I am traveling with a small group to Sicily in a few days. We had planned to go up Etna on Sunday, but the weather reports are not great. Winds 30-40 kilometers, temperatures in the teens and possibility of snow.
I'm worried there is a chance the cablecar won't be running. We are only in Taormina Sun and Mon, with a wine tasting scheduled at Gambino Monday. Can't just switch Etna with wine tasting because weather Monday is no better. Any ideas for an alternative half day trip from Taormina in case weather is too bad for Etna? We are moving on to Siracusa Tuesday, and will be visiting the Villa Romana another day.
Does anyone know how to find out if the cable car is running on Etna before going up? We were planning on getting there by 10 or 10:30 am. If the cable car is not running, not sure we'd enjoy taking two buses up. Also I didn't want to spend the whole day away from Taormina - want to be able to enjoy the town in the afternoon/evening.
Thanks for any suggestions or info about possible inclement weather on Etna!

Twas such a situation with moi several years ago -turmoil at summit scrubbed the 4-wheeler that went there from the cable car (which had been destroyed then) -but I had a lovely walk thru Catania - to me the most suave town in Sicilty - a certain elegance about it - just walked thru it to reach the CircumEtnea, narrow-gauge train that runs right around the behemoth base of the volcano and it was fascinating - going thru lots of lava fields and towns built from the lava - nice regional towns like Randazzo where I took a bus back to Taromina. If can access crater fine if not take this unique train! (Leaves from center of Catania and very much a local railway.

Thanks for the idea PalenQ! Will check out the train.

I agree with PalenQ that Catania and the CircumEtnea are options. I'm not sure I would do it in bad weather, but you could go up above Taormina to Castelmola, or down below it to Isola Bella. If you don't already have plans to visit it, you could go to Noto, or perhaps one of the other Baroque Towns.

IME, the Rough Guide provides particularly good coverage of Sicily, so you might see if you can get your hands on a copy.