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.