# Two nights on Etna, an hour from Catania: cable car to 3,000 m, guided craters and wineries on the north slope A night beside the cable car to go up before anyone else, a whole day with the guides towards the craters and another night at Linguaglossa, among wineries. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/sicily/etna/itineraries/two-nights-craters-and-wineries · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Dónde: Etna On a day trip from Catania, Etna is a cable car and back. With two nights it changes: you sleep at 1,910 m, beside the cable car station, and in the morning you are in the queue before the cars arrive; you spend a whole day with the guides heading for the summit craters, and go down to sleep on the north slope, among vineyards, to finish with a tasting and a long lunch. ## How do you get there from Catania? Fly to Catania from Spain, with direct flights from several cities, and hire a car from the airport. The Rifugio Sapienza is about 50 minutes away via Nicolosi. You need the car to cross from the south slope to the north on the second day; without it, you can only reach the Rifugio on the 8:15 AST bus. ## Where to stay AccommodationAreaWho it suits Rifugio SapienzaSouth slope, 1,910 mThose who want the first cable car and the guides at the door ShalaiLinguaglossa, north-east slopeThose who want a spa and a Michelin-starred dinner Case PerrottaSant'Alfio, east slopeThose who prefer an organic farm stay with a restaurant at the weekend ## Where to eat On the south slope, the restaurant, pizzeria and bar at the Rifugio Sapienza, on the same esplanade. On the north, Cave Ox for Etna cooking and wine, Ristorante Veneziano, in Randazzo, for mushrooms and Nebrodi black pork, and the restaurant at Shalai for the special dinner. If you do the getaway at a weekend, Case Perrotta, in Sant'Alfio, serves lunch on Saturday and Sunday with produce from its farm. ## What if I have one more day? Go round the volcano on the Circumetnea train, Monday to Saturday, or go into the caldera with the Valle del Bove trek, six hours with a guide from the Rifugio Sapienza. ## El plan ### Thursday · 10:00 · Leave Catania Via Nicolosi to the esplanade of the Rifugio Sapienza. Leave the car and your bag there. ### Thursday · 11:00 · Crateri Silvestri The two cones from 1892, beside the road, can be walked round in about 45 minutes. Free. ### Thursday · 13:00 · Cable car and Tour 3000 A quick lunch on the esplanade and then the cable car to 2,500 m and the guided off-road vehicle to near 3,000 m. €82 all-in; the last Tour 3000 leaves at 15:15. ### Thursday · 19:00 · Night at the Rifugio Sapienza Dinner at the Rifugio's own restaurant and watch the esplanade empty. ### Friday · 08:30 · Summit craters with a guide Departure from the Baita delle Guide, a few steps from the hotel. About five or six hours and €130, with cable car, off-road vehicle and equipment. If the summit is closed, the guides switch you to the Etna 3000 excursion. ### Friday · 16:00 · To Linguaglossa Cross to the north slope and check in at Shalai. Book the spa for the evening: sauna, Turkish bath and saltwater hydromassage. ### Friday · 20:30 · Dinner at Shalai The restaurant of chef Giovanni Santoro, with a Michelin star. Book a table when you book the room. ### Saturday · 10:00 · Tasting at a north-slope winery Planeta Sciaranuova or Cottanera, among vineyards on lava flows. Always by reservation. ### Saturday · 13:00 · Lunch at Cave Ox At Solicchiata: fusilloni with Bronte pistachio, Etna-style bistecca by weight or wood-fired pizza. ### Saturday · 15:30 · Back to Catania About 55 minutes via Linguaglossa and the motorway. ## Consejos ### Keep the summit day in the middle If they close it because of wind or activity, you still have Thursday or Saturday morning for the Tour 3000. ### Bring warm clothes At 3,000 m it is cold and windy all year. ### Book what fills up The guides, the winery, dinner at Shalai and lunch at Cave Ox. ## Cuándo no ir Going up to the craters on your own: access above a certain altitude is restricted to authorised guides and is dangerous. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Do you need a car? Yes, to go from the south slope to the north. Without a car you can only reach the Rifugio Sapienza by bus from Catania. ### Is the summit open? It depends on the day. In November 2026 the guides warn that the summit craters are closed and switch to the Etna 3000 excursion. ### Where should you stay? One night at the Rifugio Sapienza, beside the cable car, and another at Shalai, in Linguaglossa; if you prefer the countryside, Case Perrotta in Sant'Alfio. ### Which days work best? Thursday to Saturday: Cave Ox is closed on Monday and Tuesday, and Veneziano on Mondays. ## Dónde dormir if you're flying - **Shalai, hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant in Linguaglossa**: Shalai is a small hotel inside a former 19th-century stately residence, in the centre of Linguaglossa, the village on Etna's northeast slope from which the road to Piano Provenzana climbs. It has 13 rooms and suites, an intimate spa and the restaurant of chef Giovanni Santoro, born in the village, who won the Michelin star in 2015 and keeps it in the 2025 guide. It is the bed for those who come to Etna also to eat and drink well: the wineries of Castiglione di Sicilia and Passopisciaro are a quarter of an hour away. The house and the rooms The building belongs to the Pennisi family, who commissioned the renovation from the architects Lucia Papa and Paola Mariotto. It preserves the original 19th-century tiles in the bar corner and, upstairs, a lounge with frescoed vaults. The same painted vaults cover the two junior suites: one with a private terrace, of 18 m², and another with a balcony, both for three people at most. The rest are rooms of simple lines, white and bright: a Deluxe with a shared small terrace for three, a Superior with a balcony, two under the roof (a double and a Family Executive for four), an 18 m² twin or double, a 16 m² double for single use and a 14 m² single with a balcony. All have a scent of their own, of orange, which the hotel has created for its spaces. The spa and the restaurant To reach the spa you cross a small inner garden. The circuit lasts an hour and includes