...I highly recommend this trip. (Giannella G., USA, about the Etna Discovery tour)
"Hi, Irina,
Here is a short testimonial about my wonderful Mt. Etna experience:
I took Volcano Adventure's “Etna Discovery” trekking excursion May 2019. Months later, I am still smiling over the great views, unexpected hornito eruption and excellent guiding by volcanologist, Evelyne Pradal. Each day we covered a new area, exploring the stunning diversity of Etna's slopes — beech forests, tube caves, scorched lava sands, ropey pahoehoe, a stunning ash valley, and so much more.
Pradal knows Etna well, having led many groups there over the years. She and the local guides who accompanied us daily shared fascinating information about the history of the volcano and its lava flows. We stayed at a comfortable, rustic lodge, where every night after a hot shower and before dinner, we sat in front of a cozy fireplace discussing the day's experiences over wine.
We trekked anywhere from three to six hours per day and spent one rest day visiting the lovely town of Taormina, a Norman castle built on top of a hydromagma volcano, and Gola Alcantara, a river canyon with spectacular, columnar lava formations. I highly recommend this trip. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I plan to do it again next year!
Here is the link to my Erta Ale article.
Best regards,
Giannella"
(Giannella G., USA, about the Etna Discovery tour)
...Fondest memories...
"Yes,yes, Tom! Please, emails! Don't disappear on us! Congratulations and good luck in new venture. You can't miss. You're the best... And funny too. May this be wonderful New Year for you and yours and Volcano Adventures.
Fondest memories... Many hugs to you,
Sandie N."
(Sandra from Washington about a tour to Etna and Stromboli)
"I believe we will be talking about it for the next few years..."
At the Valle del Bove
"Hi Tom
...
Once again, we really appreciated with your arrangement and guidance. It was the most enjoyable and the highlight of our trip.
It had also opened our eyes to see how wonderful and powerful our planet is.
We still have been talking about it. I believe we will be talking about it for the next few years. I don't think it will be a forgettable experience in my life. Poor me, it will be very hard to find another experience as good as this again. Unless your will take us to somewhere else on earth.
...
We would also thank for your organisation with Rosario to be our volcano guide. He was amazing. Hope we can visit him once again in the future.
...
Thank you very much. Please keep in touch and take care.
Cheers
Tony / Moon / Joan / Eva"
(Tony S. from Hong Kong, about the Etna Volcano Special tour)
A great TRIP to Etna with Rosario
"... btw we had A great TRIP to Etna with Rosario, so much so it has really inspired my son to do Geology in Imperial College in London this September.
...
Cheers, Michelle" (Private Tours on Etna)
"Thanks so much for your assistance with arranging last week's trek"
"Thanks so much for your assistance with arranging last week's trek, Tom. Matt and I had a brilliant time!
Camille" (Camille & Matt from Australia about the Excursion to Stromboli)
"this is just magic" (Nicolas from France about his Stromboli tour)
Strong eruption from the NE crater
Nicolas (44), Julia (7) and Yvan (9)
"Dear Tom,
...
I take advantage of this mail to state once again that this Stromboli discovery was great. You are used to but for newcomers, this is just magic.
Best regards - Nicolas
...
I saw that you have some customers testemony on your website: you may add this one if you want (and photo)
I wrote it in english (more international..)
---
"Thanks to VOLCANO DISCOVERY : we had a great Stromboli discovery, with my young kids.
Stromboli is just magic, erupting lava every 15 minutes or so, breaking the black night sky with fire: just great.
Going up with young kids is ok but needs some mental preparation and a good siesta before as the coming back is late night.
Last Congratulations to VOLCANO DISCOVERY: professional organisation and great spirit from managers that love volcanos and are not in just to tap money from tourists.
Best to all
Nicolas (44), Julia (7) and Yvan (9) - written 2 august 2011" (Nicolas, France, Stromboli tour)
"...perfect organisation..." (a feedback in Croatian)
"Dragi Tom,
jos uvijek pod nezaboravnim dojmovima od putovanja po Etni, Volcano i Stromboli,htjela bih da ti se zahvalim.Tvoje kompetentno i razumljivo vodenje po vulkanu,odlicno organizirano,srdacnost Tvoje i grupe za mene ostaje u lijepom sjecanju.
