Etna, Summit Craters

Posted By : Lucie_G
Amazing mind-blowing experience. Our guide Mario was very caring and good at setting the pace during different moments. Highly reccomend!
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Posted On : 2024-06-16 03:25:32

Posted By : Antonin B
We went for a tour with the Aitna group, and had Simone as a guide.
The staff:
Sympathetic and very quick to answer questions and requests, organised and reliable, everything you wish for when climbing an active volcano.
The guide:
Taking his time to explain, to help, to answer questions, professional and Sympathetic too.
The gear:
We got hiking boots, and helmets, the rest we already had. Quality was good and enough for the climb.
The tour itself:
A long ride with cable car, followed by 4x4 busses, until reaching higher ground, and starting the hike. The hike itself goes 500m up, and is steep, a bit of condition is required, although the guide checks regularly on everybody, gives hint, and adapt the pace depending on needs. Once on the top, not going to spoil anything you'll see by yourself :) and the going down part was fun, due to the consistency of the path itself.
Thanks a lot to Simone and his colleagues for a great discovery and cheer up guys! 5 stars deserved :)
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Posted On : 2024-06-04 06:31:40

Posted By : Hubertus_M
My wife and I enjoyed the trip a lot! Our guide, Simone, was very engaged and took care of all member members of our group. So the pace was quite slow, but ideal for a family with small kids who also joined. Also you get all relevant equipment like shoes, jacket and a backpack, if needed.

BUT as most other companies the information for this trip is really lacking:
1) in addition you have to pay for the cable car and 4x4, which are obligatory 60-78 Euro per person! This should be mentioned before
2) They should mention that a typical ffp2 mask is recommended due to the gas on top of the mountain
3) you get informed half a day before to bring cash for the cable car, but you don’t get any receipt

At the end the trip was worth the money, but it felt kind of a ripoff to get informed about the additional cost right after the free cancellation period
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Posted On : 2024-05-27 14:21:01

Posted By : Rkwok68
Highly recommend!

AITNE tour, and SIMONE did a fantastic job! We saw all the major craters on top of Etna, and most importantly, they kept our safety the first priority. It was a great deal, about $65pp, which included the full guided tour. The gondola (up/down) and the 4x4 (saves quite a bit of time) for up only was €60 extra, payable in cash. Simone was very knowledgeable and certified volcanologist, giving us both Etna historical information and generic volcano knowledge. Spoke great English.

Definitely do this tour, you won’t regret it.
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Posted On : 2024-05-27 09:24:43

Posted By : Eric C
We trekked Etna with our guide Massimo. Excellent guide who adapts to his group, gives good explanations and above all is very friendly.
The hike will last 5h30 in total. Definitely not for everyone. We were in average shape and we pushed our limit. If you have the fitness to do it, don't hesitate. Breathtaking landscape, it’s impressive.
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Posted On : 2024-05-24 03:02:59

Posted By : pietroz558
Spectacular walk, accompanied by Massimo who explained many things to us about the volcano and made our walk and that of the children even more pleasant! Thank you! One of the most beautiful trips ever taken
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Posted On : 2024-05-13 17:35:28

Posted By : zmaja1
We took the summit trek with 8-9 year old kids. At the meeting point we were warned several times that the trek might be too hard for them due to the high altitude. We all had to sign that we are aware of the difficulty of the trip and that we are all healthy and ok. They were extremely cautious and also very kind. They told us we could turn back at a certain point with the third guide, if we found the trek too difficult.

Thankfully, the kids had no problems. The guides took care that we all went steadily and with the pace of the slowest ones in the group. They made sure everyone was ok and provided us with all the information we needed.

In the end we had a great time and finished the trek with a smile. The views of all the activity on the top and druring the trip were breathtaking! The guides explained everything on the way and made the trek even more interesting.

I would like to add that the trek is appropriate for fit people and those who do not have issues with high altitude. Nevertheless, we really did feel safe with our guides.
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Posted On : 2024-05-13 05:55:28

Posted By : 723miriamb
Hey there. just got an AWFUL experience with AITENE and thought it would be advisable to WARN other fellow travellers before they book a tour to Mt. Etna with this sham of a company...

