Europe's highest active volcano
Mount Etna is a stratovolcano built over some 500,000 years above the collision zone of the African and Eurasian plates. It is by far the largest of Italy's four active volcanoes, about two and a half times the height of Vesuvius; in the whole European and North African region west of the Black Sea only Mount Teide on Tenerife is higher. It is in an almost constant state of activity: since 1600 there have been at least 60 flank eruptions and countless summit eruptions, and in 2001 alone sixteen separate eruptions were counted. The United Nations listed it as a Decade Volcano, and in June 2013 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A summit that keeps moving. Etna's height has been measured many times: 3,274 m in 1900, 3,350 m at the North-East Crater in 1981, 3,329 m in 1999 and 3,326 m by high-precision GPS in July 2018. In June 2021 the cone of the South-East Crater reached 3,357 m and became the new summit. After the paroxysm of the central Voragine crater on 4 July 2024 the Voragine took over at an estimated 3,369 m, and further paroxysms until 15 August 2024 raised it to 3,403 m, the figure published by INGV in its weekly Etna bulletin of 17 September 2024. The volcano's activity in 2025 and 2026 may have changed it again, so treat any figure as provisional.
Today the summit has five active craters: the North-East Crater (formed in 1911), the Voragine (1945), the Bocca Nuova (1968), the South-East Crater (1971) and the New South-East Crater, born in 2007 and grown since 2011 on the edge of the Valle del Bove. The borders of ten municipalities meet at the top.
Where it is and how to get there
Etna lies entirely within the metropolitan city of Catania. Catania-Fontanarossa airport, the main gateway, is often closed for hours or days by ash. The narrow-gauge Circumetnea railway (1889–1895) runs about 110 km around the volcano from Catania to Riposto.
There are two tourist stations. Etna Sud, above Nicolosi, is reached by the SP92 road, which climbs to almost 2,000 m in about 20 km of hairpins and ends at the Rifugio Sapienza (1,910 m). The refuge was built by the Catania section of the Italian Alpine Club and opened on 14 December 1947; today it is a hotel and restaurant, surrounded by shops, bars and the lower station of the cable car. Lava has repeatedly come within metres of it, notably in 1983 and 2001. Etna Nord is at Piano Provenzana (1,825 m) above Linguaglossa, a small ski area destroyed by lava in 2002 and later rebuilt. On the east side, above Milo, is the Rifugio Citelli. Both stations have ski lifts that usually open from mid-December into spring.
Routes to the summit
Cable car and 4x4 (south side). The Funivia dell'Etna climbs from about 1,920 m at the Rifugio Sapienza to 2,500 m. The first cable car of 1966 reached 2,930 m; lava destroyed its upper part in 1971, the middle station in 1983 and later terminals in 1985 and 2001, and the present gondola with 72 cabins designed by Pininfarina opened in 2004. From the upper station 4x4 buses (snowcats in winter) carry visitors to about 2,800 m, and from there a short walk with a volcano guide reaches about 3,000 m, near the summit craters. The operator's standard "Tour 3000" combines all three.
On foot. Fit hikers can walk instead of taking the cable car and buses: from the Rifugio Sapienza a dirt track climbs about 1,000 m more to the area of the old Torre del Filosofo at about 2,900 m, which makes the road from the coast one of the greatest continuous climbs in Europe. The walk is on loose volcanic ash and scoria, steep in places, at altitudes where the air is thin and the weather can change fast. Independent hikers must respect the current civil-protection zones (see below); the summit craters themselves may only be approached with authorised guides.
Other walks. The rim of the Valle del Bove, the Monti Silvestri craters at about 1,800 m, formed in 1892, and the lava caves on the northern flank left by the ten-year eruption of 1614 are popular walks that do not require going high.
Rules, guides and civil-protection zones
Access to the summit area is regulated by the Sicilian Regional Civil Protection Department (DRPC) on the basis of INGV monitoring. As of 2026 it defines two zones:
- Summit Zone (ZS): the summit craters, the upper Valle del Bove down to about 1,700 m and, roughly, everything above 2,500 m on the southern, western and northern flanks; it can also include lower areas close to active lava flows or vents.
