Etna Private tour from Messina Cruise Terminal + Lunch at Winery
Description
During the private tour by comfortable air-conditioned car, you will visit Etna - the highest active volcano in Europe. This tour is private - only for your party, nobody else to ensure the highest standards for our clients. Your friendly private guide will tell you history of volcano creation, about eruptions, culture, myths, and folklore of "Mamma Etna" and Sicily itself. Driving by private car through authentic mountain villages you will visit local honey store and taste the produce of the fertile volcano terrain, and finally visit some extinct craters and admire unforgettable panoramas. Then you will visit one of the best Etna wineries and have lunch of fresh local food with fine red and white Sicilian wines. We recommend wearing comfortable closed-toe shoes and bringing extra layers, such as something warm and a windbreaker or rain jacket, to be prepared for changing weather conditions.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your personal tour leader will pick you up at your accommodation/port in Messina, and you will start your wonderful private travel to the highest active volcano in Europe. Driving by comfortable, air-conditioned car through the small authentic mountain villages, you will admire unforgettable picturesque views of Sicilian countryside full of oranges and lemon plantations, olives and almond trees, houses and churches built of lava stone. Enjoying amazing sea view and lava fields, you will arrive to a charming mountain town, where you will visit local honey store and taste the produce of the fertile volcano land - honey, olive oils, olives, wines and liquors. We recommend wearing comfortable closed-toe shoes and bringing extra layers, such as something warm and a windbreaker or rain jacket, to be prepared for changing weather conditions.
You will continue the ascent to reach the famous Sartorius Craters (1700 mt.). Here you will visit some extinct craters, admire breathtaking panoramas of the coastline and enjoy the most authentic part of Etna. After visiting Mt. Etna, the guide will chauffeur you in relax to one of the best wineries on Etna slope. At the winery you will have will have a tour of the estate, see how the grape is growing, and visit the cellars, while the expert sommelier explains you all about the wine making process and the history of this family run winery. Then you will have traditional delicious and lunch of locally produced cheeses, salami, prosciutto, fresh bread, olives and home-made olive oil and a typical pasta dish. A professional sommelier will offer you 4 glasses of Sicilian Etna red and white wines. After the tour, your guide will drop you off at your accommodation or port in Messina.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Your private guide will pick you up at your accommodation, port or train station in Messina.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
- Minimum drinking age is 18 years
- We have private tours, only for your party, however at the beginning of the excursion we will give each guest a mask, protective gloves and hand sanitizer.
Reviews(25)
We had an absolutely wonderful day exploring Mount Etna with Marco. His knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm made the experience so interesting and enjoyable from start to finish. He was especially fantastic with our 10-year-old son, Alex, making sure he felt included and engaged throughout the day. A real highlight was the incredible lunch at a beautiful family-owned winery, which was such a special and authentic experience. This was an highlight of our whole vacation thus far!! Along the way, Marco also introduced us to some wonderful local Sicilian delicacies, adding even more to an already amazing day. Marco truly went above and beyond to make our tour unforgettable. We left with a much deeper appreciation for Mount Etna and Sicily, and we couldn't recommend him more highly. Thank you, Marco, for such a memorable experience!
We very much enjoy the day. Corrado our guide was exceptionally knowledgeable about the volcanic eruptions and the aftermath it left. We were able to explore an underground volcanic cave as well as walk up a volcanic crater. It was awesome. Lunch at the winery at the end of the day was very enjoyable. We would recommend this tour.
We definitely had one of the best experiences of our lives! Thank you so much Omar!! we went a little bit off of the grid because we didn’t want to freeze our butts off and 0° weather so you were quick to think on your feet. You knew this area very well as it’s your hometown. Thank goodness for that I know that there’s a lot of tour guys that are definitely not from that area and I really appreciated that. You were also super witty and fun you made the day very enjoyable!! Thank you for taking us to all of the hidden gems in that area:) You treated us like family! We had so many laughs. I also found it to be very nice that I could understand your English very well. Some people don’t have the best broken English and I appreciated that as well. We had the best day we went up to Savoca and saw the area where the godfather was filmed, and you helped us do a little reenactment of walking down the street as if we were to have just gotten married from the church. It was super cute! Thank you for taking some of the best pictures and videos while also handling our personal belongings at times. You also took us to one of the best wineries in the area and we had lunch while a little wine tasting. We were also able to do a little walk-through of the winery. We will definitely cherish these moments for the rest of our lives!! Please keep in touch!!
The trip to Mount Etna was okay, but the wine lunch and winery were awful. It was a steep and I mean steep walk up to the so-called winery, which was a disappointment. For the price, I would have thought we would have been taken to a real winery. I will never use this company.
Kind sir more than a winery we think you need to find the right profile to write the review because after several days of searching we have not seen any reservations from Messina. We are convinced that you did not book this tour with us. In June we had five tours from Messina, reservations arrived directly through our website www .prestelli.com and all five guests said they were not the ones who did the review. In case (very rare assumption) you were our guest we are glad you enjoyed the Etna tour. Your complaint would be about the winery. We do not cooperate with wineries that have steep climbs and especially we do not cooperate with large tourist wineries. Instead, we collaborate with small, authentic and even family-run wineries so that our guests can enjoy not only Etna's wine and our organic food but also the soul and essence of Sicily. Thank you Best Regards Anastasia
We had a great time. Our guide Alberto was excellent very passionate showing us Etna. After we went for lunch at a family winery, real Italian food made by the wife of the owner. We did the tour in May of 2025 the day was great.
We booked this private tour while in Sicily as part of a cruise for a group of 20 people. Corrado, our guide, was punctual and met us at the port. He was very friendly. Our first stop was to taste local honey, olive oil and wines - all delicious. The next stop was a volcanic cave of Etna. Our next stop at the family owned Gambino winery was excellent. We had wine tasting with food pairing. Delicious wine and food - a really good selection for us. The only downside was the weather, it was raining, which limited our views.
We had a wonderful time on a half day tour of Mt Etna and visiting a beautiful winery on the volcano with Prestelli in June 2024! Our guide was so nice and very knowledgeable. We saw so much and loved it- it was completely first class and a great experience. I recommend Prestelli to everyone and look forward to booking again with these great people on our next trip to Sicily!
Visit to Mt Etna was amazing as was winery tour with tasting and lunch. Marco was great and very accommodating, recommend without hesitation.
Marco was wonderful! We throughly enjoyed our tour and learned a lot about Sicily! Loved the vineyard and walking in the mountain! Also enjoyed the stop at a store near My Etna!
While Mt Etna was interesting, the real star of the show was the vineyard. It was such a beautiful place. Our guide Maurizio was very knowledge and friendly. we really enjoyed seeing the Sicilian countryside. A must do