Taj dozivljaj erupcije vulkana Stromboli na vecer, pjesacenje po Etni,razgledavanje Lipara, sve me to animira za opet drugo putovanje sa "VolcanoDiscovery"
Danke,Hvala Tom,
uz pozdrav Marica iz Varazdina,Hrvatska" (Stromboli to Etna tour)
...thank you for the wonderful experience that we had... (Trekking Tour on Etna)
Dear Tom, we've just returned from Sicily and would like to thank you for the wonderful experience that we had. We had great weather and could descend into Etna's main crater. Your "variant 1" turned out to be the perfect challenge for our 9 year old daughter, although she found the craters and the fumes a bit scary. My wife and I rank this trip as one of our top 3 experiences so far!
Rosario was a perfect guide: he made us feel at ease and safe, provided just enough explanations without sounding like the stereotypical tourist guide and he was just 100% a pro.
Minor correction: the guides do have boots, backpacks and jackets that your customers can borrow.
I've enclosed a few pictures of us on Mt Etna.
Best regards Sven Jorissen"
" how much we enjoyed our trip to Sicily" (The Eolian Islands and Etna tour)
"Hello Tom and Tobias. We have been meaning to write to say how much we
enjoyed our trip to Sicily. We'd particularly like you to know how very much we enjoyed the company of our guide. Of course life was a little easier for him with a group of just three people! But he went to great trouble to make sure that we were safe and comfortable and enjoyed all the trips we did with him. ... Thanks to you again, by the way, for allowing an 'uneconomic'trip to go ahead." (T. Mills, UK)
"...I climbed Sromboli as planned and had a really great time. The views were fantastic and the guides were very good.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone. Thank you." (Steve C., UK)
a wonderful excursion at the Etna
"Hi Tom,
I would like with this email to thank Volcano Discovery and the Team (Specially Rosario Basile) for a wonderful excursion at the Etna.
I took nice photos which I would like to share at the web page of Volcano Discovery. What shall I do?
Best Regards,
Gabriela Marcano"
"one of the most amazing experiences of my life"
Tom,
I just wanted to send you a note to say how much I enjoyed the recent tour.
Marco was just brilliant and I can safely say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
...
Thanks
Adrian (Stromboli to Etna tour May 2010)
... about a trekking tour on Etna
"Hi Tom,
I am sorry that it has taken me so long to email you with feedback from the trip Janet smith and Michael bailey took in June with your guide Rosario to do the full traverse of Etna. It was fantastic and something we will never forget. It was a hard walk but very enjoyable and Rosario was fantastic, he is very knowledgeable, kind and friendly, we were like friends by the end of the walk. Please make sure that you feed back this to him...
Thank you for all your help and we would definitely recommend you to others
Kind Regards
Janet and Mick" (UK)
Feeback from a private group tour on Etna
Group on 15 Nov 2009
"Dear Tom,
On Nov. 15, 2009 a group of 11 people went up the Etna with our guide Rosario starting from Rifugio Sapienza.
It was the first vulcano tour for all of us and we were all impressed what we saw during the day: It was awesome to see the boiling craters on the top of the Etna and feeling the heat of this impressive active vulcano. The highlight was for sure the currently open lava spot on the Eastern side of the Etna, it was amazing to see and to feel the power of the earth.
We really have to thank you and Vulcano Dicsovery for the perfect organisation and we also have to thank our guide Rosario, who took care very well of the large group and provided us with very useful and detailed information on vulcanology and geology of the Etna. Rosario thank you very much for this perfect adventure tour!
Here I will also attach 1 foto of our group walking up the Etna on this day.
Thank you again for the organisation!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Best regards
Thomas Fruhmann"
"Thanks for a great tour, we really enjoyed the trekking and were lucky to see lots of eruptions on Stromboli..." (Eolian Islands + Etna tour - Nick B., UK)
Michelle at the airport with our driver
"Greetings, Tom!
Enclosed is the link for the photos from our trip. It was WONDERFUL. Please pass our greetings to Rosario who is such an amazing person. I have become a volcano-holic!
Michelle"
See Michelle's pctures on Shutterfly
"Hello Tom, Ines, Nicola, James, Steve
Time passes by very quickly...
but i managed to sort out the highlights of my 650 photos of our trip
in Sicily and the Eolian Islands.
Here it is:
http://picasaweb.google.ch/daniel.reutlinger/VolcanoDiscoverySicilyEolianIslands#
It was really a pleasure to travel around with you and watching all
those photos reminds me of those great days.
Hope to see you some day on a Volcano or in Switzerland or somewhere
else on this beautiful planet...
