Mount Etna South Slope: Ticketing for the Etna Cable Car

We had booked an e-ticket for the cable car 1 day before so we took the indicated fast lane but hed scanning device refused our tickets/ qr code. The lady at the check-in desk referred us to the offices?! However, we only saw the ticket counters and then joined the queue. At this desk we were redirected again. Again hassle and conflict with the lady of the check-in desk but because we were quite angry she took us aside and together with another group of 8 people with e-tickets she took us to the desks / offices behind the ticket counters because apparently we had to get “real” tickets and a handwritten note for the guide upstairs?? In short, e-ticket to be able to check in quickly and get into the cable car more easily turned out to be a complete wash! Visit upstairs was of course fine! And we said goodbye to the lady with a hug.

The ticket promised no line. Upon arrival at the gate we still had to exchange our ticket for a ticket. Furthermore, the cable car was in maintenance, so everything went by bus. That was a shame. In the end a nice excursion with a good guide.

Tickets purchased online did not allow direct access to the funiculars, we queued at the ticket offices to get our tickets!

Arrived at a very busy car park but managed to find a parking place. Found the chairlift and had barcode and online…. BUT this was not acceptable. We had to go back to a special office ( which was difficult to find) see. In a small room and paper tickets issued. Them go back to cable at queue. This delayed us by 20/30 mins and was a bit of a faff. After this the cable car experience was great. A bit of a wait for 4x4. Our guide Guiseppe was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and spoke good English. The walk was steep and lasted about 45 mins. We took it easy and stopped for photos etc which helped pace ourselves. We saw the smoking craters and the remains of a lava flow 10 days previously. An experience not to miss. Can’t describe the stark black landscape… lunar like!

Poor communication and I asked for a refund after they said I was a no show after waiting 3 hours on line with the ticket pass they sent me(.they told me at the gate our tickets were cancelled) I called and the man was rude and then we had to rebuy new tickets to get it! And wait a few days for my refund. I would never rebook with them again, poor business!

The actual experience wasn’t bad, once we figured out where to check in. The people at Mt Etna said that Viator is mixed up and doesn’t give people information that is correct for checking in. No lines for tickets - just buy them when you arrive - much simpler.

I enjoyed the ride, very comfortable. However, I mistook my QR code for ticket, went thru line (about 40+minutes) and got to scanner to get on and was directed back to ticket office to get “official” ticket. Guess I missed that I needed something other than code. Got it worked out and enjoyed my experience.

The online tickets still need to be exchanged at the box office. So still doing traffic jams. We had not done this and after 45min traffic jam for the cable car were allowed to go to the box office again 😕

We were lucky- during a mostly cloudy period that week, our trip hit a clear patch- the cable car ride was beautiful and comfortable and the views, because they were clear, were fantastic- Mt. Etna had been erupting over the past days and there was a black plume and a white plume of smoke coming from it. Then it clouded over and nothing could be seen.

Unfortunately we could not fully enjoy the trip because visibility was limited due to fog (visibility 10-20m); the price-performance ratio regardless of the situation we found I find okayish to a bit overpriced - the cable car rides duration about 5-10 min just like the bus ride continues towards the summit..