Il Picciolo Etna Golf Resort & SPA
Il Picciolo is one of Italy's most singular courses for the simple reason that it is play...
Il Picciolo is one of Italy's most singular courses for the simple reason that it is played on the slopes of Mount Etna. Here golf meets lava, woodland, volcanic light and a mountain Sicily that surprises anyone who imagines the island only through sea and baroque towns. The course has strong character, with elevation change, unusual vistas and a powerful environmental identity that makes every round immediately recognizable. It should not be compared to classic coastal resorts; its charm lies precisely in its difference, in the physical material of the landscape and in an atmosphere that can feel almost dramatic. For elite travelers, it is memorable because it offers something not found elsewhere: highland Mediterranean golf with the volcano as a constant presence. Integrated into an Etna itinerary of wine, nature and refined hospitality, Il Picciolo becomes much more than a round. It becomes a true encounter with place.
Combinalo con un itinerario sull’Etna e non con la sola costa: il campo parla la lingua del vulcano e va vissuto dentro quel contesto.
Una delle esperienze più originali del golf italiano
Forte identità vulcanica e territoriale
Più esperienza di carattere che layout universalmente facile
Il clima e l’altitudine cambiano molto la percezione del round
Exclusive Experiences
Secrets found in no guidebook, curated by our concierge.
Benanti: Nerello Mascalese dell'Etna Verticale
Giuseppe Benanti was the pioneer who in the 1990s proved Etna could produce internationally-ranked wines. The Serra della Contessa — Nerello Mascalese from pre-phylloxera vines of 1904 at 900 metres on Etna's north slope — is Sicily's longest-lived wine. The private cellar vertical begins from 1991 and spans thirty years of lava and nerello.
“Antonio Benanti leads to the pre-phylloxera vineyard at 6:00 AM at dawn: the 1904 ungrafted plants grow directly on solidified lava — the roots have perforated basalt rock for 120 years. Nothing comparable exists elsewhere in the world.”
Etna Nord: le Sciare dell'Alba Vulcanica
Etna's north slope — the Sciare di Santa Venera — is Italy's most lunar volcanic landscape: expanses of 1981 lava still black and devoid of vegetation with the smoking summit craters on the horizon. At dawn with vulcanological guide Alberto Ruffino you walk on the 1981 flows in the carbonised beech forests.
“Alberto Ruffino has mapped the lava caves of the north slope that no tourist guide knows: the Grotta delle Palombe is an 800-metre lava tube with basalt stalactites hanging like candles. Bring only a head torch.”
Zash Hotel: la Spa della Lava
Zash Country Boutique Hotel on Etna is an 1800s farmhouse transformed by Antonio Minutella using Etna basalt as the primary material: the spa floor, pools, and walls are Etna basalt. The Lava e Terra treatments use volcanic stone heated to 60°C for massages and local volcanic clay for wraps. The spa has a direct view of the craters.
“Chef Giuseppe Raciti organises private dinners in the torch-lit vineyard on full moon nights: Zash's Nerello Mascalese paired with contemporary Sicilian cuisine with a view of the smoking volcano creates an impossible-to-replicate sensory experience.”