ETNA WINE ROAD TOUR

Discover Mount Etna’s Wine Country: Alcantara Gorges & Castiglione

During this guided tour from Taormina, you will discover the unique landscapes of the Mount Etna slopes, the stunning Alcantara River Park, and the highly prized Etna wines. This experience offers a full immersion into the rich, fertile nature and gastronomy of the volcano’s foothills.

Starting from your hotel in Taormina or Giardini Naxos, you’ll take the wheel of a classic Fiat 500. Drive this icon of Italian style through the scenic Alcantara valley, weaving among lush citrus orchards and century-old olive groves until you reach a panoramic viewpoint overlooking the famous Alcantara Gorges. From here, you can admire the spectacular basalt columns formation—a geological marvel created by ancient lava flows meeting the cold river water.

The journey continues to Castiglione di Sicilia, an enchanting medieval town perched on a hill. You will enjoy a guided walk through its narrow, historic streets to soak in the authentic atmosphere of one of Italy’s most beautiful villages. To make this stop even sweeter, we will pause at a local pastry shop to taste some traditional Sicilian confectionery specialties.

Next, we drive towards the Byzantine Church of Cuba, a rare 9th-century jewel where we will stop for a beautiful photostop. After capturing these historic views, our tour joins the official “Strada del Vino” (Etna Wine Road). This road winds through the heart of one of Europe’s most exciting wine regions. Here, over 200 wineries have recently flourished, leveraging the unique, mineral-rich volcanic soil—which is perfectly suited for grape cultivation.

Finally, we reach one of the Etna’s best wineries. Your experience culminates with a guided visit to the high-altitude vineyards and the historic cellar. This is followed by a delightful light lunch featuring a variety of typical Sicilian delicacies and fresh local produce, paired with a limited wine tasting of local Etna DOC wines. The focus here is on the quality of the local products and the charming atmosphere of the location.

After a relaxing lunch, hop back into your classic Fiat 500 for the scenic drive back to your hotel in Taormina, Giardini Naxos, or your starting point.

Things to note

Departures

Every Day (except Sunday)

Duration

Approx 5:00 hrs

Pick-up

1. Parking Mazzarò – Taormina Mare
2. Parking Train Station Taormina / Giardini Naxos
3. Parking Recanati – Bus Terminal Giardini Naxos
4. Nike Statue – Giardini Naxos Harbour

Typology

Countryside and Nature

Included

Light lunch and Etna Wine tasting

Seats

2 adults ( or 2 adults and 2 children) in each Fiat 500

Some places you will visit during the Etna Wine tour:

Alcantara River and Gorges

The name Alcantara is of Arabic origin (al Qanţara – the Bridge) and refers to a bridge from Roman times found by the Arabs. Several thousand years ago, the river bed was blocked by a lava flow from Mount Etna. Over the centuries the river dig a channel through the basalt columns, resulting in impressive gorges that are considered one of the most beautiful gorges of Sicily.

Alcantara River and Gorges
Castiglione di Sicilia – Medieval Town

Castiglione di Sicilia – Medieval Town

Castiglione di Sicilia is a little nice typical sicilian village between Mount Etna and the Alcantara River, surrounded by chestnut oak and nuts woods. It was founded by the greeks on the peak of a mount and used to be a Norman castle to avoid the pirates during the Middle Ages.

Cuba – Byzantine Church

Near Castiglione di Sicilia, the Church of Santa Domenica (a Byzantine church that dates back to the VII century) is also called “Cuba” ( for its cupola roof). It is one of the 100’s most important monuments of Italy and national monument since 1909.

Cuba – Byzantine Church
Etna Winery

Etna Winery

A stop to visit a typical Etna wine cellar and vineyards, and to have also the opportunity to taste Etna wines, which will be accompanied by some local speciality like dried tomatoes, mushrooms and olives, salame, dry and fresh pepato cheese, provola cheese and ricotta cheese.

More information

Our self-drive tour on themed itinerary will show you unveiled Sicily and its secrets.
You will drive one of our classic and convertible Fiat 500 following our tour leader car that will be driven by our staff.
A fun and professional fully licensed English-speaking tour guide will lead you through this fascinating trip.

Don’t forget to bring your driver’s license with you. To drive in Italy you need an EU driving licence, or an International Driving Permit, which is a translation of your non EU licence.

All drivers must be able to drive using a manual clutch / trasmission (stick shift gears). Occasional driving experience with manual cars is not enough to handle our vintage cars.

Infant under 3 years of age are not admitted to the car tour. Children 3-12 years old in the same car of parents are free.

Our tours usually start from your hotel or easy meeting points at 9.30am from October to June and 3.30pm from July to September.

The “Dolce Vita – Sunset Tour” starts at 4.30pm.

If you are a group and you have more time to spend we can arrange a customized full day tour according to your needs.

All the cellars we will visit during our wine tours are chosen with a great care, have a great reputation and make award winning wines.
Usually we prefer to go small and family run wineries to have the opportunity to discuss the wines and the wine making with the owner or the wine maker.

Sicily is very famous all around the world for its wine production. Many Sicilian wine have been awarded in the last ten years as the best wines of the world at Vinitaly (Verona), the largest wine exhibition in the world.

Mount Etna is also well known for its wine production. The vulcano’s fertile soil and the peculiar microclimate provide an ideal ambientation for high quality wines. The wines of Etna (Red, Rosé, White and Superior White varieties) were the first in Sicily to qualify for the DOC designation in 1968.

The most important wine grapes of Mount Etna are: Nerello Mascalese(black grape, historically prevalent on Etna, base of Etna Rosso DOC), Cataratto (white, most common secondary grape allowed in Etna Bianco DOC), Carricante (white grape base for the Etna Bianco DOC) and Nerello Cappuccio or Mantellato (black grape, used to make the Etna rosso Doc in a percentage no greater than 20%).