One of the most important aspect of Mediterranean diet is the quality of the ingredients used. The result is that ingredients are fresh, often produced in land, tasty and fragrant.

The main principles of this diet :

• The use of “Unique plates” (Plates that combine together carbs and meat)
• Intensive use of olive oil
• Consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables and legumes
• Moderate consumption of red meat
• 1 time a week fish or white meats
• Moderate use of cheese and yogurt
• 1 glass of red wine to accompany the main meals
• Consumption of honey instead of sugar
• Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day

Here the most known Mediterranean foods and wines you’ll taste during your Sicilian journey…

• Seafood- Seafood is well known for its particular heart benefits, Grilled swordfish, Cuttlefish, sardines are popular ingredients of the Sicilian diet always prepared with pasta. Try seafood with whites wines as “Catarratto Bianco, Inzolia, Grillo, and Damaschino”.
• Meat – Chicken, Veal, Lamb, Pork are popular meat dishes usually served with marsala wine.
• Wines – There are more than 150.000 hectares of land cultivates to wineyards, in particular, on the slopes of the Etna mountain.

Lot of studies explain how the Sicilian red wine consumption is associated with a lower cardiovascular risk. Has been confirmed that parameters like blood glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides, was significantly decreased after the consumption of Sicilian red wines (Nero D’Avola and Torrepalino wines).

Other aliments are:

• Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes.
• Vegetables: Spinach, Cauliflowers, Carrots, Eggplants, Tomatoes, broccoli, capsicum, capers, garlic and onion.
• Fruit: Olives, Grape, Oranges, Lemons, Apples, cherries, Strawberries, peaches, apricots,
• Legumes: beans, peas,
• Fruit: Walnuts, Almonds, Pistachio nuts
• Oil of olive
• Honey
• Milk and cheeses
• White Meat (chicken, rabbit, turkey, etc…) and fish (fish sword, sardines, tuna, clears)
• Eggs
• Red meat (veal, lamb, etc…)
• Water

In you need to live an unique experience that joins together the best places to visit in the southern Italy and the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, then read this simple article about a wine tour of Sicily.

The Sicily island is the biggest island in the Mediterranean sea, it’s at the south of Italy and the north of Africa. Food and wine are among Sicily’s main attractions. Here you can find a mix of different cultures (Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans). These ancient dominations let us their rests in the culinary traditions. Climatic conditions, sun every day and the Volcanic land, facilitate the food’s favour and produce unique of a kind Mediterranean products.

What to discover in this food and wine itinerary…

The tour is along the most known wine territory of Sicily, The Etna volcano and the city of Catania in the Ionic coast of Sicily. With this itinerary you can join the views of many medieval villages located on the slopes of the mount etna, and taste the favour of vineyards and fruit-trees. You can combine the tasting of great Mediterranean diet products while you are travelling across the century’s of millenarian history and culture.

The itinerary explained…The itinerary starts in the South of Mount Etna, from the little villages of Belpasso and Nicolosi. Continues in the sea villages in the Ionic coast to Taormina and finishes in the northern side of the Etna in the natural park of the Alcantara river.

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

• 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
• Giardini-Naxos
• Siracusa
• Catania
• Excursion to the Aeolian Islands

• 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

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

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!

Eruption of 1989

Eruption of 1992

Eruption of 1995

Eruption of 1997

Eruption of 2000

Eruption of 2001

Eruption of 2002

Eruption of 2004

Eruption of 2006

Eruption of 2007

4-5 September Mount Etna is continuing its eruptive activity…here the history of 2007 eruption.

For all the night, in the depression on the east flank of the crater of S-E, is in course an intense and spectacular strombolian activity with lava fountains that catch up a height of several hundreds of meters. A small tap of lava heads towards the Bove Valley. Moreover present is an ash column of approximately two kilometers that go towards east on Fornazzo and Milo.

It’s for the ash that it has been decided, beginning from 1:00 Am of this night, the closing of the airport of Catania.

