Circumetnea: Circling the Volcano on a Narrow-Gauge Train

The Circumetnea is not a tourist train. It is a real railway, used every day by commuters and students who live on the flanks of the volcano, and perhaps that is why it retains something that more celebrated routes have lost: the authenticity of a means of transport that actually serves a territory. It departs from Catania Borgo — a different station from the central one, not to be confused — and with 110 kilometres of narrow-gauge track (950 mm) makes an almost complete circle around Etna, stopping at Riposto on the Ionian coast.

A landscape that changes every ten minutes

Leaving Catania, the train climbs quickly. By Misterbianco the view opens out onto Etna's snow-capped cone. At Paternò you see the 1073 Norman castle clinging to the lava cliff. Then Adrano, with its Baroque centre rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake, and Bronte, the capital of green pistachio: in September, during flowering and harvest, the train passes through plantations that colour the landscape purple and gold. The most spectacular moment comes between Maletto and Randazzo, when you travel at 900 metres above sea level and the 1981 lava flow is still visible on both sides of the track, black and motionless like a frozen wound.

Randazzo, the stop worth the journey

Randazzo deserves at least a two-hour stop. It is the Etna town the volcano has never managed to destroy — the lava flows have stopped at the edge of the old town every time — and it preserves three medieval churches built in black volcanic stone, a nineteenth-century theatre and a main street that seems to belong to another era. At the central bar you can eat an almond granita with a brioche for less than three euros.

How to plan the trip

The Circumetnea is run by FCE (Ferrovia Circumetnea), not by Trenitalia. Tickets are bought directly at the stations or online from the FCE website. The full Catania–Riposto journey takes about three and a half hours. The advice is to get off at Randazzo, explore the town and catch the next train toward Riposto, from where you can return to Catania by bus or reach Taormina. The best months are April and May for the citrus blossom and September for the grape and pistachio harvest.