Catania and Mount Etna: 3 Days

May 27, 2026

Catania and Mount Etna: 3 Days

The train ride from Palermo to Catania was about four hours long since there was an issue with the train that delayed us for an hour. I arrived at the Urban Pop hostel shortly before sunset. I didn’t do anything except getting a kebab for dinner.

There is a WhatsApp group for the hostel. So the next morning I sent a message asking if anyone wants to walk around the town. Olesya, a Russian girl living in Germany, replied to me. I met her for lunch.

Olesya moved from Russia to Germany for a software developer job. She’s only spending a few days in Catania mainly to see Mount Etna, the largest volcano in Europe. I decided that I should try to see it too.

In the hostel, there is a sign-up sheet for a Mount Etna tour guided by the hostel owner. There must be four people on the sheet or else there won’t be a tour. Luckily, I was the second person who signed up and then got two more people from my dorm to sign up as well.

After the hostel breakfast the next morning, the crew got ready for the hike in Mount Etna. There was Patrick, a German engineer who will start his first job after college. Mazlum, a software developer from Turkey and lives in Vienna. Tomasz, a Polish guy who works in quality control. The leader of the tour is Salvo, the hostel owner.

Since this was a private tour, Salvo drove us to a less touristy spot by Mount Etna. We hiked up the volcano while seeing some processionary caterpillars on the ground. They are poisonous and should not be touched.

Farther up on the trail, the landscape changed from trees to a more barren scenery. The view from the hike was amazing! We could spot Catania on one side and Taormina on the other.

There are four craters on Mount Etna, but we didn’t go all the way to the top on any of them. The volcano is still active. In fact, I was afraid that it might erupt on the day of this hike. I don’t know why my mind imagines the worst, but it does from time to time. Luckily, my fear was put to rest by Salvo when he said there are scientists monitoring the volcano so it’s safe to hike.

The highlight of the hike was when the five of us ran down a volcanic slope. I was left in the dust and was the last one reaching the bottom.

After getting back to the car, Salvo took us to a local restaurant where they served big portions of pasta and lasagna. All of us had a great time and we were glad we went with Salvo rather than doing a more official tour.

I spent exactly a month in Italy. I was surprised by all the different things Italy had to offer: from a water city, to Renaissance art, to ancient Roman ruins, to quieter towns, and to a volcano. Not to mention the different local foods.

But the hostel prices are a bit high, including separate city taxes. I also didn’t like the table service fees that could be abused by the restaurants to scam the tourists.

Overall, I enjoyed Italy and hope to be back to visit northern Italy and the Amalfi coast.

This morning, I woke up at 6:45 AM to catch the ALIB bus to the airport. My flight was at 9:30 and it only took about 50 minutes to reach Malta from Catania. I will be staying in Malta for six days.