Here the list of all news about the 2007 eruptions:

• Eruption of the Etna September 2007
• Latest eruption of Mount Etna on April-May 2007: A new activity from the south-east crater
• New Mt Etna eruption on 2007: What a Show!!!
• Finished the effusive phase of the Etna eruption of 2007
• Mt Etna eruption 2007 continues
• Special Etna excursion to see live eruption of 2007!!
• Mount Etna new eruption of 2007

Here the list of all pictures of this eruption

September is coming so, after my last trip in Capo D’Orlando, I’ve decided to do another mini-trip to go in the private home of my girlfriend’s granny in Baia del Silenzio near Brucoli.

We didn’t spend money and enjoy too much for a 2 days and 1 night trip.

Here what we did:

• Saturday night a tour in Brucoli for eat an ice cream
• Sunday morning on the beach
• Sunday lunch with roast meat and home made bread
• In the evening at home…was too

This zone is very beautiful, 20 Km from Syracuse and 30 Km from Catania.

We stay only 40 minutes to arrive there from Acicastello.

Here the map

View Larger Map

More pictures of the trip here

Improvement n°1 – Website theme
First of all there is a new theme in the website with news header pictures and a more usable navigation:

• The section Volcano with more info about Mount Etna: History, Geology, Eruptions, Video
• The section Etna park with more info on nature, lakes, lava rock, wines, history and castles

Improvement n°2 – Legend tutorial
I’d like to start a “Tutorial” about the legends and traditions on the volcano. You can read the legend of the famous “Empedocle” and other. In the next week i’ll add a complete section dedicated to the famous “Sicilian visitors” like Goethe etc…written by my friend Giancarlo.

Improvement n°3 – Free travel guide e-book
There is also available the new free e-book “Sicily as you never seen before“. A 100 page PDF travel guide about Sicily to help you travel better and save up to 5% The guidebook is available by subscribing to the news-letter form in the right side of the website

Improvement n°4 – News aggregator
We have launched a news aggregator section about Sicily (there are more than 30 different news sources that update the page daily) with an archive of the last month best facts and news. You can also subscribe to the RSS

If you lost the latest news you can read here:

• 2007/08/09 Archive
• 2007/07/27 Archive
• 2007/07/13 Archive
• 2007/06/30 Archive

Improvement n°5 – Travel tools
To give you a more clear view of all Sicily experiences i’ve created a new page called “Sicily travel tools” where find the main info.

New contents added

• New Etna excursions programs
• List of all the best Sicilian museums near the Etna territory
• Useful info to play Golf in Sicily

Ideas for the future

• In the past days i’ve send requests to verify the value of Travel 2.0 tools to gain trust etc…with visitor. I want to use them and see what’s up…so stay tuned
• Starting from October me and my girlfriend Valeria will do a weekly report (Video, Pictures and podcast) about every single attractions to visit in the Etna territory
• I want to share other people Sicilian experiences so I’d like to do an “Interviews” section with some “Opinion leaders” about Sicily

Thank you for reading this post and continue enjoing it!!

By pureguava

In this period of the year the best side to visit is the East one and especially have a visit on:

• Mount Etna
• Catania
• Taormina
• Giardini Naxos
• Castiglione di Sicilia

If you arrive in the Catania airport the best thing you can do is to rent a car or use the public transports (more cheap but you could loose more time).

Just in the airport you can easily find the base points to take the Bus or rent a car. (maybe you could find more info here about driving conditions in Italy)

You could relax and enjoy…here some activity suggestions:

• Baroque tour of Catania and shopping in Via Etnea.

By Sim

You can also taste the typical foods in the well known bar “Savia”, very famous for its “Arancino” and other Sicilian sweets -Tot. Cost ….depends on what you buy

• Shopping in Corso Umberto in Taormina and visit the hill town of Castelmola (Up to Taormina) to taste the typical Almond wine of “Bar Turrisi” a very typical place to visit

By alit22fred

• Do and Excursion on the Etna – Tot. Cost 200€ to divide for your group members
• Wine tasting in the country of Castiglione di Sicilia (up to the Mount Etna) to taste the typical Sicilian wine – Tot cost 15€ at person
• Beach vacations in the beaches of Catania and Taormina – Tot cost FREE

The Best beaches of Catania are:

1) San Giovanni Li Cuti

By gutter

2) La scogliera

By Gioacchino Forte…my Daddy

• Relaxing golf vacations
• If you are active you can have a look on the outdoor adventure holidays

The Accommodations in this period are less crowded and it’s possible to apply for a discount price.

