Circumetnea

Circumetnea Review

Instead of climbing up Mount Etna, you can circle it on the Circumetnea, which runs near the volcano's base. The private railway almost circles the volcano, running 114 km (71 mi) between Catania and Riposto—the towns are 30 km (19 mi) apart by the coast road. The line is small, slow, and only single-track, but has some dramatic vistas of the volcano and goes through lava fields. The trip takes about four hours; there are about 10 departures a day. After you've made the trip one way, you can get back to where you started from on the much quicker, but less scenic, conventional state railway line between Catania and Riposto.