Captb93

Our cruise ship will be docking in Messina for one day (9 hours on Easter Sunday) & we would like to visit Mt Etna. Would taking a taxi from the dock be reasonable? Any other suggestions re. Mt. Etna or Messina would be gratefully accepted.

Richard

Not much to see at Mt. Etna, we drove there in September of 1992 and they were still clearing the lava from the roads. Suggest you visit Taormina, look it up in the 'Text Search' function.

Joanna

You can visit the refuges and see the old lava flows and also see some craters, but I think you'd be lucky to find many cabs on Easter Sunday. Also, a taxi all that way would be fairly pricey : you'd have to keep the driver with you the whole time in order to get back to the ship, as I can't recall seeing any taxi ranks at Etna. <BR> <BR>I would recommend speaking to the courier on your cruise ship on boarding to see if he/she can arrange something well in advance. I would be very surprised if the ship doesn't run a day tour to Taormina and Etna.

cmt

It's not true that there's "nothing to see" on Mt. Etna. It is THE Mt. Etna, a formidable active volcano, not something most of us get to see every day. If it is not dangerously active the day you're there (and that's not something you can count on), you can take a guided tour up there, but I would guess that you cannot on Easter. If you must rush back to your ship, you should not plan on hiking down, but instead get a ride. You must dress for Etna. Up on Etna it is wintery cold, very windy, snow-covered, smokey, weirdly "lunar" looking, strangely fascinating, and depending on your point of view beautiful in a way. I got altitude sick up there at 2,850 meters, a very unpleasant and frightening experience, although the others in my group did not. If you don't actually go UP on Mt. Etna (i.e. high enough to get sick if you're going to get sick), I don't think it would be that interesting just to ride up to the visitor's centeer. A tour to Taormina would be more enjoyable. You can sit in the Greek theater in Taormina and stare at Etna in the distance eas the hours pass and the light changes-- very beautiful, not cold, not frightening, and won't make you sick. <BR> <BR>If you've been to Taormina and you're looking for something different, there are some lesser known attractions west of Messina, e.g., the fine Greco-Roman ruins (theater, mosaics, etc.) at Tindari (very near Patti), also a lovely coastal view from the ruins at Tindari. (Also the church/shrine there is an attraction for locals, with vendors outside giving it a tacky amusement-park atmosphere that can be interesting to foreign observers like us, rather than annoying as it is when we're home.) <BR> <BR>P.S. I haven't been in Messina since around 1973, but i remember that there was some building with a famous clock tower with figures revolving around the clock. (Check guidebook.) Most of Messina is relatively modern because of a horrible earthquake in the early 20th century.

Richard

Dear cmt, <BR>I must take exception to your statement that my post regarding Mount Etna was "not true". If you disagree with my opinion OK, but don't imply I'm not telling the truth.

cmt

Whether there is something to see or not is a question of fact, which is either true or false. Whether that something is interesting or enjoyable is a matter of opinion. <BR> <BR>There is much to see on high up on an active volcano. (Fact.) Whether it would be interesting or enjoyable depends upon the individual's interests, curiosity, visual sensitivity, tolerance of cold, stamina, susceptibility to altitude sickness, taste for bizarre experiences, and many other things. Personally, I thought I was going to die when I was up at 2,850 meters, so it was not enjoyable. But I found it visually so strange and evocative and awesome that it stimulated my imagination, and that to me is exciting and enjoyable. (Opinion.) <BR> <BR>(This is an incredibly silly thing to argue about, you know.)

Captb93

Thank you all for your input. I especially like the tip regarding the ruins near Tindari. To add my 2 cents into the aruguement- I too used to get altitude sickness but since we moved to Az & now live at an altitude of 6,000 feet I have not gotten altitude sickness even when up to as high as 13,000 ft.