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Italy
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Sicily
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Province of Messina
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Taormina
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Tours & Activities
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Private Day Tour of Gole Alcantara with Food and Wine Tasting in Giardini Naxos
5 h
Private
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Porta Messina, Corso Umberto 1, 98039, Taormina, Sicily Italy
Your personal tour leader will pick you up from the hotel or other location at your convenience at a time that suits you best. You will live this amazing adventure walking in the unique national park of Gole Alcantara. Several thousand years ago, the Alcantara river's bed was blocked by a lava flow from Mount Etna. As the lava was cooled much more quickly by the water than it would have done otherwise, it crystallised in the form of columns. Over the next millenia, the river naturally eroded a channel through these columns, resulting in impressive gorges and ravines. During this private tour, you will see this natural fenomenon, may swim in cool water, enjoy Sicilian nature inside the beautiful park. Later you are welcome to feel the ancient atmosphere of the old Sicilian seaside town Giardini Naxos, the first Greek colony on the island, followed by superb food and wine tasting in one of the best wine bars with stunning view of the bay.
Duration: 5 hours
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Show less
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Porta Messina, Corso Umberto 1, 98039, Taormina, Sicily Italy
Your personal tour leader will pick you up from the hotel or other location at your convenience at a time that suits you best. You will live this amazing adventure walking in the unique national park of Gole Alcantara. Several thousand years ago, the Alcantara river's bed was blocked by a lava flow from Mount Etna. As the lava was cooled much more quickly by the water than it would have done otherwise, it crystallised in the form of columns. Over the next millenia, the river naturally eroded a channel through these columns, resulting in impressive gorges and ravines. During this private tour, you will see this natural fenomenon, may swim in cool water, enjoy Sicilian nature inside the beautiful park. Later you are welcome to feel the ancient atmosphere of the old Sicilian seaside town Giardini Naxos, the first Greek colony on the island, followed by superb food and wine tasting in one of the best wine bars with stunning view of the bay.
Duration: 5 hours
Included
- Private tour
- Bottled water
- Snacks
- Driver/guide
- Hotel/port pickup and drop-off
- Round-trip private transfer
- Food tasting
- Wine tasting
- Entry/Admission - Porta Messina
Not included
- Souvenir photos (available to purchase)
- Boot rental (20 euro)
- Gratuities
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- A minimum of 2 adults per booking is required
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
75%
Food
30%
Reviews
Wow! If you are anywhere near this part of Sicily, you cannot miss this place! I do not think I have ever been to a place quite like it nor will I ever have the luck of being somewhere like this again. It is really a unique spot. The water was cool and shallow, so you don't need to worry about kids playing there. There was a pretty strong current, but it was easy to enjoy the water without getting swept away. It was a great place to cool off on a hot day, and I would suggest bringing towels, water shoes the ground is very rocky and a picnic. My kids loved walking through the amazing caverns and even trying to climb them a little bit. We could have easily spent a full day here. As it was, we were there about 3-4 hours, before we called our wonderful tour guide, Brian a.k.a., Bruno back to fetch us. He took us to Giardini Naxos and a little family owned-restaurant, where we ate a lovely anti-pasta lunch on the front porch and watched all the activity around the beach across the street. The food and wine were absolutely delicious. And, then Brian went the extra mile to find us a couple doors down the BEST cannolis we have ever had. We topped our time in Giardini Naxos off with a stop at a local wine shop, so we could bring a few bottles back to the hotel to enjoy the rest of the week. Brian was absolutely wonderful. As he lived in Australia for some time, his English was perfect. And, he gave us some wonderful information about the sights we saw. He never rushed us, so we really felt our day at the Gole and Giardini went at our own pace. It was truly lovely, and I cannot recommend it enough.
We booked private tour to AlCantare - it was a very special day for us as we celebrated one week from our marriage that day. Pasquale met us with his private car and the trip started with fruit from his own garden, which was a very nice touch and bottles of water, which was very thoughtful due to hot weather. We absolutely loved the tour- don't remember last time I was so impressed! Pasquale showed us Al Cantare and gave lots of history background- he took us to the bottom of the river and asked to text us when we are ready- i would like to highlight that all the trip he made us feel very special and kept saying that we should enjoy the time. After that we asked if we could drop by Castelmola as it was our last day and we really wanted to go there.. We did not realise that it was so far away and completely not on the way to the next destination, but Pasquale took us there and walked with us around this village showing his favourite spots- he definitely enjoys his job as it was such a pleasure talking and listening him! We finished the tour with wine and food tasting at Giardino Naxis at his favourite spot- very good quality of wine and food we usually are slightly sceptical regarding wine tasting which comes as a package and thanks God we did not skip this part- very nice wine and amazing cheese and meats. Pasquale then took us back to hotel. The trip was so pleasant- we felt not like tourists but as his friends visiting from abroad- would highly recommend. He is also a very great photographer! The only thing i regret is that we did this tour at the end of the trip and could not fit anything else in the schedule, as there are so many interesting visits offered by their company- please check them out!