The "Gola d'Alcantara" is a up to 20 m deep gorge which the river Alcantara has dug through volcanic rock over millions of years. The 400 m long canyon is very narrow and enclosed by high basalt walls. If you like to walk through the gorge, you must wade a short way through ice-cold water (it has never more than 14°C). Every now and then the level of the river is so high that you even have to swim, as it was with us. Then the question always is - where to leave your cloths and stuff. We had this problem and we decided not to swim through the canyon because of the risk of hypothermia. We were content with taking pictures and making video recordings and refreshing us somewhat in the cold water. The gorge is not a hot tip at all. It is always a stop for tour buses, so that there is a constant crowd of tourists. We don´t really know whether the visit of the gorge is free of charge or not. We chose to walk down a staircase 200 m away from the main entrance. As we noticed later on, there must be another staircase beside the elevator at the parking lot. It also leads down into the gorge and seems to be free of charge. From our travel guide we knew that you can rent rubber boots and overalls there, but obviously not that day when we were there. We saw no visitor wearing something like that. The Alcantara gorge is situated about 20 km from Taormina. From Taormina a public bus goes twice to three times a day to the gorge. We were glad not to have planned an extra day for the gorge because it was not that impressive.

Our Tips

The Alcantara Gorge can be reached by public means of transport without any problem. From April to October a public bus goes daily from Taormina via Giardini Naxos to the the gorge in 50 minutes for 4,30 €. The temperature of the water in the gorge never exceeds 14°C. Sometimes the water level is so high that you have to swim in some places. Once you have left the depths of the canyon behind you, you can enjoy the seclusion and quiet of the canyon. If you have to pay an admission fee for entering the gorge at the main entrance, you can also walk down the public staircase just about 200 m left of the main entrance free of charge.