Exploring Beautiful Sicily By Train: Wining and Climbing Mt. Etna

Welcome on board our 12 day rail tour of Sicily. We start our day on a two train trip from Palermo to Catania, which lies at the base of Mount Etna, the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy and one of the world's most active volcanoes. In fact, since we completed our Sicily trip in late October 2024, there has been another eruption from one of Mt. Etna's four main craters, Bocca Nuovo, in February 2025. On our train trip, we had the opportunity to compare two types of Italian trains. The first from Palermo to Messina was on a TrenItalia Intercity train, which services major cities and covers longer distances. The second from Messina to Catania was a Regionale Veloce train, which is more of a local commuter style service. Once in Catania, our focus shifted to Mt Etna. We took two small group tours through Etna Experiences. One was a morning climb on the southeast side of the volcano including a tour of a lava tube. The second was a wine tasting and food tour of Mount Etna's wine district wrapping around the north and east flanks of the volcano. In between our volcano tours, we had some time to explore the city of Catania. We were struck by the Roman Amphitheatre half submerged under the contemporary city and the Unesco protected city centre with its fine Baroque architecture. And then there's the seafood! As promised, here's a link to our Via Francigena playlist. We walked from Canterbury to Rome on foot along this ancient pilgrimage route.    • Via Francigena Pilgrimage Walk: London to ...