A little strenuous but worth the effort! - A little strenuous but worth the effort! Read the descriptions and listen to the excellent guides. The walk meets at the bottom of the lift at Rifugio Sapienza. There is time to buy breakfast at the local cafeteria and stock up on food and water if you have forgotten. You can then collect kit, helmets, jacket, boots and walking poles (all advised). The lift takes you to approx 2500m. The advice was you are walking at altitude and up at least 500m in soft ash. Consider this carefully before booking. Our guide, Marco, doesn't like having to give walkers the advice on the easy route down because they have found it difficult. Marco was an excellent safe informed guide giving details in English and French. He took us off the well worn, well populated track and gave us an excellent experience. Whilst we didn't, as informed, reach the summit, stopping at 3000m he gave us what we needed including a snow filled lava tube.

An experience to remember! - This was an amazing trek. The staff at Ashàra looked after everything from picking me up at my door in Catania to bringing me back at the end of the day. Ashàra’s professional service was outstanding. All I needed to do was be present in the moment and enjoy the experience. Marco, our guide on the hike was extremely knowledgeable about the mountain and you could certainly see how passionate he was about what he did. He went the extra mile ( kilometre) to ensure we were all safe and learned as much as we could while we were with him on the mountain. While conditions were extremely windy on the day and it wasn’t going to be safe to reach the summit, the entire experience is one I won’t soon forget. So thank you to everyone at Ashàra and Marco for helping an old guy from Canada check off a bucket list item!

Great Etna Tour - We booked the activity through "Get Your Guides" and weren't sure what to expect at first. We were pleasantly surprised and had a super competent and friendly guide. All questions from the group were answered and the various needs of the participants were taken into account. One participant had overestimated herself a bit and couldn't go any further. Transport down was organized for her. It was super practical that hiking boots and windbreakers could be rented at no extra charge. We only traveled with hand luggage and didn't have everything with us. I would definitely recommend the tour! I particularly liked the fact that there wasn't much going on at the summit outside of peak season. In peak season it can get crowded here.

Wind, glaciers, Beauty and Amazement - Massimo Top - Professionalism and preparation. We were in the company of the guide Massimo, very knowledgeable and very nice. Excursion about five hours long, up the crests and glaciers of Etna. An absurd show. Very strong wind, but that makes everything even more exciting. Marco, another team guide, super welcoming. Parking subject to availability, free of charge, in the area below the Etna terrace. Definitely recommended. Very high command of the English language.

Great Day Treking Mt Etna. - We drive up to Mt Etna in the early morning not wanting to miss our 8.30am start time. The weather was just perfect. Met the team and checked in easy and smooth process. Off on the cable car to start the walk. The guide bought his wife along to translate to English and thier eight year old son, who actually led from the front all day. Great guides lots of information about Etna. Missed the 3000mt mark by 45mt but not to worry the views of the active caters was amazing. We stood inside a crater with steam pouring from vents in the rocks. Walked fresh lava fields and walked on moon scapes. Tough day up and down but so worth it. Recommend this company for sure .

Knowledgeable, meticulous and supportive. - We had 2 false starts due to the weather. The first time they let us kn ow the day before and for the second one we waited at the cable car base. There was no doubt in my mind that their decision was correct. Third time lucky. We were supplied any additional equipment we needed free of charge and our guides set off. Mauro (english and german) was excellent, paced the route well and was very informative. I was confident in his knowledge and skills at all times even when we were walking next to the 13/08/23 eruption. He was also very supportive. Even walkers half my age commented that it was much harder than they expected so I was over the moon when he got me to the highest point. I would recommend them without reserve, but trekking up Etna is not for the faint hearted.

Challenging, breathtaking, interesting and guided by our excellent guide Giuseppe - Giuseppe was an excellent guide, he was really knowledgeable, he didn’t rush anyone and gave us time to look at Etna and take photos. The information was really well spread out, so you didn’t feel like you were stopping too much. The whole trek was well organised and really easy to book. It was a challenging but enjoyable trek, we got to see everything even though the main summit was closed due to volcanic activity which was well explained. Thoroughly enjoyed the decent down and the view at lunch. Would recommend to anyone as a great way to see and learn about Etna from a terrific guide.

A good experience - It was a unique experience but one has to know that you won't see lava or the 'boiling' crater with magma inside. One should be lucky to see fresh lava so don't be mislead by the pictures. Still, the views are quite impressive and you'll get pretty close to the active craters to see them in motion throing stones and steam. Up the mountain it is quite windy, be prepared. The company provided trekking shoes, these are a mist for the hike. The guide was knowledgeable and attentive to all participants.

Mount Etna Lava Monster - Mount Etna in itself is a spectacle to behold. A magnificent natural landscape that I would highly recommend visiting at least once. Maybe the closest you will get to going to the moon. As for the tour company, well, they are just adequate. They process you through the system with barely a smile. A word of warning. You have to be fit to do this walk. This is not a casual stroll. And the tour guide or should I say taskmaster, Giuseppe does not let up for a minute. His scientific explanations were mildly interesting. One interesting aspect is that the tour guide leads from the front as you would expect but no one is at the back. Slower members of the walk trailed behind, increasingly as the walk went on so much so that I wonder what would happen if someone injured themselves, became unwell (think altitude sickness) or got swiped by the mythical Mount Etna Lava Monster. He was so far up front, he wouldn't notice for a long time. Could be so much better.

Poorly organized volcano excursion - I don't get the raving reviews. The check-in was messy and all the advantage we would have by having a meeting point at the refuge near the volcano was lost due to the inefficiency at the start of the tour. The same guy giving out information (to each small group instead to the everybody at once), was the guy receiving payments for the cable car and handing in the equipment. There were 3 groups, around 60 people, and it took well over 1 hour for it to be finished, time enough for all the groups coming from the city, big buses included, to arrive and for the clouds to cover the mountains. Such a waste of vacation time. Unfortunately the rest of the excursion didn't make up for it's unorganized beginning.  The information given by the guide was not specially interesting and he was giving it in two languages, English and French, and he had no good level in either. Part of the hike was covered in snow, but walking sticks were not distributed, and the hike felt a bit insecure, with the ice and strong winds. As a matter of fact, a girl in front of us at the check-in line asked for it and was discouraged to take one. Later, the guide that had discouraged her was using one himself, as well as the other guides, what I thought was a bit disloyal. We ended up with the impression they had not enough sticks for everyone. All in all, not an excellent tour.