Taormina: Guided Etna Wine Tasting Half-Day Tour

About This Experience

The most reviewed Etna wine tour on the market, and the simplest: a five-hour half-day from the Taormina coast to one north-slope estate at Linguaglossa, with four wines and an aperitivo, and back by late afternoon.

Pick-up is at one of five points along the Taormina, Giardini Naxos and Recanati strip rather than at your hotel door. The coach then climbs inland through Fiumefreddo di Sicilia and Piedimonte Etneo, with the guide filling the 75-minute drive with the villages, the lava flows and how the DOC works.

At the estate you get a guided tour of the winery and the production process, then a tasting of four wines with a small Sicilian aperitivo: bread, preserved vegetables, a selection of local cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, dried tomatoes and the estate's olive oil. Two hours on site, then the same drive back.

It is a wine tour, not a volcano tour. You look at Etna from the vineyards; you do not walk on it. For a first visit without a car, and for the price, it is the default answer to "which Etna wine tour", which is why it carries more reviews than any other.

Highlights

• Guided visit to a north-slope Etna winery at Linguaglossa with a four-wine tasting
• Sicilian aperitivo of cheeses, preserves, bread, eggs and estate olive oil served with the wines
• The drive inland through Fiumefreddo, Piedimonte Etneo and the lava-stone villages, narrated by the guide
• Pick-up and drop-off at five points along the Taormina and Giardini Naxos coast
• Half-day format: five hours door to door, back by late afternoon

What's Included

• ✓ Tasting of four wines
• ✓ Small Sicilian aperitivo: bread, preserved vegetables, cheeses, dried tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs and local olive oil
• ✓ Guided visit of the winery
• ✓ Coach transport from and to the pick-up point
• ✓ Guide in English, Italian or French

Not Included

• Transport from your hotel to the pick-up point
• Tips

What to Bring

• Comfortable shoes for the cellar and vineyard walk

Good to Know & Caveats

• Five hours door to door, of which about two and a half are on the coach; this is a half-day, not a full one.
• Pick-up is at fixed points (Taormina bus terminal, Recanati, Naxos), not at your hotel. Check which is nearest when you book.
• It is a wine tour, not a volcano tour: you see Etna from the vineyards and do not walk on the mountain.
• The estate sells bottles at cellar-door prices, and guests regularly mention buying some to take home.
• Babies under one year are not accepted; under-18s can come but are not served wine.

Meeting Point

Pick-up at one of five points on the Taormina, Giardini Naxos and Recanati coast, including the Taormina bus terminal; the winery is at Linguaglossa on Etna's north slope.