We had a really fun day on this tour. It gives you a great chance to see what this part of Sicily has to offer, cramming quite a lot in to a relatively short space of time, without making it feel rushed. The star of the show is definitely the Etna trip - it's a fascinating place even though it was extremely cloudy at the top so there weren't many views to see!. I would urge people going on this trip to bring warm clothing, even if it feels like a hot day down below, as it's very cold at the high altitude and there were patches of snow on the ground even though we went in June and the temperature in Taormina down below was 30C..
The Alcantara gorges provided a nice walk around, though we didn't think they were particularly spectacular. Personally I think the tour could ditch the Randazzo part completely as it's not an especially nice village and there's not much to do there although the stop-off does provide an opportunity to grab lunch.
I feel it important to mention that a few things mentioned on the itinerary on the Viator tour didn't actually happen. For example:
- the guide did not come around the gorges with us we were left to walk around on our own
- there was no cable car on the trip and this was not even mentioned at any stage.
- the guide did not come with us to the craters: we were basically dumped out of the 4x4 and left to wander around on our own.
- disappointingly, we did not actually go to the summit. We went high up Etna, but not to the summit. The guide actually said to someone on the way back that it is not allowed for tourists to visit the summit any more - so why advertise otherwise?
None of these issues were massively problematic and we still had a good day, but it seems odd to mention things like this on the itinerary if they're not going to be provided, or even mentioned. I would urge Viator to revise the details provided on this site, so that they match what is actually provided.