I’ll suggest you:

• Holiday Club Naxos: Rooms are of good size and clean with a pool and small beach.
• House holidays Bellavista
• Camping jonio
• Apartment for rent by Tiziana

General tips:

• For rates it’s better you contact them directly.
• Consider that September is still peak season so it’s better to book as much as early possible.
• With 1 week you will be able to tour quite a bit!

Enjoy you Sicily holidays…hope I’ll be useful!!

You’ll discover real life tips and tricks fruit of my real holiday rentals Sicily experience.

This is my trip report about my Sicily beach holidays passed with my girl friend Valeria. We don’t like to travel in other regions of Italy because we think that Sicily mix all the Italian attractions. So before visiting Italy we want to visit all the Sicily island.

This is the time of the Northern coast in the province of Messina exactly in the Town of San Gregorio near Capo D’Orlando. The trip was of 4 days and 3 nights and in a self guided tour. We were very lucky while choosing our tirrenic coast hotel Sicily because in that period (August), all the accommodation were full booked.

Here the detail of the Itinerary:

• Period: 10-13 August 2007
• Location: San Gregorio – Capo D’orlando, Messina
• People: 2
• Accommodation type: 4 stars Hotel
• Vacation type: Activity Holidays Sicily + relax + Ecotur
• Meals: B&b and self provided
• Transfers: By Car
• Total cost: 548,00 €
• Here the map of the Itinerary

Details of costs
All the vacation cost us 548,00 € (274,00 € per person)

We spend our money in:

• Accommodation + breakfast: 450,00 €
• Gas: 45 € (500 km of distance A/R + sightseeing tour – starting from Catania)
• Freeway tickets: 14,80 € (We took 2 freeways: A18 Catania-Messina and A20 Messina-Palermo)
• Food and beverage: 38,10 € (Arancini, pizza, Ice creams, granita, etc…)

Considering the high season period i think it was a bargain holiday…;-)

Some considerations about our Holiday accommodation – Hotel & Village “La Mia Valle”

When we arrived we had a great impression of this accommodation. It’s a good structure in the nature with a lot of trees. The hotel is built on an hill. Our room was a double room with bathroom and a little terrace.

The hotel has a private beach “Lido l’Ancora” where you can see the Aeolian Islands (Vulcano, Lipari, Salina, Alicudi e Filicudi).

If you like you can pay for a boat tour to these islands starting from the port of Capo D’Orlando (Average price 38-60 € http://www.nologommoni.com)

Things we like:

• Nature
• Relaxing landscapes
• Good position near the main attractions
• Very tasty breakfast
• Clean and comfort rooms
• Sweet horses and donkeys to do tour of the property

Whos is the Donkey?

Things we don’t like:

• Too much car rumors from the near freeway
• If the hotel is full it looks like it is empty and you can feel you are too isolated
• You have to wait for a shuttle bur to move around the property
• Too much bugs and mosquitos

In summary i’ll suggest this accommodation. We enjoyed too much and found a very relaxing atmosphere. You can see its pictures and description here

Sicilian touristic attraction we saw:

• The Nebrodi mounts
• Capo D’Orlando
• The landscapes of the Aeolian islands
• The little villages of Ucria, Naso, Castell’Umberto, Sinagra, Brolo
• Gioiosa Marea

The best attraction to see is the Coast. You can do with a car the SS113 (Statal road n°113) that connects Palermo with Messina and visit all the sea villages and see the magnific landscapes.
You can see all the pictures of this trip here

Here the daily itinerary

Day 1 – Arriving in the hotel

• Starting from Catania, 2 hours of freeways (A18 and A20)
• Arrive in the hotel
• Afternoon on the beach
• Dine with “Panino ca’ cutuletta” (bread with chicken)
• Sleep

Day 2 – It’s raining man…alleluja!!

