Rifugio Sapienza Parking – Sapienza Hut loop from Adrano-Cappellone

Rifugio Sapienza Parking – Sapienza Hut loop from Adrano-Cappellone

Hard

riders

Rifugio Sapienza Parking – Sapienza Hut loop from Adrano-Cappellone

05:30

98.7km

2,080m

Road cycling

Hard road ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: October 16, 2026

Tips

The surface along some of this route may not be suitable

Some segments of your route comprise a surface that may not be suitable for your chosen sport.

After 28.1 km for 131 m

After 94.6 km for 1.16 km

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

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20.0 km

Madonna della Roccia

Highlight (Segment) • Religious Site

Great tour to relax while admiring the millenary lava material, practically in the hills!

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24.2 km

After leaving the raging traffic of Catania behind, Nicolosi is the first town to reach and the town is very sizeable. As usual around the Etna, the main street is paved with black and quite rough lava planks. If the bottles have already been empty, here is another great opportunity to fill them, if you want to continue towards Refugio Sapienza - on the lava fields you will search for springs and wells in vain.

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30.7 km

Sanctuary of Saint Alfio in Trecastagni

Highlight • Religious Site

Very pretty church overlooking a beautiful, well-kept square! Etna in the background makes everything even more evocative.

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42.6 km

Fossazza

Forest

45.2 km

Descent Through the Lava Field at Silvestri Craters

Highlight (Segment) • Volcano

Since the road surface is sometimes very bumpy, if possible choose this route for the driveway, the road is much better in the direction of Nicolosi (09/2017)

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56.6 km

View of Mount Etna (east side)

Highlight • Viewpoint

Great view, worth it in any weather

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57.0 km

Rifugio Sapienza Parking

Highlight • Parking

57.5 km

Sapienza Hut

Highlight • Mountain Hut

The Sapienza refuge is the starting point for climbing the crater of Etna, it is also a very famous place for road cycling, as it hosted the arrival of some stages of the Giro d'Italia.

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57.9 km

Nicolosi–Rifugio Sapienza Climb

Highlight (Segment) • Climb

Length 17 km, difference in altitude 1073 m, average gradient 6.3%.
The Nicolosi-Rifugio Sapienza climb is the most well-known, most traveled climb on the Etna side and the one of the Giro d'Italia stage won by Contador in 2011 (dedicated to him). The road is very panoramic, smooth and well-maintained asphalt that crosses the young lava flow of 2001. It cuts through a sea of magma with the scent of sulfur that accompanies pedal after pedal. The climb begins by leaving the town of Nicolosi, right from a public fountain, and ends at the Sapienza refuge at an altitude of 1910 m above sea level.

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