my wife and i are spending 3 days in the area and wonder what is the best way to see etna & area without hiking - bad knees. will have a car. FERROVIA CIRCUMETNEA???

thanks

I don't think you can get very high on Mt. Etna with a car, and IME, the views were actually better from Taormina (or even better, Castelmola, above Taormina) than from the highest point to which one could either drive or take the Circumetna train.

If you really want to go near the top of Mt. Etna, consider joining a tour from Taormina. I'm sure your hotel can provide information. As I recall, such tours take nearly all day and include a combination of bus, train, bus again, cablecar, humongous ATV or tank-like thing, etc. Very little walking, and how much walking is largely your choice. If you take such a tour (a) be prepared very very cold temperatures and strong winds at the top. I brought along several very lightweight layers, earmuffs, silk gloves, and protective eye-wear, and I was envied by all in my group. Also (b) consider a tour that stops at the Gole Alcantara. That would take a bit of walking on stairs, but OMG, it is a striking place to see fractured basalt (which isn't all that common, as I understand it).
http://www.golealcantara.com/en/?cookieChecked=true

THANKS

Found this website offering tours. You'd have to sort through to avoid too much walking:

http://www.city-discovery.com/taormi...FUHMtAodgScAGQ

The best views of Mt. Etna are from Taormina. We stayed aat the Villa Schuler and looked directly at Mt. Etna from our room and from the terrace of the hotel. Spectacular. We saw it fiery at night and steamy during the day.

To ascend Etnea you have two routes - one of the northeast side and the better one from Philosopher's Tower on the south - from the Tower area which you can take a bus or drive too I believe a cable car and then 4-wheel vehicles take you up to near the crater which you can, given the volcano's status, walk to and peer over - no view of Etna from afar can approach this in total awesomeness.

The CircumEtnea Railway circles the base of the volcano at a low altitude - you get no views of ti as a whole - I took the train all around and it is a sweet ride for slicing thru lava fields and some neat towns - like Randazzo.

https://books.google.com/books?id=eR...0tower&f=false

https://www.google.com/search?q=sapi...=1600&bih=1075

Sapienza Refuge is near the crater - you get here by cable car and Jeep I believe.