Folks,

Two couples, both youngish seniors, trying to decide between spending a day exploring Mt Etna, perhaps with a Jeep Tour, or adding a day to Siracusa, already set for one day with a tour of Ortigia. One possible variable might be as this is after a week in Sicily, might we prefer some time shopping for gifts to bring back. Wondering is Siracusa gives us a better option on that,

Thoughts, please... Thanks.

Where are you going to be staying, Spedprof? Ortigia is lovely but not sure you need a guided tour of it, if that's what you are suggesting. OTOH if it were a nice day weatherwise a trip to Etna could be wonderful.

No chance of rejigging your trip to get both? Where will you be staying for the rest of your stay on Sicily?

Thanks... we are working with a travel planner who has us staying at/near a vineyard in Etna the day before and we just wondered if riding a jeep into the old lava was a desirable use of the day as opposed to an extra day in Siracusa. I mentioned the Ortigia tour to avoid any suggestions from the Forum that we use the extra day to go to Ortigia... Its already planned... Wondering what else we might do in/near Etna if we turn down the Jeep tour?

Thanks for the extra detail but I'm still struggling. Your trip planner has you staying near Etna for how long? And it's not old lava. Some is relatively recent. Can you post a link to the Jeep tour? There are loads all offering something different.

it might be helpful and save us both time if you post your Sicily itinerary.

Sorry but I don't have any specifics about locations nor Jeep tour company.... just a general plan that we visit and stay in the vineyards of Mt. Etna for one (or two) nights and then move on to Siracusa. If we stay the second night in Mt. Etna, we can go on a Jeep Tour or instead we can opt to leave after the one night there, skip the Jeep tour, and have the extra day in Siracusa. That is our current choice as we work on the trip. Hope that helps. Apologies, I used old lava as opposed to any recent "hot" lava, Was an unnecessary use of an adjective... Sorry!

No worries about talking about old lava, but you certainly don't want to encounter any of the hot stuff! We did a jeep tour which included a visit to the area where the lava from the [then] last eruption had finished, demolishing a couple of hotels and some shops en route, and then we went to a nearby vineyard for lunch which was very nice but my DH would greatly have preferred to get the cable car and go much further up onto the volcano. I'm mentioning this because there are several different sorts of tours that you can do of Mount Etna and you needn't just accept what your trip planner is recommending. lots more information here:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attrac...ia_Sicily.html

if you are moving onto Siracusa after Etna how long are you staying there and where are you going afterwards? There are really at least 2 days' worth of things to do in Siracusa - one is to go and visit the Greek Theatre and Ear of Dionysis, and the other is to visit Ortygia. It would be a great shame to go to Siracusa and not do both. Which is why I was wondering what the rest of your itinerary on Sicily looks like.

That is most helpful... We had only one day plugged in for Siracusa and my sense was that an extra day there, as you kinda suggest, might be preferable to a Jeep Tour.... Can't do it all, I assume... just have to return.

One wrinkle was that with that extra day of Jeep Tour in Mt. Etna area, planner offers a dinner in Taormina, which we'd also love to see... so now its giving up the K=Jeep Tour and dinner in Taormina for an extra day in Siracusa. Feel so guilty worrying about this with all the stuff going on in the world, but I suppose our lives have to continue.

Thanks.

Such different options!

I'm very surprised by your description of the "jeep" option. Unless things have changed quite a lot in recent years, you can't get to the top by jeep -- you can get close, but you then have to change to various other forms of transportation, to include lifts and an RV-like thing.

I felt that I shortchanged Ortigia by giving it a mere 3 nights. YMMV.

You have a TON of options in the area. If you don't already have one consider getting a good guide book. IME, the one by Rough Guide is particularly good for Sicily.

We were hesitant about going to Mt. Etna and absolutely loved the experience after someone on Fodor's recommended it. Yes, we did the jeep tour with an informative tour guide, learned about the effects of a volcanic eruption and crawled inside a cave. Very interesting!

kja - I agree. I think we had 4 nights in Ortygia - at least 3 anyway - and I agree we could have stayed longer. Such a beautiful and relaxing place but with lots to do and see.

spedproof - I'm not being nosy but is there some reason that you aren't posting the rest of your itinerary in Sicily? That is to say where you are staying each night? You say you have a week there but you are only telling us about the end of it! Who knows, we might be able to help you see Etna and Ortygia.

The best trip planners are right here! 😁 Has your trip planner actually been to Sicily?

I spent 3 nights in Ortigia and would have loved two more. There is so much to see and do there. Very lovely interesting place with thousands of years of history and architecture. Some very nice shops
​​​​​and galleries too. And the FOOD!

<<The best trip planners are right here! 😁 Has your trip planner actually been to Sicily?>>

Exactly Dayle. Which is why I am encouraging spedproof to share her entire itinerary with us.

I would go up Mt Etna but with the cablecar. If you don’t have a car hire a driver to take you to Rifugio Sapienza and you can take the cablecar there then there are buses that take you to the top and a guide walks you around.
and I would also do the stop in Taormina if you want to see it.
I used Sicily Tours based in Letojanni when I needed a driver. Carmelo was excellent.