahead and book. Its modern rooms have clean lines and en-suite

bathrooms, and there’s a restaurant (excursions can also be arranged from here). €110

Nicolosi

The tidy little resort of NICOLOSI (698m), which had a narrow escape in the 2002
eruption, is a popular winter ski-centre and the most useful base in the foothills on the
south side of the volcano. With several hotels and some good places to eat, it also has
good bus connections from Catania. It gets pretty busy around here, even in summer,

with some good walking possibilities in the area. Best of these, certainly if you’re
going no further, is the hike up to the Monti Rossi craters, around an hour each way.
Formed in the eruption of 1669, they’re the most important of the secondary craters
that litter the slopes of the volcano.

Five kilometres or so east of Nicolosi, Trecastagni is worth a look for its main
church, the Chiesa Madre, a fine Renaissance building probably designed by

Antonello Gagini, and the marvellous views over the coast from its elevated position.
Frankly, though, you’re hardly likely to come here for just these; better, if you’re
driving, to look upon Trecastagni as a coffee-stop.

ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: NICOLOSI