Sicily holidays by Volcano Etna

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December Travel: Ski in Sicily winter holidays Skiing on Mt Etna

September 14th, 2007 · 4 Comments

Here a list of possible ideas to travel in Sicily on December or pass your winter holidays in Sicily by Ski on Mt Etna

skiing in sicily

Who visit Sicily for Christmas or the winter period, generally does these questions: (For a direct enquire about tips and vacation proposals you can contact us)

  • What can I expect in terms of weather and what are the Sicily temperatures in winter ? – In Sicily Winter are generally mild. But Sicily could be much colder in December than you might expect. Look here for more info on weather forecast

winter vacations in sicily

  • Where to stay at this time of year? – The best place to stay as bases is Taormina. Taormina would be a base town to visit:

etna ski

  • Are there any special events during this time? – Generally Christmas is a Family festivity. The festivity are from (24 December) through the Epiphany (6 January). In Italy, the day after Christmas (Saint Stephen’s Day) is a national holiday, and so is the Epiphany.
  • What type of activity can I do?
  • There’s a wine route you can take. This site will have 4 wine routes. Strada del vino dell’ Etna
  • The winter ski resorts on Etna will also be open.
  • Visit the entire volcano towns with the Circumetnea Railway (The service does not run on Sundays, or holidays.)
  • Relax
  • Shopping
  • Ancient ruins
  • Maybe a beach
  • Feel for Sicily’s culture

Map of Ski spots on Mt Etna


View Larger Map

  • Can I visit Mt. Etna to go skiing? Are there other spots for Sicily ski holidays? – The Etna mountain is covered of snow, the ski season on Etna runs from November to March, and skiing is possible. Mt. Etna offers 1400 meters of vertical skiing. There are two ski areas on Etna, the southern – Nicolosi and the northern – Linguaglossa. In these areas are available Hotels, Chalet and ski rentals.

Here a video, clik on the menu button in the lower right corner to see other related videos

Here you can practice:

  • Downhill
  • Cross-country skiing
  • Snowshoeing
  • Telemark
  • Alpine ski
  • Snowboarding

The main experiences are with the snowshoes and cross country ski. Here you can cross the forests, open spaces and the paths over the 1.800 meters.

Snowboard is very good because over 2.000 meters there aren’t trees.

Here the list of the ski stations in the South- Rifugio Sapienza, Nicolosi

  • 1° ski lift: Silvestri 1910mt. to 2100 mt.
  • 2° ski lift: Capannina 2100 mt. To 2300 mt.
  • 3° ski lift: Omino 2300 mt. To 2550 mt.
  • 4° ski lift: Montagnola 2450 mt. To 2650 mt.
  • Cross country path: Piano Vetore
  • Cable car 1910mt. to 2500 mt.

Here the list of the ski stations in the North- Piano Provenzana, Linguaglossa

  • 1° ski lift: Baby
  • 2° ski lift: Tanaurpi
  • 3° ski lift: Le coccinelle
  • 4° ski lift: Monte Conca
  • 5° ski lift: Anfiteatro
  • Cross country skiing: Poiana

ski on mt etna

More and more people like to do show-shoes excursions, because they are the substitute of trekking during the winter.

The main itinerary is:

  • Day 1 Catania.
  • Day 2 Western Etna – Monti Sartorius (4 Hours walking: + 350 – 100mt.)
  • Day 3 Northern Etna – Piano Provenzana (5 Hours walking: + 680 – 680 MT)
  • Day 4 Etna – Randazzo (4 Hours walking: + 350 – 620 MT)
  • Day 5 Park of Nebrodi (4 Hours walking: + 50 – 290 MT)
  • Day 6 Southern Etna (6 Hours walking: + 400 – 400 MT)
  • Day 7 Taormina
  • Day 8 Catania

mount etna with snow

Other tips:

  • Many hotels and restaurants take a month or two off between November and February, when spa and beach destinations become padlocked ghost towns, and it can get much colder than you’d expect.
  • From late October to Easter, most attractions go on reduced winter hours or are closed for renovation.
  • Taormina will be very, very quiet!

winter holidays in sicily

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Tags: Adventure travel · Holidays to Taormina Sicily · Mount Etna · Outdoor · Parks & Nature · Sicily travel guide book · Sicily vacations · winter holidays in Sicily

4 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Ski Holidays // Oct 9, 2007 at 11:01 am

    Ski Holidays…

    I know!…

  • 2 Rich Borowy // Oct 27, 2007 at 1:58 am

    Hi,

    I am wondering if you mind doing me a favor. My son is working on a project on Mt Etna. I am wondering if you can send me the YouTube video so that he can attach it to a PowerPoint presentation.

    Thank you,
    Rich Borowy

  • 3 Kimberly // Nov 3, 2007 at 7:17 pm

    Hello,

    We are going to be in Catania December 15-18. I would really like to visit Mt. Etna. A snow shoe tour would be really nice. Does anyone have any suggestions???
    Thanks!

  • 4 Gana // Feb 3, 2008 at 10:56 pm

    Thank you for this great article with photos and videos! I really want to be there. Thanks again!

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