Daniel" (
Stromboli to Etna tour Oct 08)
Inès on Vulcano's crater
"Kære Tom
Tak for en skøn uge i det eoliske øhav og på Etna. Dejlige vandreture med
gode guider, smukke omgivelser og godt selskab, det var lige det jeg ønskede
mig. Vulcano, Stromboli og Etna er de første vulkaner, jeg har oplevet, og
det var helt fantastisk. Etna var virkelig storslået. De øde lavalandskaber
og alle de fine sten bjergtog mig helt og aldeles. På Stromboli var det fascinerende at se ned i krateret og se de små luende flammer og fontænerne
af ild, der skød op. Men de små fulmaroler på Vulcano med deres svovldampe betød noget helt særligt, fordi det er den første vulkanske aktivitet jeg nogensinde har set. Dette er steder, jeg gerne vender tilbage til.
Inès,
Stromboli to Etna, Oktober 2008" (Ines K., Denmark)
"Just to say what a great trip to Etna and thanks to Rosario for showing me such wonderful sights. It was fantastic!" (T. Salt, UK) (
Etna Private Tours)
"Etna, 15th August 2008 Thank you, it was a great experience, and we looked differenly at all the Volcanos in the Eoliennes, specially Etna. Roberto is great guide, as he could share his passion and knowledge with us,and give so much explainations." (Patrick de la Chesnais, UK). See Patrick's photos from this excursion on this page.
"Hola Marta
Disculpa que haya tardado un poco en responderte, he estado viajando bastante por trabajo estas semanas, y ahora toca unas semanas más tranquilas en Barcelona. El viaje estuvo fantástico, llevábamos años con ganas de ir a Nápoles y vuestra combinación vulcanismo-arqueología-historia estuvo realmente bien. Nosotros nos volvimos encantados, la organización perfecta, tu trabajo fenomenal y hasta el tiempo acompaño. Tenemos ganas de volver y no descartamos para el año que viene un poco más de “lava volcánica” con el itinerario Stromboli-Etna.
Da recuerdos a Tobias, es siempre agradable encontrar personas con esa pasión por la naturaleza y por intentar hacer cosas diferentes, incluso en sitios como Italia y Grecia donde parece que esta todo inventado. Si avísanos cuando vengas por Barcelona que tenemos ganas de verte. Abrazos" (M. A. Vallencillo, Spain, Vesuvius-Pompeii tour)
"Hello Tom,
We're now back from another great week on Etna.
We very much enjoyed our day out with Marco on 5th June (Rosario had to lead a group that day) which Steve Banfield joined us for. We visited the 'Bottoniera'to do some filming/photos for a few hours, returning down the usual pleasant descent route around Mte. Montagnola.
We undertook numerous other walks on Etna during the week – some of which we had not done before - including a return to the current eruption site at the 'Bottoniera', when the activity had changed to more random and sporadic explosions from the upper vent, some of which were quite violent, although activity from the lower vent remained relatively predictable. We got some good night-time video footage of the active vents and lava flows from the Schiena dell'Asina on one of our evening excursions. On our last day, we got excellent views (and, luckily, some more good video footage – for once the Valle del Bove was mainly clear of clouds!) of the advancing active lava front between Mte. Simone & Mte. Centenari from the ridge above the Serra del Concazze; the eruption was clearly continuing in similar style to the previous days, although there were far less ash emissions as the upper vent was exhibiting more Strombolian-type activity." (Niki, UK, custom Etna tour)
"Hi Tom, Just a quick note to fill you in on what we did after leaving you on Etna...we think we used our time wisely, we saw lots, and we had a very good time. Thanks for all the good advice, it was very useful to us.
We had such a good time on our expedition with you! It was more strenuous than I expected, but also more rewarding and more fun! I could hardly wait to get back to show pictures to my friends and brag on our exploits! One other unexpected plus--despite the mass quantities of delicious food, I actually lost a couple of pounds--my trainer at the gym was impressed! Thanks for being such a thoughtful, knowledgeable and food-oriented guide.
We loved our trip!Regards, Linda K." (Linda K, Washington,
Stromboli to Etna trip April 08)
"Hi Tobias We are writing to express our high level of satisfaction with our tour of Naples on 3-6 May.
We are impressed with your professionalism and competence to coordinate travellers from different countries. Our sensation is that you are very professional agency, providing fast and clear answers to our series of e-mails, making it easy the tour booking and solve problems. Additionally your excellent website provides clear and useful information.
The hotel was great, the Napolitanean food and wine were delicious and the itinerary was wonderful appropriate to our interest with a perfect combination of geology-nature, historical values and the interesting city of Naples. All the places visited were very interesting in itself, but after the explanations and assistance of our guide, Marta, they became sincerely impressive. We want to make a special mention to Marta, our guide-driver-assistant-bodyguard, because she was very good and has make our trip better.
