The Etna cable car, from 1,900 to almost 3,000 metres without climbing.

It is the simplest way to see Etna from above without doing a mountain hike. It is cold at the top almost all year, even in August.

Why go and who it suits

From the Rifugio Sapienza, at about 1,920 m, the landscape is already volcanic: black flows, extinct cones and little else. But what changes the visit is going up. The cable car takes you to 2,500 m above the recent lavas, and with the Tour 3000 you continue in a high-wheeled 4x4, or in a snowcat in winter, to the highest altitude the authorities allow, 3,000 m. There you walk for a while with a guide around the Torre del Filosofo area and the craters of the 2002 eruption, with the summit smoking in the background.

It suits families, older people who walk normally and anyone who wants to feel the height of Etna without five hours of climbing. It is easy in difficulty. It is not for you if you have heart or breathing problems, high blood pressure or are pregnant: at that altitude the air is thinner and the operator advises against it.

Which option to choose

Cable car only (€54). You go up to 2,500 m, take a walk around the upper station and come back down. It makes sense if you are with small children or short of time, or if the day is clear and the view is enough for you.

Tour 3000 (€82). Includes the return cable car with Fast Track, the return 4x4 or snowcat and an alpine or volcanology guide. The ticket is open for the whole day, between 8:30 and 15:15, and the visit lasts about two and a half hours. The guides speak Italian, English and French. It is the option worth taking if you have come all this way.

To reach the summit craters you have to do the guided walking excursion, a different and much more demanding activity.

Getting there

The cable car station is on the esplanade of the Rifugio Sapienza, in the municipality of Nicolosi, on the southern slope of the volcano. You drive up the Etna Sud road and park on the esplanade. There is a bus that goes up from Catania, with few departures a day: check the timetable before counting on it.

When to go

It runs all year, except when the wind, the weather or the volcano force a stop. In winter the climb from 2,500 m is by snowcat and snow covers the ash: it is a different excursion, just as beautiful and colder. In summer it can be hot below, but at the top the temperature drops a lot.

The best thing is to go up early. Clouds tend to cover the upper part from midday, and the first hours have shorter queues at the ticket office.

What it costs in total

€54 for the cable car alone or €82 for the Tour 3000, per person. If you don't have suitable clothing, boots, windbreakers and poles can be rented at the top. Add the journey to the Rifugio Sapienza.

If the weather is bad

In strong wind the cable car stops. In that case, next to the Rifugio Sapienza you have the Silvestri craters, two extinct cones that can be walked round in a short time with no entry fee, and the road down to Nicolosi runs between lava flows.