Mountain Etna

Learn about Mt Etna in Italy and find interesting history and pictures. Mt Etna info will help you plan your visit and provide all the education about the history of this tourist attraction. Palermo.com is a great Mt Etna tourism guide.

Journey to Mt Etna From Palermo

In addition to having many of its own natural attractions, Palermo is also convenient to many of Sicily’s most interesting sites. One that looms over the city and looms large in the life of the island is Mt Etna.

Mt Etna tourism is quite popular, even though visiting the volcano can be dangerous. Unlike the “dead” volcanoes that often make great postcard shots, there is nothing dead about Mt Etna. Italy watches with wary eyes as the mountain smokes, puffs ash, oozes lava, and makes ominous rumbles.

The air of jumpy expectancy that surrounds Mt Etna is backed by recent experience. While its largest eruption in the last hundred years took place in 1928, it routinely leaks lava down the side of the mountain, damaging farm ground and burying buildings. Seismologists track Mt Etna info carefully, waiting for the day when the next big blow up arrives so that they can warn everyone to steer clear in time.

From a touristic perspective, the main thing you need to know about Mt Etna is that it is well worth the day trip out from Palermo. There are many places in the city that offer you distant views of the volcano, but this is no substitute for being up close. It is monitored very closely, and you will know if you should stay away for any reason.

Otherwise, if there is no warning in place, you should take the bus or make the drive to the volcano. The drive alone is worth the journey, as you will get to see some of the amazing Sicilian shoreline along the way.

Once you arrive, don’t expect to stand back! There is a cable car system that runs visitors up the mountain so that they can explore the four main craters that dimple the sides. You are also free to hike the sides and explore some of the past lava flows for pictures and the novelty of seeing the lava up close.

There is an observatory on the mountain, and tours of a museum displays are offered. Mt Etna info has been captured in photographs, movies, and drawings for centuries. Each rendition of the mountain attempts to capture a bit of what it is like to have a real live volcano in your own backyard.

Whether it is smoking or sleeping, the view of the mountain and back from the mountain toward the sea are memorable experiences. Don’t let a little smoke scare you away-Mt Etna is one of the world geological treasures, and it is certainly a Palermo wonder you won’t want to miss.