I Booked a trip with AITENE via GetYourGuide based on a clearly MISLEADING description of the tour, designed to attract any client they could lay their hand on, regardless of whether this type of tour and its difficulty level actually suits such potential customers. in GetYourGuide the activity was described as suitable to anyone who is less than 90 years old and does not have any heart and/or respiratory problems. Reading throgh the description here in TripAdvisor , I must say it's not much better and possibly even worse, as they state specifically that a "moderate level of fitness" is required, namely, should be sufficient.

Now I am a HEALTHY woman in her late 40s, attending regularly her local gym 4-5 days a week and doing a very brisk walk (on average 7 kph, when according to UK NHS a brisk walk would be considered to be already at 4.9 kph/3 mph ) for 45-50 minutes each session or a total of at least 180 minutes per week. Therefore, I am well within the range of "moderate fitness" exercise level according to UK NHS (150 minutes per week of activities including brisk walking). Also, in case you were wondering, i've never experienced any heart failure or respiratory problems like asthmatic episodes, while engaged in this physical activity... Therefore, it was REASONABLE to assume that the tour would be suitable for my level of fitness and general health condition...

Oh boy, was I wrong and MISLEAD by this MISINFORMED tour description provided by AITENE in their ZEALNESS for customers' money...Ultimately, I had to get off the tour in the middle, after much physical pain, numbness in both of my upper thighs, not to mention the frustration and discomfort in the midst of a vacation trip...

To top it all, when asking for the bare minimum, like a sheer acknowledgement of their responsibility in posting misleading information and appropriately refunding merely the ticket price for an activity that i was not able to complete and would have never chosen to do had their been a genuine description of the dfifficulty level, my request was DENIED, and quite RUDELY, if i may say so...

Marco Tomasselo, who presended himself as the DIRECTOR of the company, NOT only REFUSED TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY AND DEMONSTRATE A MINIMAL ACCOUNTABILITY, BUT IN FACT EVENTUALLY BLAMED ME FOR NOT BEING FIT ENOUGH FOR THE TOUR ... why sure, blame the victim who also happens to be a customer. And this comes from a company that allegedly prides itself for its commitment to customers satisfaction...

In CONCLUSION: do yorself a favor and DO NOT rely on the DISINFORMATION provided by AITENE tour company 🤨🤕. Better yet, opt for ANOTHER more trustworthy tour operators that genuinly describe the level of difficulty - chances are that if anything goes wrong (for whatever reason) - they will also take responsibility and demonstrate a decent accountability. It is really quite simple, when a company CHEATS IN ONE DOMAIN, REST ASSURED THAT THEY WILL ULTIMATELY END-UP DISRESPECTING AND CHEATING YOU AS A CUSTOMER IN OTHER RESPECTS as well..

.. Stay safe and have a wonderful trip to Sicily or elsewhere 😊 😇

P.S. I will not be surprised if Marco or one of his agents will write a response essentially trying to smear me, while BSing about my choice, lack of fitness or anything else they come up with. Unlike their obvious financial insentives, my only interst is that fellow travellers will not find themselves in any situation that requires responsibility and accountability of AITENE. I'm afraid my case demonstrate their clear incapability in both respects...
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Posted On : 2024-04-25 02:59:01

Posted By : Neil_B
It was a fantastic adventure, great guide who was brilliant with our 7 year old. Downside, this is proper hiking, and while the boots and jackets were ok, there needed to be more information on the likely conditions and terrain as we would have come better prepared.
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Posted On : 2024-04-01 04:29:19

Posted By : aphector
We had an amazing time. The company is very well organised, answering all our multiple questions, arranging a pick up, providing information and equipment. We had a brilliant guide, Simone, who was knowledgable, passionate and patient. We saw a resplendent Etna and the route up, though tricky at times in the snow and wind, was fabulous. It was spectacular, highly recommended!
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Posted On : 2024-03-25 08:44:36