Mount Etna and Catania full day excursion from Malta to Sicily

This was a very long day, a 07.30 sailing from Marsa with docking back into Marsa around 11.00pm. The catamaran crossing was very smooth and only took around 1.5hrs. A waiting minibus drove us from Pozalla to Catania for a 3hr break in this beautiful city (great food) collection then took us up winding roads to Mt Etna. There are many options at the coach park to get a better view of this constantly erupting volcano. We opted for the cable car which took around 15min to the next level up the volcano with excellent viewing. There are facilities at this level if required. At the coach park level, there are several cafe's and many souvenir stores. After a 2 hr break we travelled back to pozalla for the sailing back to Marsa in Malta.

It was definitely worth the sleep deprivation and everything. You take the ferry alone then you meet your guide & bus driver at the port. The ferry ride to and from Pozzallo was extremely smooth. You can explore a lot of things in Catania - just be careful with the Aperol prices. Make sure to manage your free time at each location wisely and take trekking shoes or the like to Etna. You can take the funicular on it for 54 Euros - I recommend it because obviously you can see the volcano a little closer. Our guide, Loredana is a true professional and approachable. It was also a smooth ride thanks to our driver, I think Gianfranco.

It’s a long day. There’s no way around it. About 17 hours factoring in the time you have to check in at the ferry in advance. The communication on the front end isn’t great either. I had to message Viator. Two agents just quoted me the meeting write up from the description. A third was very helpful. You get on the ferry and meet a guide in Sicily. This wasn’t explained until the very end of the ferry ride in an announcement. I’m used to meeting a guide at departure so I was a bit nervous. Catania is dirty as someone else mentions. And the tourist trap food areas aren’t great. BUT the Duomo, its Art Museum, and the Roman Baths ruins are lovely. Especially if you’ve known someone affected by breast cancer, go in and pray to St. Agatha. Then there’s Mount Etna. The hour-ish at 2500 meters made the 9 hours of commuting worth it. It’s unlike anything you’ve seen before. ❤️🌋

This is a long tiring trip, lasting about 16 hours. But it is a very enjoyable and pleasant day. The catamaran ride to and from Sicily is smooth, relaxing and pleasant. The bus ride to Catania and Mount Etna is nice and gives a great view of Sicily. Mount Etna itself was a very interesting and enjoyable stay, with fantastic views. Catania was a small, interesting, place, with a lot of history and old buildings. Overall, it was a wonderful trip, despite the heat wave and the long journey.

We were disappointed that gondola was not operating. As we are seniors we hiked to 2 lower craters but could handle more. Catania architecture really impressed us. We had a central orientation. My husband and I then appreciated the roman ruins before having a fabulous Sicilian meal of seafood on a quiet side street before returning to the bus. Our guide was knowledgeable and easy to understand. The large group made it to hear her when in the city center but she was very willing to answer questions. All in all, we were very happy with the tour and our day trip.

I truly enjoyed the experience of hiking Mount Ethna. It was so beautiful and the day was clear. I would definitely do this again.

Seeing Mt. Etna from afar was the prelude to the most amazing experience of being close to an active volcano. As we were driving up the mountain, each view of Mt. Etna is different and historical. Seeing the lava flow remains from all the different time periods was incredible. There were three of them that we could see with the final one closest to the top showing houses partially covered, fully covered, and untouched by the blasts flows. Arriving near the top where we disembarked were areas still covered with snow. We could see young children sledding and skiing on the mounds of snow. There were two opportunities to climb the snow trails to see craters up closer. The first one was a pretty difficult climb, which would require walking sticks to secure footing. it was rather steep. The second one was a smaller, and lesser steep slope, but it still was covered in snow and was rather slippery without walking sticks. Unfortunately, the cable cars up to the top of the mountain were undergoing maintenance and were not available at that time. That's very understandable as I'm sure everyone would appreciate them working well prior to ascending to the actual live volcano. The area at the bottom of this area offered restaurants and souvenir shops as well as restrooms. Just be aware, the restrooms do not have toilet seats and are the open squatting type. Overall, the Mt. Etna experience is not one to be missed! I highly recommend it.

apparently there is a seasonal change of order to going up Etna in the morning or the afternoon. When I booked our trip the web page clearly showed I would have time in Catania to visit my Uncle's war grave, then to go up Etna in the afternoon. On arriving at the ferry office the day before the trip I was informed it was Etna first, Catania afterwards. On the day, despite all possible assistance from the tour guide, the taxi to the war cemetery arrive to find the gate locked. This suprised both the tour guide and taxi driver but confirmed my search findings that it closed at 4pm. They said it was open all day and night. I returned home disappointed with a failed mission. Why would you display on the booking page, an itenary for the wrong season?

Excellent but a bit unclear on the instructions on timings. If the tour starts at 6.30am, it needs to be made clear that you need to be at the ferry at 5.30am to catch the 6.30am ferry otherwise its easy to assume. I had to call the ferry company for clarity. Good job too as we would have missed the boat and the amazing trip

It pays off if you have little time and want to have an overview of Sicily. I wish you had a guide option in Spanish