Etna Hut

We booked the entire villa for our family for one week in July 2020. The owners Alessia & Mimmo are superb hosts. Mimmo walked us round the whole villa and showed us the short-cut walk to the village to avoid the road. You can't hear the road at all (there isn't much traffic on it anyway) as the villa is tucked away off a side street. The villa exceeded our expectations and looked huge ! Lots of space for everyone, with a large patio next to the villa which can be blocked off so safe for children to play and has a large roller-canopy for shade when you want it. Down the steps there is the large pool. It was a little chilly in the morning but fine in the afternoon, especially after sunbathing or a game or two of tennis (great quality equipment - 4 racquets and hundreds of balls). Lots of beds / chairs / sofas round the pool, all in great condition, and 2 huge umbrella sunshades. Clean toilet & changing facilities next to the tennis court, and even a drinking water fountain. The rooms are all large and clean with aircon and lots of storage space, each with a TV. Huge TV in main lounge (with Netflix if you have an account). The huts aren't quite as spacious. In terms of 'things to do', there are plenty. Etna is on your doorstep (literally - you can see it up close from the back veranda). You can catch a local bus from the village (25 minute walk downhill and 4.50 euros per person return) then cable car and 4x4 to the 'summit' (66 euros). This is exactly the same experience you can buy elsewhere as a formal trip, but doing it yourself saves at least 30 euros each and Mimmo provides you with a free voucher for lunch. Bus times are 9.30 leaving Nicolosi and 4.30 leaving Etna. Plenty of time and the bus will stop outside the villa on the way back if you ask them. We wanted to go on a 'Godfather' tour and rather than pay for a formal trip, Mimmo arranged a taxi and driver (Joseph) for the day (for 8 of us). He took us round the film location sites (Bar Vitelli is a must-see), then to Taommina for lunch, to Isola Bella beach (very busy, so take your own sunshade if you can), to a lovely seafood restaurant and then home again, for a fraction of what a formally organised trip would have cost. Each time we could stop where we want and for as long as we want. We had considered hiring cars and driving, but thankfully we didn't as the roads in Sicily are generally very narrow (especially in towns) and there are no apparent rules to lanes, indication, right of way, parking, etc. We wanted to visit a winery but all the ones we'd seen advertised for trips were at least an hour away. Mimmo suggested a local one (Serafica) just outside the village with tasting of wines and olive oils and lunch for 30 euros (you could have without lunch and with fewer oils and wines for less). The winery even picked us up for free (it was 10 minutes away). Lovely tour of the olive groves and vineyards and of the olive oil processing process equipment. Well worth a visit as the 2 white wines, 1 Rose and 2 x Red were delicious and the bottles were left for us to finish (there were 4 of us, so plenty for a sunny afternoon lunch !) The 8 flavoured olive oils were also delicious and there was no hard-sell on anything. Overall took around 3 hours. On one night, Alessia offered to cook us a traditional Sicilian meal in our own villa (40 euros each, including wine) which was absolutely delicious. Sicily is very unspoilt in terms of tourism so most restaurants do not have English menus or many English speaking staff. One night we had take-away pizzas which Mimmo was happy to order for us. We just sent him what we wanted and it turned up 30 mins later. Don't go for too many large ones, they are HUGE and lasted us for lunch the next day too ! They were all delicious. Apart from dogs occasionally barking early in the morning from nearby properties the only downside in the whole experience was a consequence of the wonderful views ... the villa is up a steep hill from the village bars / restaurants. If you have a car or are all young and healthy - no problem (we ranged from 18months to 54 and were OK - tough walking in the heat of the day but not too bad at night). If you have unfit / infirm / older people you will definitely need a car. To be fair, Mimmo had advised us of that well before we arrived, more than once, but we were a large group and didn't have enough people prepared to drive in Sicily and so we didn't have a choice. Everything else about the place is exactly as per the pictures and descriptions and nothing is too much problem for Mimmo & Alessia. A beautiful villa and perfect for large families (with a car ...)