• Breakfast
• Rain
• In the morning visit to the Nebrodi parks (Sinagra, Naso, Ucria, Castell’Umberto)
• Lunch with Granita and Brioche in the Bar “Mamy and Papy” Morosito bar – San Gregorio
• Afternoon on the beach
• Evening a visit in Capo D’orlando for a Pizza in “Crazy Pizza”
• Walking on the Long Beach

Day 3 – Arancini mon amour…

• Breakfast
• All the morning on the beach
• Luch with typical Sicilian food (Arancini and Siciliane) in “Da Matteo” Restaurant, San Gregorio Phone: 0941 955029
• Afternoon on the Beach
• In the evening an excursion in Gioiosa Marea and dine with a Brioche and Ice-cream in Bar “Miramare”

Day 4 – Come back home

• Breakfast
• On the beach to 12:00 o’clock
• Come back home…:-(

Here my trip…if you like you can post your comments or if you need more advices you can contact me to ask all you want…thanks for reading…Enrico and Valeria.

Is you need more travel info on Sicily during your travel, the best thing to do is to be always updated on what’t up around the island.

Here you are the latest news of the week…

(Source)

An holiday in Sicily tasting Italy wine – Discover the event “Glasses of Stars”

On 10 August 2007, in the night of Saint Lorenzo, the National Movement of the Wine Tourism will organize the event for the passionate of the wine “Glasses of Stars”. The appointment, not to lose, will be carried out in some land property of the Sicily like the Donnafugata Estate and the Scilio Estate of Valle Galfina in Linguaglossa.

In the Estate of Donnafugata (S.S. 624 Palermo-Sciacca) will be the opportunity to participate to guided visits at the vineyards of the Chardonnay “the Escapeâ€? and to vinification wine cellar. A specialized staff will explaine the techniques of the vineyard’s cultivation.
Naturally there will be tastings of the Donnafugata wines.

The Scilio Estate of Valle Galfina ( 2 Km from Linguaglossa on the S.P for Zafferana) will introduce an evening dedicated to the wine and music jazz with the concert of Maria Patti Quartet. There will be, obviously, the tasting of a special selection of the wines Etna Scilio and the opportunity to dinner in farm holidays with reservation.

To participate at the events, it will be necessary to pay € 5 for the incomes and a bail of € 5 for the use of the glass.
Information and reservations for the Scilio Estate of Valle Galfina: http://www.volcanoetna.com/2/valle-galfina.html
For Donnafugata obligatory reservation – Telephone number: 800 252321 or email: info@donnafugata.it

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/fazen/)

At the discovery of the Greek – Roman art and architecture in Sicily – The summery night

This initiative has been introduced in Catania, for who want to know the Sicily’s culture. For some days of the week and until September the 2nd, there will be the possibility to visit the artistic patrimony of the island.

Churches, archaeological site and museums will remain opened, also of night, for the tourists to discover the places of the sicilian art. Naturally, all the province of the region will participate.

In Catania will be admired:

• The Terme Achilleane
• The Roman Terme
• The Roman Amphitheater
• The Greek – Roman Theatre
• The Belliniano Museum
• Ursino Castle and other tourist interest sites

Info http://www.volcanoetna.com/en/villages/catania.html

Castiglione of Sicily – Exhibition calendar of the summery event 2007

“Eventi Estate 2007â€? is the summery manifestation that will have place to Castiglione of Sicily, Etna Nord. An event that represents an opportunity for the promotion of the Etna’s territory and for its gastronomy products. The calendar is rich of encounter, that will be carried out also in the adjacence of Castiglione, in the month of August. Between music, fashion, culture and teather, will find space also conventions, sport and gastronomy competitions.

For information: www.comune.castiglionedisicilia.ct-egov.it

So, if you want to live the best vacation you can get, then read this short guide. I’ll help you discover how to feel an unique experience in 10 simple ways.

In Sicily there are tons of places where live wild adventures and sport activities. The best ones are on the Etnean territory in the middle of 3 natural parks: Etna, Nebrodi and Alcantara.

Here you can practice:

• Trekking/Hiking
• Mountain Biking
• Winter sports
• Water and pluvial sports
• Extreme sports
• Bio and natural watching
• And other adventure outdoor sports

I’ve tried to do a simple search on forums and social websites to verify what exactly people know about adventure travels in Italy and I’ve found a lot of interesting questions that I’ll try to answer in this post:

The main questions are:

• What are the best spots for cycling holidays in Italy?
• What type of mountain biking experiences are possible in Italy?
• How can i find company specialized in walking tours in Italy?
• Have you skiing holidays ideas?
• What the best period to do and outdoor adventure vacation in Italy?

