De Etna, lunch in een wijnhuis en Taormina Privé dagtrip vanuit Messina

Mijn man en ik hebben me aangemeld voor de Mt Etna-tour als onderdeel van onze huwelijksreis op Sicilië. We werden opgehaald door Giovanni in ons hotel en reden van Taormina naar de Etna. Giovanni zat vol met informatie over de steden die onderweg waren doorgereden. We zijn zelfs gestopt bij een plaatselijke kerk om een ​​kijkje te nemen en het gebruik van verschillende lava-formaties te observeren. De rit op de berg was geweldig. We reden letterlijk door zeer gevarieerd terrein en leerden alles over de verschillende soorten bomen, vruchten, noten en lava-formaties die tegenwoordig bestaan. Het uitzicht op de top van de berg evenals de omliggende gebieden was ongelooflijk. Mt Etna is echt een wonder en ik ben zo blij dat we de dag voor deze reis hebben gereserveerd. Lunch in een lokaal restaurant was heerlijk. We hadden een 4 -gangen maaltijd plus espresso op een mooie patio. Ik zal opmerken - de tour vraagt ​​om voedselallergieën wanneer u de kaartjes koopt. Het kan een goed idee zijn om dat te bevestigen met het restaurant wanneer je aankomt voor de lunch, want er was een miscommunicatie met het feit dat ik glutenvrij ben.

This review compares our experience on Mt Etna and Taormina to other private guided experiences as that was our expectation. This was more a driver who didn’t speak much English, not an escort and not a guide. We are not sure we even saw the “right” part of Mt Etna as the driver took us where he wanted and said the Cable Car side was not worth it. We asked to go to the Cable Car and either shorten the Vineyard or Taormina, because we wanted to go up the Cable Car. The description from Viator wasn’t specific enough for us to demand or complain but a disappointing start. The vineyard and wine tasting were nice but nothing special as we have been to wineries all over the world. We cut that short. Taormina is wonderful and we had almost 3 full hours there. Driver dropped us and came back. The vehicle was a Mercedes van with no working passenger windows so taking pictures was hard, air conditioning was weak (32 Celsius/90+ F outside), driver didn’t have or offer water during the drive (something we had come to expect on these type of tours)- we had our own thankfully. The drivers communication was weak although his English is far better than our Italian. Nice man who meant well. Overall an average experience.

This was an amazing tour. We spent time at the lava pits at Mount Etna. There was a small square with shops where you could buy souvenirs made from lava rock. Next we went to the Gambino Winery. We were greeted with a glass of their white wine and beautiful views of the vineyard. Once inside we were treated to delicious food and wine pairings. We are now lifelong Gambino Winery customers. I would highly recommend this tour. Unfortunately, we did not make it to Taormina because we chose to spend so much time at the lava pits and winery. It worked out in our favor though as there was a political summit happening in Taormina while we were in Sicily. Our driver was friendly and happy to share information about Sicily and the sights we were seeing. Again, highly recommend this tour!