It was a pleasant experience to find a company like Volcano Discovery, which provides a service so different, fun and interesting even in places where everything seemed invented on tourism. We are already planning our trips for 2009, we'd like to repeat in the future with another trip in Italy, and why not, in your loved Greece which we have not visited yet. Once again, thank you very much for organising the trip. We had a fantastic time! Many thanks and regards Miguel A. V. & Maria del Carmen P." (M.A.V & M.C.P., Spain - Vesuvius to Pompeii tour)
"Hi Tom and Tobias, I just wanted to tell you what a nice job that Marco did on our volcano tour last month. I had originally asked for Marta because I thought she would be great with the grandchildren. Marco did a fabulous job with both children-the eight year old grandson especially enjoyed Marco. They were great friends by the end. ...
Thanks again for a great volcano tour, Terry" (Terry D., Coloroado,
Stromboli to Etna trip May 08)
One word that describes Etna is 'awesome'and one word that describes Rosario's skills as a guide 'outstanding' ! (Etna tour - Kamal M., UK)
Hi all, Sorry about the late reply, just getting back in the swing of things at work. We climbed Etna as planned, although you do not appreciate the grand size of it until you are there. Etna being over 3 times higher than any mountain in Ireland. We met our guide at the top of the road near the excursion centre by the cable car. After he had sorted us out with gear we headed off up the cable car and trekking across the snow. i must admit that i had never trekked in snow before nor had any of my team. (We hardly get any snow in Ireland only rain). After hiking for about 4-5 hours and lots of breaks we got to the cabin at the top with in about 30 - 45 mins from the main cones.
It is hard to describe the mountain. it was total covered with snow and was a small bit cold but once you keep moving you don't really feel it, a clear blue sky since we were above the clouds and total quite not a person for miles. Peaceful a bit different than my job.
After the guide digging out the snow from the cabin door we ventured in to get some much needed food and hot drinks which we had carried up the mountain. after resting at the cabin it was decided to head back down, as one of the teams old back injury had came back to haunt him. On the way down we looked at some lateral craters and vents. We later headed back down the cable car and to the excursion centre.
This trip was well worth going and i would recommend it to any one traveling to scissile to attempt this trip. Who knows I may come back and attempt it again myself one day, when I am a bit fitter I think.
A special thanks to the guide for staying with us and showing us the beauty of the mountain. I am sure he could have climbed the mountain in the half the time it he wanted to. (lol). And to all the staff of Volcano Discovery for making this trip one of the best trips i have been on.
Yours sincerely
Christopher Corbett, Igor Kendrinkski, Paul Doolan, Marco (Ireland)
Tom,
I am writing to you to
thank you for a wonderful tour.
Both yourself and Rosario provided a fantastic service from the moment we enquired to the moment we arrived back at Rifugio Sapienza. Rosario was a great guide and he helped us to get much more out of our trip to Mt Etna than we could have hoped for and truly made it a trip to remember.
Should you ever need a reference, I would be more than happy to oblige. As soon as I can, I will be putting some photos on our website of Rosario and our trip. Should you want a copy of any of them, just let me know. I will let you know when I have published them. It will probably be at least a week though.
Many thanks once again, Daniel & Julie
http://www.danielandjulie.co.uk/ "Tom, Had a great tour, Etna was more than impressive, just fantastic - like a moonscape up there. ..." (J Perston, UK)
".. Just got back from Sicily. I had a very enjoyable time even though Etna has been shy and did not want to put on a performance. On the Monday I went round to the North side visiting the Grotta del ghiaccio, first time wearing crampons. The second day was spent in the Valle del Bove. The third day spent at the summit craters. The fourth day I joined Marta visiting the Alcantara Gorge, Taormina and spending the evening and next day in Catania.
