Page 326 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

By bus Nicolosi is the last main bus stop before the steeper slopes begin; AST buses
run hourly from Catania, taking 40min.

Tourist office There’s a helpful tourist office on Piazza Vittorio Emanuele (Mon–Fri
9am–1pm, plus Mon, Wed & Thurs 4–6pm; 095 914 488), just off the main road that
runs through town.

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING

Camping Etna Via Goethe 095 914 309. Nice campsite in a shady pinewood with a
pool (summer only), is on Via Goethe, signposted from town just past the hotels. Open

all year. Tent pitch plus two people €22
Al Centro Storico Via Garibaldi 26 095 910 735 or 348 266 4310,

alcentrostorico.it. A good, central B&B with antique-style touches, along with
fridges, TV and wi-fi, just off Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. €60

Etna Garden Park Hotel Via della Quercia 7 095 791 4686 or 347 877 9969,
etnagardenpark.com. Subdued rooms in a capacious chalet-type building with a
garden full of colonnades and statues. The friendly owners will help you organize the
whole gamut of Etna-based activities, from mountain-biking and horseriding to tours

based around food or wine. €85

Nero di Cenere Via Garibaldi 64 095 791 8513. Wine bar and restaurant serving
taster-plates of local cheeses and salami, along with pastas and various vegetarian
dishes, which you can enjoy al fresco on the terrace. Closes late if custom demands.
Mon & Wed–Sun 7–9pm.

Zafferana Etnea

The most appealing of the villages on Etna’s southeastern side, ZAFFERANA
ETNEA is surrounded by vineyards and citrus groves, and is renowned for its honey,
the smell of which lingers in the air. Parts of the outskirts were damaged by lava in

1992, when the village became the operational hub of the effort to halt the flow from
the volcano. The centre, however, was untouched, and it retains an eighteenth-century
air in its buildings and churches, making it a pleasant stop, perhaps for a coffee in the
bar on the corner of the elegant central piazza. The previous eruption to threaten
Zafferana occurred in 1792, halted on that occasion – according to local tradition – by
the intervention of Our Lady of Divine Providence, whose name was again invoked by
God-fearing locals during the last volcanic ructions.

Zafferana has acquired a reputation as a low-key hill-resort, and the population of
around seven thousand practically doubles at weekends and holidays as the trippers
arrive. Certainly, there’s some good walking to be done in the green hills behind the