So…lets’go start discover all possible experiences that the Mount Etna territory can give you…

On the Etna you can live the best hiking – trekking holidays of Italy

This territory has a particular characteristics. It’s in the middle of 3 natural parks: The Etna, the Nebrodi and the Alcantara river.

Here practice adventure sports activity holidays of easy/medium difficulty with a duration of 4-5 hours can cost you 70-100€ all inclusive for the group (not at person)

The main trips are:

• Walking tours in the north Etna’s paths to see the recent eruptions, caves, forests and natural landscapes
• The Malabotta forest in the Nebrodi parks
• The lake’s path in the Nebrodi
• The Alcantara river and the little volcano Mojo
• A tour in the caves of the Etna

On The Etna it’s possible to practice the Nordic walking, a new way to combine travel activity and weight loss, and the Geocaching, with the help of GPS you have to find an object let by another and let a message for the future visitor.

For the most skilled there is a complete tour of 2 days between the Etna and the Nebrodi.

To find an adventure travel company you can send an email here

Useful resources:
http://www.etnaviva.it
http://www.entefaunasiciliana.it
http://www.italianostra.org
http://www.caicatania.it
http://www.siciliamountaintrekking.it
http://www.kalura.org
http://www.guidetnanord.com
http://www.etnatrekking.it
http://www.acquaterra.it
http://www.etnanatura.it
http://www.etnaescursioni.it

http://www.etnaguide.com
http://www.aitnemed.com
http://www.volcanotrek.com
http://www.magmatrek.it

Ecotourism holidays to watch the nature and the fauna

Another type of adventure tours that add an educational values are the Nebrodi mounts. These mounts are famous for their animal observation points to see the nests of rare birds. For example some years ago there was a webcam pointed directly on a nest of a couple of Real Eagles, where you could see the nest and chicks.

Birdwatchers will appreciate the extraordinary shows given by the Nebrodi’s lakes and the river reserves in the province of Catania

• Pozzillo lake
• Biviere Lake
• The Trearie lake
• The Gurrida Lake on the Etna
• The Salinelle and ponte barca
• The pluvial park of the Alcantara
• The Fiumefreddo river reserve
• The Simeto’s oasis

Whale watching to admire dolphins and whales near the gulf of Catania, is another animal watching activity to practice.

Useful info:
http://www.naturasicilia.org
http://www.bioscatania.it
http://www.whalewatching.it

Horseback riding tours of the Etna

This is my favourite example of adventure vacation. Everybody know how beautiful could it be a ride on an horse…and if you link it to the views offers by the tallest volcano of Europe and the possibility to visit its historical towns and traditions…wow!

The main trip is of 3 days where you’ll do the complete tour of the volcano.

1. Day: Across the tows of Belpasso and Ragalna (Etna south)
2. Day: In the forest of the Pista “Altomontana� (A path that links the South and the North of the Volcano)
3. Day: Piano dei Dammusi and the Etna caves
4. See the eruption of 1991-1993 that was dangerous for the Zafferana etnea town
5. Day the say path of day 1 to come back home

Accommodation is in the shelters along the path. You can contact me if you are interested in receiving more information on this tour

Useful resources:
http://www.amicodelcavallo.com

Skiing holidays in Italy and other winter sports on the Etna mountain

Have you ever skied on a lava flow?

Yes…most people don’t know that during winter you can ski on the Etna mountain.
The starting point of the skiing season is between December and January. On the Etna there are 2 main ski stations: Rifugio Sapienza in the south and Piano Provenzana in the north.