a sauna, Turkish bath and a hydromassage tub with salt water instead of chlorine, with a herbal tea at the end. It opens by reservation from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 19:30, and the website says it is now for the exclusive use of whoever books. There are body and face treatments with Comfort Zone products. The restaurant alternates fish from nearby markets and meat from local farms selected by the chef's family butcher's, with some vegetable-only dishes. The Michelin Guide mentions four tasting menus and an à la carte menu; the best-known dessert is Lumìa, made with lemon. The cellar is in the premises next to the hotel and the lounge bar serves sweet wines and spirits. The website does not publish the restaurant's hours or prices: book a table on its online system or by phone. Getting there and what is nearby From Catania airport it is 58 km: A18 motorway towards Messina, Fiumefreddo exit and the 120 road towards Randazzo as far as Linguaglossa. The hotel reckons 40 minutes to Catania, 20 to Randazzo and 25 to Taormina and to Etna North. With prior reservation it arranges transfers. The website does not mention private parking. From here you have the tastings at the north-slope wineries and the Linguaglossa station of the Circumetnea train to hand. For the cable car or the summit craters with a guide, which leave from the south slope, allow more than an hour by car. - **Rifugio Sapienza, hotel at 1,910 metres beside the Etna cable car**: Rifugio Sapienza is the building you see in every photo of Etna's south slope: a mountain hotel at 1,910 m, on the esplanade where the Nicolosi road, the car park, the lower cable car station and the guides' hut all end. It has a hotel, restaurant, pizzeria and bar. Sleeping here serves one specific purpose: being up there when the first cable car goes up and before the cars and coaches from Catania arrive, or seeing the extinct cones at sunset, when the esplanade empties. The rooms There are 20 doubles, triples, quads and quintuples, with simple wooden furniture, a private bathroom with shower or bath, television and free wifi. Those on the upper floors are attic rooms. The hotel highlights the views over the coasts of Sicily and Calabria. The four- and five-bed rooms suit families or groups who come to hike. Rooms are booked on the booking engine of its website. The website does not publish prices, check-in or check-out times, or whether breakfast is included: ask when you book. Nor does it say whether it closes for any season. Eating and what is on the esplanade On the ground floor is the restaurant, serving Sicilian cooking with local produce, with a pizzeria and bar; they take table bookings on WhatsApp on the same number as the hotel and have the menu on a separate website. The shop sells craft beer, Etna wines, pistachio pesto, jams, honey and liqueurs. From the Rifugio itself you can book guided excursions and hire bicycles. A few steps away are the Funivia dell'Etna and the Tour 3000, the Baita delle Guide, from where the excursion to the summit craters and the trek to the Valle del Bove leave, and, across the road, the Silvestri Craters, which you walk round on foot for free. Getting there By car, from Catania on the 120 road and via Nicolosi: the Rifugio reckons about 45 minutes. There is parking on the esplanade. Without a car, the AST bus leaves Piazza Giovanni XXIII in Catania at 8:15 and arrives at 10:15; the return leaves around 16:30 and the return fare is about €6.60, at the ticket office or on board. Check the timetable on the AST website before you go, because it changes with the season. At this altitude it is cold almost all year and in winter it snows: bring a coat even if it is hot in Catania, and in winter have your car ready for snow. - **Case Perrotta, organic farm stay in Sant'Alfio, on Etna's east slope**: Case Perrotta is an organic farm stay in Sant'Alfio, on Etna's east slope, at about 800 m, halfway between the Ionian Sea and the volcano. From the estate you see the sea and the summit craters. It is a country house for those who come by car and want to sleep among olive and chestnut trees, have breakfast on what the estate produces and have a restaurant at home at the weekend. It is 40 km from Catania airport and 10 km from Giarre-Riposto station. Two buildings with history The rooms are in two nearby buildings. La Casa was first a convent: when it became a farming estate, the monks' cells became the family's home, where they came in summer and for the grape harvest. Today it has five large rooms with barrel vaults, each named after a flower. Il Palmento is the winery, built around the middle of the 19th century for treading the grapes and carrying out the first fermentation of the must, and it worked until 1990. It keeps the marks of that work and houses another five rooms with wooden ceilings, named after fruit trees of the estate. All have their own heating, a bathroom with bath or shower and hairdryer, minibar, kettle with tea, coffee and chocolate, satellite television and a safe. The soaps are made from olive oil and are sold in the estate shop. There is free wifi and a book-swap corner. Breakfast, restaurant and experiences Breakfast is a continental buffet from 8:30 to 10:00 with produce from the estate. The restaurant serves regional cooking of Catania and Etna with what they grow, wild herbs and old recipes of the monzù, the cooks of noble houses. It is open at lunchtime on Saturday and Sunday, from 13:00 to 14:30, and for dinner from Friday to Sunday, always by reservation; closed on Monday. It has its own restaurant page. The house organises excursions on Etna, oil tastings, Sicilian cooking classes, herb-gathering outings and the Treno dei Vini dell'Etna, a train journey through the wineries. Getting there and what is nearby You need a car: the estate is about 40 km from Catania airport and 10 km from Giarre-Riposto station, the nearest. Reception is open from 9:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00; at weekends, without a midday break. Check-in is from 17:00 and check-out until 11:00; if you need another time, ask. From here, the Valle del Bove and the Zafferana slope are close, and the Rifugio Sapienza with the cable car is reached by mountain road.