The best hiking routes of Sicilia

With our section on trekking today we move to Sicily to offer you the most beautiful paths to follow with boots on your feet in this wonderful island. Before starting with the usual roundup of proposals, we remind you that when making excursions of this type it is important to worry about every aspect: clothing and equipment in the first place but also how you hydrate and how you feed yourself. To have the right energy to face a tough outdoor path, all the vitamins and minerals necessary to not dehydrate, the optimal solution is Bivo Ready to Use. Bivo R2U is the latest novelty by Bivo in which the powder (composed of natural and plant-based ingredients) is contained in a 500ml bottle. To feed and re-hydrate quickly, efficiently and healthily, simply fill the recyclable PET bottle with water and shake. The innovative outdoor food is ready in a moment. To try Bivo R2U, go here: Bivo 2.0 Ready to Use.

Trekking on Etna: the path on the Bove valley

Etna is certainly the symbol of Sicily. The Etna Park is spread over 59 thousand hectares and aims to protect the volcano and its biodiversity. It is an enchanted and very varied environment that passes from the lowest altitudes in which the vegetation is green and flourishing to the summit of the volcano, in which aridity is the master. The Valle del Bove is a basin that is located on the eastern side of Etna accessible through various paths. The most fascinating (and also the easiest to walk) is the donkey’s back path. It is a path of about 3 hours, 5.5 kilometers long, which is advisable to travel in order to return to the starting point at sunset, thus admiring the lava show. The only critical point is the first part of the path, after this you can admire a fantastic view of the city of Catania and the Ionian Sea. At the end of the walk, however, you reach a plateau that offers extraordinary views of the volcanic eruptions of Etna.

The Madonie Park

The Madonie mountains are located in the eastern part of Sicily belonging to the so-called Sicilian Apennines. The Madonie Park offers unique spectacles divided between mountains and sea with valleys overhanging the sea from the northern side and gentler slopes flanked by peaks that exceed 2000 meters on the opposite side. Also immersed in this natural context are the symbols of an ancient religiosity, monasteries – rock churches – and hermitages, and peasant industriousness such as farms and mills. These are the oldest lands on the island, being the first to emerge and which fully tell the signs of the upheaval that has occurred over time. The paths offered by this park are very many and different from each other. The most complete itinerary is the one that leads from Petralia Sottana to the Quacella amphitheater in the Vallone Madonna degli Angeli. In this way you can admire the Madonie firs in all their majesty and, in Spring, wonderful orchids.

A peculiarity of this park is its belonging to the European and Global network of Geoparks.

The Necropolis of Pantalica

The Necropolis of Pantalica is a town in the province of Syracuse characterized by the presence of numerous natural and artificial caves. The area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has an incredible historical value, representing a fundamental place from the protohistoric era and the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. With the path that we propose you will be able to walk among the 5 thousand tombs carved into the rock and set in a natural and luxuriant context. To reach the Necropolis you can walk two different paths: one with a starting point in Ferla and the other in Sortino. The first is the simplest and also the most fascinating. In fact, starting from Ferla you immediately reach the important remains of Sella di Filiporto, the ancient access to the city of Pantalica. From here you can reach the village of San Micidiario and the oratory of San Nicolicchio through a path along the coast. The path that instead has Sortino as its starting point is very demanding as it crosses the valley floor and climbs on the opposite side. In this second case, we start from the Calcinara stream and reach the necropolis from the north, also we have the opportunity to visit the bat cave and the rupestrian oratory of the Crucifix.

The Alcantara Gorges

Few people know that Sicily also has its Canyon. We offer you in these magical places a fantastic trekking halfway between the rocks, the waterfalls and the lakes of the icy waters of the Alcantara River. You will have to walk in pristine places and breathtaking scenery between walls 25 meters high and just 2 distant. These places are located within the Botanical and Geological Park of the Alcantara Gorges and are among the most popular tourist attractions on the island. It is also possible to make a river trekking (to be done accompanied by authorized guides and appropriate clothing and equipment) in which you will descend inside the canyon also through the use of ropes. The route of this river trekking is about 4 kilometers and lasts about 3 hours, during which you will find yourself walking among rapids, whirlpools and waterfalls surrounded by unspoiled nature and listening to the sounds that only it can release.

Pantelleria

Pantelleria is certainly known to all for its fantastic sea with crystal clear water that has given it many appellations: “Black Pearl of the Mediterranean” and “Wind Island” are certainly the most famous. However, few people know that the island is a perfect destination also for trekking lovers and that it can offer various proposals, all worthy.

The first is the path n.1 that from Siba Alta leads us to the top of the Montagna Grande in the center of the island in order to admire the whole of Pantelleria from above and even on clear days even the Tunisian coast.

Another worthy path is the volcanological one that winds through the island’s Volcanological Museum and allows you to explore the path of birth and development of Pantelleria, from lava flows to the present day.

Finally, one cannot fail to mention the marvelous Lake of Venus, a crystalline heart-shaped lake of volcanic origin where, after having walked the shore, you can take a regenerating bath. Not far away, through another path, it is possible to reach the Favare di Cuddia di Mida, an area in which there are small geysers.

The Zingaro Reserve

When one thinks of Sicily he thinks of the beauty of his sea, for this reason the last route has the sea of ​​the Zingaro Reserve as the protagonist. The Zingaro reserve is one of the most enchanting areas of Sicily in the Municipalities of Castellammare del Golfo and San Vito Lo Capo in the province of Trapani. It includes 7 kilometers of coastline and 1,500 hectares of unspoiled nature that combine high cliffs overlooking the sea and Monte Speziale, the ideal point from which to admire the 7 callettes of this reserve from above. But in addition to the heavenly sea, the Riserva dello Zingaro offers 3 enchanting hiking trails: the coastal path of about 7 km in length, the mid-coast path, which we would recommend because it is the most panoramic, and the high path, which is recommended to experts only with its 17 kilometers.