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

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

• “Valle del Bove”
• Nocturnal excursion

If you need more information you can contact us today

Useful info:
http://www.caicatania.it
http://www.scuolaitalianascietna.com
http://www.etnasci.it

Cycling holidays around the Parks

The territory of the Etna is very indicated for Downhill mountain biking and bicycle tours. Around the park there a series of road well used by bikers to:

• Ride in the middle of free natural parks
• Conquest the Etna throw the “Pista Altomontanaâ€?, a 8 hours trips
• Visit the most known attraction like Taormina and Giardini Naxos
• Pass throw the sea villages along the coast
• 40 Km. Across forests, lakes and ancient towns between the Etna and Nebrodi
• Nebrodi and Peloritani mounts for a 60 km ride for a duration of 8 hours

To discover what are the best experiences with your bike, you can contact us now

Useful resources:
http://www.etnafreebike.com
http://www.solebike.it
http://www.mountain-bike-alcantara.com
http://www.bikepeopleadventure.it
http://www.ciclofree.com
http://www.mtbadventures.com

What…? Do Yoga on the Volcano?

Yes it’s so!! Who practices Yoga, knows that Volcanoes are a great energy source. Every year are organized a lot of Yoga courses on Mount Etna and Stromboli volcano.

More info:
http://www.trekkingyoga.com

Boat tour and shore excursions

The Ionic coast of the Etna is a great patrimony for boat passionates or owners. You can use the different ports available and visit the internal touristic attractions.

The coast can be divided in 3 main zones:

1. Simeto – South Etna (This zone comprises the ports of: Catania, Caito, San Giovanni Li Cuti and Porto Ulisse)
2. Ionic – Etnean coast (This zone comprises the ports of: Acicastello, Acitrezza, Capomulini, Santa Maria la Scala, Santa Tecla, Stazzo, Pozzillo)
3. North Etna – Alcantara valley ( This zone comprises the ports of Riposto)

If you need more information of boat tours of Sicily and info on how to contact the port authorities please send us an e-mail

Other types of boat/sea activities can be:

• Fish-tourism – You’ll live like a fisherman: Start in the early morning to go fishing, recovery the nets, cook the fish directly on the boat, discover the best attractions of the Sicily coast and feel exactly the cultural meetings with the sea populations.
• Sailing
• Ship with transparent bottom
• Submarine excursion

More info here:
http://www.pescaturismo-valdinoto.it
http://www.totisail.com
http://www.easy-sicily.com

Scuba diving and Snorkeling

It’s the ionic coast between the little villages of Acicastello and Acitrezza that offers the best underwater excursions. Here there is a natural marine reserva called “Isola Lachea e I faraglioni dei Ciclopiâ€?

This is a sea view where admire the first phase when Mount Etna born thousand of years ago and follow the submarine paths to discover:

• Faro di Capo Molini
• Archaeological rests
• The Panettoni lava rocks
• Submarine photos landscape path
• The Castle with a little canyon
• Lot of typical Mediterranean fishes and others

Useful resources:
http://www.cassiopeasub.it
http://www.divesicily.com
http://www.siciliadiver.com

Caving on the Etna volcanic Caves

Mount Etna is the only place in Europe where to find caves of Volcanic origin.

The main Caves are in the northern side of the Volcano in the territory of the Linguaglossa town.

• Cave of Ices, to approximately 2000 meters high. Sure the most “famousâ€? and known of the Etna.
• Cave of the Vannette, to approximately 1700 meters high
• Cave of the Raspberries, to 1700 high
• Cave of the Females, to 1650 high
• Cave of the Palombe, to 1560 high
• Cave of the Ladri, to 1550 high

More info here:
http://www.gruppogrottecatania.it
http://www.cse-speleo.it

Extreme sports to practice…

It’s amazing to see how many touristic activities you can practice and how many different ways are there to live Sicily instead of the same “Boringâ€? cultural tours.

Some example of other active travels could be:

• Bungee jumping
• Free climbing: On the Etna, there are not too much places where practise this sport. The main points are Acqua Rocca degli Zappini, in the territory of Zafferana, the Peloritani mounts, The zone of Castelmola (near Taormina) and the Climiti mounts close to Augusta.
• Hang gliding
• Ultra light airplane
• Parachuting

Water and pluvial sports

• Rafting and pluvial canoa on the Alcantara and Simeto river
• Hydrospeed on Alcantara
• Canyoning on the Alcantara gorges
• Kayak on Alcantara river, the Acireale’s Timpa, The Taormina’s coast and the natural reserve of Lachea island in Acitrezza

http://www.etnacenter.net
http://www.acquaterra.it

Now you know how to live an adventure travel in Sicily…do you think it’s to much for you?