As usual, Marta maintained the professional standards I have come to expect from the "Volcano Discovery" team, and I expect the three other clients felt the same way." (S. Banfield, UK)
"Hello Volcano Discovery and especially Marta, I just wanted to let you know how much we all enjoyed our tour with Volcano Discovery... For me personally the whole trip was fabulous from the hikes to the boat trips on the Mediterranean. There is not a single thing I would change for myself. Marta-You did a nice job, the ladies all loved you. .. Terry" (Colorado, USA)
"This is a note to say that we enjoyed the climb and you made it
successful, interesting and informative. Thank you very much for being an excellent guide. I attach two of our photos, one taken at the crater rim - and one of you! ... Thanks again Rosario!" (T Ecott, Etna private tour, May 07)
"Just a quick email to say what an amazing time I had hiking up Mount Etna last Thursday. It was an
amazing experience I shall never forget, much thanks to our guide who was
informative, safety conscious and extremely patient! Regards, Francoise J." (Etna private tour, May 07)
"... I just wanted to thank you for another nice trip. I'm sure it won't be the last. ... You seem to choose your people well...Marta was quite knowledgeable and very enjoyable to be with..." (Stephen, USA)
"Having been back from Italy for a week, just a few lines to say what a great holiday it has been. I thought that Marta did a brilliant job as tour manager, up to volcano discovery's usual high standards, if like the rest of the group, it had of been my first time travelling with the company i would have been very impressed..." (Steve, UK)
"Just wanted to say thank you very much to Marta Gasparrini, for her mamzingly led trip through Naples, to Amalfi, which I was on the last two weeks...thank you for making it one of the best holidays of my life!" (J Brown, UK)
"Dear Marco,
We want to thank to you for your very kind guide in Italy... Hiromi asks me for saying thanks to you and Tom. She is also impressed by the beauty of the eruptions and volcanoes and is
very satisfied for your guide... Kind regards, Seiji" (Japan;
Stromboli tour Sep 2006)
"Buenos Dias Marco, It is really great hearing from you. How was your last tour? Not as good as us, right?! I really wanted to thank you for being such a wonderful guide. I
had a wonderful time. Believe it or not, I really want to go back already. Someday, maybe I will move to Italy, who knows. For now, I am preparing to move to New York. I will continue to practice my Italian and perhaps I will see you again at another volcano. All the best, Sedelia" (NY,
Etna-Stromboli tour May 2006)
"Hi Tom - Hope you are well.
Thanks again for a great trip - really enjoyed it - particularly the second climb to the craters. Had a good time - helped by the weather and a good group. - Well organised! ... Andy" (
Etna-Stromboli tour Oct 2006)
"Tom, I just wanted to say thanks for arranging such a great trip.
It was everything I hoped for and more. Marco was great, as was Rosario, and stromboli was absolutely stunning. I also wanted to confirm you were ok...we were all quite concerned considering you were right in the center of all the trouble over there. Please let me know if everything worked out. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship, and fully intend to use your services again in the future. With warm reguards, Stephen Hunt" (
Etna-Stromboli tour May 2006)
"Tom... really enjoyed the day. Because of the amount of snow, we had to walk from the top of the cable car, and that made it a very long day but all the more memorable.
The visibility from the top was very good, and we could clearly see the Aeolian islands, although it was very hard to see into the crater because of the clouds of gas. We had some walking equipment, but the snow shoes Rosario brought were very useful, if a little difficult to get used to.
Rosario was great, with a very good knowledge of the mountain, volcanos, and good English (even if he didn't think so). We would certainly recommend yourselves and/or Rosario to anyone else visiting Sicily who wanted to go on Etna (or any other volcanos). Mark & Sarah (Scotland)"
"Hello Tom,
Thanks a lot. I'm glad that I joined the Volcanoes of Italy - the Grand Tour. Everything was very well organised. For me personally, Stromboli and Etna were the highlights, but the other places and volcanoes may also not to be missed. Stromboli wasn't very active the evening we climbed to the summit. But, the day after I got the chance to take a few pictures from the observation platform at 400 meter. I was amazed by the results I got with a small digital camera. I'm really looking forward to new tours and destinations in the VolcanoDiscovery program for next year. Best Wishes, Ronny" (Belgium)
--------
"Tom, Thanks for a magnificent trip... Brian" (Isle of Man)
"Salut Tom!
Nous sommes bien rentrés en France ce soir, la tête pleine de merveilleux souvenirs... Ce voyage restera inoubliable pour moi, et je garde plein d'images fabuleuses de tous ces moments magiques que nous avons vécus... Merci pour toute ta gentillesse et ta générosité, je suis vraiment heureuse de t'avoir rencontré!
A bientôt! Alix"
"Un petit aperçu photographique pour encore une fois te remercier pour ce fabuleux séjour. Je t'envoie le tout sur CD ou DVD le plus vite possible. A+ Marion et Eric"
"Having visited Etna independently on 2 previous occasions, I wanted to join a small group so that I could hike to the main craters. I found the trip with Tom in July 2004 well organised and informative. Tom and the Etna guide that was with us for our 3 day trip took us to parts of Etna that no other tourist would probably know of or could visit safely. The hiking was long and fun. The visit to the main craters was fantastic and allowed us to see Etna in all its glory.
I will definately be joining Tom again later this year to visit Java and woud recommend Volcano Discovery to anyone with an interest in hiking volcanoes." (Andrew Jackson, UK)