- Zone of Permanent Hazard (ZPP): inside the ZS, around the summit craters, where access is always subject to specific safety rules whatever the state of the volcano.
When the DRPC declares the pre-alarm phase, the ZPP is closed; in the alarm phase the whole ZS is closed, and the Guardia di Finanza and the Sicilian Forestry Corps set up checkpoints, especially on the Etna Sud and Etna Nord sides. Anyone inside a closed zone must leave immediately. In addition, Italian law allows only licensed alpine guides and volcanological guides to lead people professionally on active volcanoes, and excursions to the summit craters are allowed only in their company. Mayors' ordinances can add further limits, so check the current situation with the guide offices at the Rifugio Sapienza or Piano Provenzana on the day.
The Etna Regional Park, created on 17 March 1987 as the first regional park in Sicily, covers 59,000 ha and has its headquarters in a former Benedictine monastery in Nicolosi.
Eruptions old and new
The first known account of an eruption is by Diodorus Siculus. A violent Plinian eruption in 122 BC collapsed roofs in Catania. The most destructive historical eruption began on 11 March 1669: lava buried villages on the southern flank, reached the walls of Catania five weeks later and filled its harbour; the widely repeated figure of 15,000–20,000 dead is not supported by contemporary accounts. In 1928 lava destroyed the town of Mascali in two days. In 1971 it buried the volcanological observatory and the first cable car; in 1983 engineers made the world's first attempt to divert a lava flow with explosives; and in 1991–1993, during Etna's longest 20th-century eruption (473 days), earth barriers and a blast that broke a lava tube saved the town of Zafferana Etnea. In 2002–2003 an ash column reached as far as Libya, and footage of that eruption was used for the planet Mustafar in Star Wars.
In 2021 the South-East Crater produced a series of violent lava-fountain paroxysms: by 12 March it had erupted 11 times in three weeks, with ash clouds above 10 km closing Sicilian airports and ash falling on Catania. In 2024 the Voragine erupted on 4 July and violently on 14 August, with an ash cloud of 9.5 km. On 2 June 2025 a collapse on the South-East Crater sent a pyroclastic flow down the flank. On 1 January 2026 a flank eruption opened at about 2,100 m in the Valle del Bove, with lava reaching 1,420 m the next day, and on 6 August 2026 the Voragine began a new phase of lava fountains and heavy ash; vents on the eastern flank fed flows into the Valle del Bove down to about 1,370 m, and hundreds of flights at Catania were cancelled or diverted until the aviation alert was lowered on 15 August.
The Valle del Bove
On the eastern flank lies the Valle del Bove, a horseshoe-shaped depression about 7 by 4.5 km whose walls rise 400–1,000 m. It was formed by a series of flank collapses; the deposit of the first great landslide, near Milo, has been dated to between 7478 and 7134 BC, and research has linked such a collapse with a tsunami in the eastern Mediterranean. Its floor, about 37 km², is a desert of recent lava flows, from 1991–1993 onwards, with islands of older vegetation and young cones such as Monte Simone (1811–1812). Because the valley channels lava away from towns, many recent eruptions have flowed into it. Its name comes from the belief that it was the highest place on Etna where oxen could be taken to graze.
When to go and weather
Etna can be visited all year, but conditions differ greatly with altitude. Snow covers the upper slopes in winter and can persist at the highest levels almost into summer; the ski season normally runs from mid-December into spring. Late spring to autumn is the usual season for summit excursions. Even in summer, temperatures near 3,000 m are far lower than on the coast and strong winds are common, so bring a windproof jacket, warm layers, sturdy boots for sharp lava, sunglasses and sun protection. The decisive factor is the volcano itself: check INGV communiqués and the DRPC phase before going up.