The owner is really kind, available and gives plenty of good advice for the excursions on Etna and restaurants around. The rooms are clean, comfortable and spacious, well equipped ( fridge, air conditionning, kettle...) You can use the swimming pool, the tennis court and other outdoor toys for the kids The place is perfect for an Etna tour, very quiet and with a splendid view The B&B is easy to find and the parking is free and secure. The price is reasonable We recommend this place

Well this was interesting. We fly into Palermo as the flights were a good price from the U.K. The aim was to spend 1-2 nights in various locations. i.e. Palermo, Marsala Agrigento Syracuse Noto Catania and so on.. A good tour of Sicily. But rather than dragging a case in and out of hotels I thought being central was a good place to stay for the whole week. I chose The Etna Hut, Nicolosi, but, purely by mistake I booked this via Booking.com a non-refundable room. Which then meant I was stuck with what I had chosen. And thank goodness. Wow wow wow... Mimmo and Alicia. The Enta Hut. Beautiful. This is such a beautiful location. The three huts behind the main building were so quirky and fun to stay in. Please don't expect a five star Best Western style and spend you days moaning about the tiles in the bathroom being crooked. Or the tv not being in English. Who wants to stay in a concrete block? Breakfast served 8-10. Simple. Toast. Ham. Cheese. Crossaints. Fruit. Yoghurt. Eggs. Cereal. All the usual. Mimmo will provide what you would like. I bought a melon to put in my fridge and he provide at breakfast the next day. He is very attentive. The pool is open 9-7 ish. The rooms are cleaned every day. The outside is very tidy and very well looked after. Mimmo is a tennis coach so you can even have a few lessons! The Location, just 2 minutes out of the town. Walking distance. Mount Etna, 20 min drive up to Riguios Spezena. Take a jumper and jeans, 1, for its a lovely breeze later in the evening and 2, you will need jeans if you plan on climbing the top of Etna. This B&B and location changed our holiday completely, what was meant to be a tour around became a tour within. We didn't leave this area expect for one day where we had a quick blip to Catania-Syracuse-Ortigia-Noto-Modica and Ragusa. All in one day. 30 mins to 1 hour in each location. Pretty nice to see. Always head for Via Vittorio Emanual or Corso Umbero in each location. The central street. That is generally the older area. These are must see locations. Noto is Baroque. Modica has the oldest chocolate shop. Antica Bonajuto. Very low prices too. And the church with 250 steps. Ragusa. Very pretty. Started out at 9am and back by 9pm so a good run out. We did this as we felt we had to as that was actually our plan. Other than that we didn't want to leave The Etna Hut or area. The town is busy and people meet in the square which night. Very family oriented town. We drove down and parked each night at 7.30. Good choice of restaurants. Pizza. Pasta. 5-8 euros. And of course higher end in town too. Busier at 8.pm onwards. We visited Mt Etna 4 times. The first day was to the shops and Silvestri Crater and Visitate Crater. We walked around there for a couple of hours. Had a bbq lunch. Great value. Under 8 euro each. The next time we rode the cable car then the truck up to the next crater. 63 euro each. The cable car takes you to a shop were you can lunch use the toilet (last toilet stop) and have a coffee. On the bus then. A guide met us and took us around. That's when we noticed people were wearing hard hats and had walking sticks walking further up. We had to do that! The next day. The excursion to the top was 85 euro each. Get to the hut at Rifugio Sapienze at 8.30am and book yourself on the tour. You get boots. Socks. Jackets. Sticks. Make sure you take sticks. You will need them. Don't do this trip if you are over 4 stone extra in weight and not very fit. I would advise walking for a month for 30 mins per day. Be prepared for it. And do it. It's awesome. No picture would ever show just how so awesome this is. What greets you at the top in like being on another planet. 4 Craters smoking. Amazing. The walk down from the craters is interesting. I thought it would be easier coming down. Imagine your coming down a sand dune very fast for a mile or 2!. That's what it's like. Use your heals to bed into the ash. That's a pretty great trip down too. Then instead of catching the bus back down you will have lunch (take your own) then walk down to the cable cars. A good walk. Worth doing. The whole trip from The Etna Hut to the blip out for the day to climbing to the top of Mt Etna was totally amazing. A truly memorable trip which we will definitely return to do again. And The Etna Hut again will be our base. A trip that took an unexpected turn. Thank you Etna Hut for making this such a special trip. See you soon!