9 day Sicily bike tour: cycling trip to Mount Etna

Itinerary

1st day: To start this Sicily bike tour, we meet in Catania and our van will drive us to “Modica”. The transfer takes two hours, so once we arrive to the hotel we’ll receive and prepare the bikes and introduce the trip to everybody before enjoying a delicious Sicilian dinner.

2nd day: We start from Modica, one of the most beautiful cities of the Sicilian Baroque South east in direction Ragusa Ibla, another jewel of baroque architecture, located scenically on a hilltop, downhill on a beautiful single track path. After a short visit of Ragusa Ibla, we continue uphill to the small village of Giarratana. From Giarratana we ride along the former railway tracks to Palazzolo Acreide, anotherBaroque city and the end of our stage.

3rd day: Today’s stage will take us around the “Anapo Valley” and the deep canyons that are typical for this area. From Palazzolo we cycle through the typical landscape of the Iblei Plateau downhill to reach the river Anapo, near the “gate” to the “Pantalica Valley”. The last part of the track is a fast downhill. From here we start a climb to the upper part of Pantalica, a Necropolis from the late “Bronze Age” and later inhabited during the byzantine era.

4th day: From Palazzolo Acreide we start on a rolling road in direction Testa dell’Acqua, a small village. We will come along some nice single tracks and different kinds of gravel ways. From there we continue downhill to Noto Antica, the ruins of the first, original city of Noto before it was destroyed by the devastating earthquake of 1693 and rebuilt completely new closer to the coast. We continue to the valley of Cava Carosello.

5th day: The stage of today will bring us to the beautiful coast of Noto. We start in direction to Lido di Noto and Eloro, a satellite city founded by the Greeks of Siracusa to defend the outskirts. We continue along the coast, between Mediterranean Macchia and ancient quarries to beautiful small beaches. We stop at the “Villa Romana del Tellaro”, a Roman villa with colorful floor mosaics and before we continue uphill among vineyards back to Noto. Overnight in Noto.

6th day: Today’s Sicily bike tour stage will lead us along the coastline to Siracusa. The first part is a continues change of short downhills and climbs until we arrive on the coast at Fontane Bianche, pass by the small harbor of Ognina and the sandy beach of Arenella before we arrive at the rocky coast of Plemmirio, where we have a spectacular view on “Ortigia”, the historical center of the most beautiful city of Sicily: Siracusa.

7th day: From Siracusa we start in the morning by bus for a transfer to Rifugio Sapienza on Mt. Etna. We start cycling fromt he south side of Mt. Etna, at about 1800 m above sea level on the fascinating “Pista Altomontana”. It is an easy path between forests to old lava fields. After an easy climb on the first kilometers up to Rifugio Glavarina and Poggio La Caccia at 1950 m.
From here we start the downhill on the north side of the volcanoe. At Mt Nunziato we stop to see the cave formed by a lava flow in 1843. We continue to Monte Spagnolo and then on a single track on the lava flows from 1981 to the “Bottoniera” craters that endangered the city of Randazzo in 1981.

8th day: This stage of your cycling trip to Mount Etna will show us the beautiful Alcantara Valley. We will pass through some villages, always with the impressive Silhouette of Mt. Etna in our view. We will also pass through some vineyards where the famous red wine from Etna is produced. A characteristic red wine with a special taste that also comes from the volcanic minerals in the soil from lava dust. The Alcantara river runs through the volcanic stone and has formed the marvelous Alcantara gorge.

9th day: You can choose between being transferred to Catania’s “Fontanarossa” airport or to stay in Giardini Naxos where the tour finishes