Water
The volcanic slopes have almost no surface water: rain and snowmelt sink into the porous rock. Bars and restaurants at the Rifugio Sapienza and Piano Provenzana sell drinks; above the cable-car station do not count on buying anything. If you walk up from the Rifugio Sapienza, carry at least 2 litres per person, more in summer heat, because the climb of about 1,000 m on ash is slow and the sun is strong.
Mobile coverage and internet
The tourist stations at Etna Sud and Etna Nord are close to the populated slopes and have Italian mobile coverage; higher up the signal varies with network and terrain. Save offline maps and the civil-protection information before you set off. The emergency number in Italy is 112; mountain rescue (Soccorso Alpino) is dispatched through it.
Dangers and safety
Etna is relatively safe for a volcano of its activity, but it does kill. A study of historical eruptions attributes only 77 deaths to Etna with certainty, the most recent in 1987, when two tourists died in a sudden explosion near the summit. On 16 March 2017 ten people, including a BBC television crew, were injured when magma exploded on contact with snow. The main hazards near the craters are sudden explosions and falling volcanic bombs, gas, ash, steep loose ground, and disorientation in cloud or ash. Respect closures, keep to the routes chosen by the guides, and remember that weather at 3,000 m can be wintry in any month.
History and name
The name probably comes from the Greek aíthō, "I burn", or from a related local word meaning "the fiery one"; another theory derives it from a Phoenician word for "furnace". The Arabs called it Jabal al-Nār, "mountain of fire", and Sicilians still call it Mongibello (Muncibbeḍḍu), usually explained as a combination of the Romance and Arabic words for mountain. In myth the forge of Hephaestus (Vulcan) lay under Etna, and the monster Typhon was imprisoned beneath it; medieval legends even placed King Arthur's otherworld kingdom inside the mountain.
Interesting facts
- Etna moves towards the sea at about 14 mm a year as its eastern flank slides over weaker rock.
- Etna has produced rare volcanic vortex rings, smoke rings hundreds of metres across, recorded in 2000, 2013, 2023 and 2024.
- The road from the coast to the Torre del Filosofo, about 2,900 m of continuous ascent, is one of the biggest climbs in Europe, and the Giro d'Italia has finished at the Rifugio Sapienza several times.
- The fertile volcanic soils carry vineyards and orchards up to about 1,000 m, and forests reach about 1,500 m.
- Etna's lava tubes from the 1614–1624 eruption, the longest in its recorded history, include caves such as the Grotta del Gelo.
FAQ
How high is Mount Etna? 3,403 m according to INGV measurements published in September 2024, after the Voragine crater grew during the 2024 paroxysms. The height changes with eruptions: it was 3,357 m in 2021 and 3,326 m in 2018.
How long does it take to reach the summit area? With the cable car, 4x4 bus and guided walk the standard excursion from the Rifugio Sapienza to about 3,000 m takes half a day. Walking up from the Rifugio Sapienza (about 1,000 m of ascent to around 2,900 m) is a full-day hike on loose ash, so start early.
Do I need a guide? To approach the summit craters, yes: excursions there are allowed only with authorised alpine or volcanological guides, and the civil-protection authority closes the permanent-hazard zone in the pre-alarm phase and the whole summit zone (roughly above 2,500 m) in the alarm phase.
How difficult is it? The guided cable-car tour is easy and suitable for families. Walking up is a long, steep hike on loose ash and scoria, with thin air and strong wind near 3,000 m; it needs good fitness and proper boots.
Is there water on the way? No natural water. Buy drinks at the Rifugio Sapienza or Piano Provenzana and carry at least 2 litres per person if you walk.
Is there mobile phone coverage? Yes at the tourist stations; higher up it varies. Call 112 in an emergency.
When is the best time to visit Etna? Late spring to autumn for summit excursions; winter brings snow and skiing. Always check the volcano's current status, because eruptions can close the summit at any time of year.
Is Etna dangerous? It is one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the world, and most eruptions are watched safely from a distance. Deaths are rare but explosions near the summit have killed and injured visitors, so follow closures and guides' instructions.